All Fixed-Wing news – Page 1390
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Grifo delays hit Pakistan and Singapore upgrades
Douglas Barrie/LONDON and Andrea Spinelli/GENOA PAKISTANI AND Singaporean air force combat-aircraft upgrade programmes centring on the Fiar Grifo multi-mode radar are experiencing technical difficulties, causing both projects to suffer delays. Singapore's avionics upgrade of its Northrop F-5E/F fighters has run into trouble, with systems integration ...
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France offers Mirages to Philippine air force
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE FRANCE HAS offered to sell an undisclosed number of surplus Dassault Mirage F.1 fighters to the Philippine air force as replacements for its badly depleted fleet of Northrop F-5A/Bs. The ex-French air force aircraft form part of a larger package of defence-equipment sales ...
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Funding threat to France's FLA plans
FRENCH AIR FORCE chief Gen. Jean-Philippe Douin has warned that France may have to purchase the Lockheed C-130J and ditch the acquisition of the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) unless his budget gets a major boost. Douin is concerned about whether the Government will have funding available ...
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US Army examines laser damage to helicopters
THE US ARMY IS TO test-fire laser and ballistic weapons against experimental composite-helicopter tail-booms in a combined test programme with Boeing aimed at improving helicopter battlefield-survivability. The directed-energy weapon tests will be conducted at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, using lasers representative of projected threats such as slewed-beam ...
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Dutch delay helicopter choice again
THE NETHERLANDS Government has delayed for a second time the selection of an attack helicopter to meet a NGL1.5 billion ($875 million) requirement for 32 aircraft for the army. Cabinet officials say that the choice could now be put off until March. The leading contenders for the deal ...
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Socata discusses light- aircraft tie-up with Grob
Julian Moxon/PARIS FRENCH general-aviation manufacturer Socata is talking to its German counterpart Grob about a possible alliance. "Our product lines are very complementary," says Socata president, Jean-Marc de Raffin. The Le Bourget, Paris-based Aerospatiale subsidiary says that it is also talking to Italy's Piaggio, and ...
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End of an era for combat aircraft?
Sir - According to your report "Worth fighting for" (Flight International, 14-20 December, 1994, P40) the French air force is planning to buy Dassault Rafale fighters for use until 2055. Although I have great respect for the aircraft that literally brought the house down on a US defence ...
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UK Denies CH-47 Purchase
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is refuting claims that it has decided to purchase only Boeing CH-47 Chinooks to meet a support-helicopter requirement. The CH-47 is in competition with the EH Industries EH101. According to the MoD, pricing negotiations are continuing, but no recommendations have yet been made to ...
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Lockheed F-16s Return
The US Air Force began returning General Electric F110-129-powered Lock-heed F-16s to flight status in late January after determining that foreign-object damage to the engine's fan was the likely cause of an F-16D crash (Flight International, 25-31 January). The service has ordered inspections of all F110-129 fan blades and tightened ...
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MDC cleans in a flash
McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) HAS BEGUN marketing its Flashjet paint-removal system to other aircraft manufacturers, operators and maintenance centres. The Flashjet uses a combination of pulsed light-energy and carbon-dioxide pellets to remove paint without creating toxic waste. The system was developed for the US Air Force, which is installing a production ...
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First K-MAX due in Europe
KAMAN AEROSPACE will deliver the first K-MAX external-lift helicopter to a European customer in the second quarter of this year. The aircraft, for Helog of Switzerland, was displayed at the Helicopter Association International's Heli-Expo '95 in Las Vegas on 29-31 January, ahead of its first flight. Five K-MAX ...
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DOT scales back the Clinton way
In targeting the Department of Transportation for halving from its 1993 level, the Clinton administration is not only seeking to get ahead of the Republican-controlled Congress in its frenzy to downsize federal government, it is also courting opposition from airlines and airports. Transportation secretary Federico Peña has announced the administration's ...
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USA and UK move ahead on Halon test replacement
Simon Elliott/LONDON THE UK CIVIL Aviation Authority will award a contract to design and build an aircraft-cabin hidden-fire test rig by the end of this month. The system will be used to test replacements for Halon 1211, which is used in aircraft-cabin fire extinguishers. The contract ...
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Exploring technology
The McDonnell Douglas Explorer was designed with the customer more than just in mind Guy Norris/MESA, ARIZONA As the latest commercial machine from the manufacturer of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, it is reasonable to expect the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) Explorer to incorporate the ...
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Mir rendezvous
Tim Furniss/LONDON Members of the crew of a routine Space Shuttle Discovery mission have waited a year to be launched but, during that time, their mission has taken on a higher profile, as well as an extra crewman. The wait will have been worthwhile. The Discovery is now ...
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Fuji proposes four-blade SuperCobra
Paul Lewis/TOKYO FUJI HEAVY INDUSTRIES (FHI) of Japan is proposing a four-blade version of the Bell AH-1W SuperCobra as a more cost-effective alternative to licence- manufacturing the McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache. The AH-IW proposal is in response to the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force's (JGSDF) requirement for ...
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A dozen Su-34s planned by 1998
RUSSIA'S NOVOSIBIRSK Chkalov plant plans to produce 12-13 Sukhoi Su-34 tactical bombers by 1998. Chkalov plant officials say two more production-configuration Su-34s are now being assembled at the site. The plant had been producing Sukhoi Su-24 Fencers until 1992, and the new type is to be substituted for ...
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Eurofighter rejects new control proposal
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE Eurofighter consortium has decided to stop work on an alternative flight-control system (FCS) for the Eurofighter 2000, based on technology from the Daimler-Benz Aerospace (formerly DASA)/ Rockwell X-31 programme. An FCS presentation to the Eurofighter management agency NEFMA was scheduled for 24 January, ...
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Defence sales give MDC a record year
A RECORD performance from the defence division in 1994 left McDonnell Douglas (MDC) showing its highest-ever profits, despite a further decline in civil-aircraft sales. The group ended the year with net profits of $598 million, an improvement of more than $200 million on 1993. Operating profits also broke ...
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Fighting options
If you need a new piece of military equipment, there are four major ways to acquire it: to buy something which satisfies most of your requirements off somebody else's shelf; to buy something off somebody else's shelf and modify it for your own purposes; to develop it entirely yourself; or ...