All news – Page 6582
-
News
C-130X close as C-5 engine is delayed
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCThe US Air Force is set finally to release a request for proposals (RFP) by March for the Lockheed Martin C-130X avionics upgrade, but selection of a new engine for the Lockheed C-5A/B Galaxy transport has been delayed. According to the USAF's Air Systems Command, a revised draft ...
-
News
Exint cleared for AH-64 as production starts
UK advanced design firm Avpro has cleared its Exint transport pod for use with the Boeing AH-64 Apache. Certification to carry personnel is required. The pylon-mounted Exint is designed for combat search and rescue and special forces insertion. Avpro director Mike Ryan says that 17 countries have expressed an ...
-
News
F-16 output to be increased
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin plans to ramp up production of the F-16C/D again from 2001, the revival in domestic and international fighter sales over the last 12 months having reversed a six-year period of decline. "The last year has been very good in terms of sales announcements ...
-
News
Embargo lifted
A European Union arms embargo against Indonesia imposed in September has been lifted. Delivery of BAE Systems Hawk 209 single-seat fighters can restart. The UK Government says BAE's export licence has been reinstated. The six remaining aircraft are complete and can be delivered after shakedown flights. Source: Flight International
-
News
South African pods
The South African Air Force (SAAF) is considering buying 12 Rafael Litening targeting pods to equip its Saab/BAE Systems Gripens. Negotiations are under way with Rafael's German partner Zeiss. During the apartheid era, South Africa was a major customer for Israeli equipment. Zeiss will be prime contractor if the SAAF ...
-
News
Sea King sought
The Belgian air force is seeking funding to acquire a sixth GKN Westland Sea King helicopter for its No 40 search and rescue (SAR) squadron to meet increasing demands on the Koksijde-based unit. The helicopter would be used mainly for VIP transport and training. Source: Flight International
-
News
BMDO blames infrared sensors for NMD missile test failure
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The second "hit-to-kill" National Missile Defence (NMD) test on 18 January by the US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) failed in the closing stages because of faulty infrared sensors, according to a preliminary assessment of the $100 million evaluation firing. A senior US officer says ...
-
News
Ukraine agrees to Russia re-arming in the Black Sea
Russia has received permission from Ukraine to re-equip Black Sea Fleet Aviation Command's one strike unit with Sukhoi Su-24M Fencers. The Black Sea Fleet is based at Sevastopol in the Crimea, part of Ukraine. The Gvardeyskoye-based 43 naval attack aviation squadron has operated ageing Soviet-era Sukhoi Su-17M3s which have ...
-
News
Italy pressed on Helios
The launch of a second Helios 1 optical surveillance satellite late last year (Flight International, 15-21 December, 1999) has brought into focus the Italian defence ministry's need to decide on follow-on requirements. Italy has a 14% share in the French-led Helios programme and Spain has 7%. Helios 1/B will ...
-
News
RVSM approval due for Global Express
Bombardier says approval for reduced vertical separation minimum (RVSM) operations with the Global Express ultra-long-range business jet is planned for the second quarter. RVSM approval for the light Learjet 31A and superlight Learjet 45 are expected at about the same time. The Canadian manufacturer already has RVSM approval for ...
-
News
Car parts supplier takes corporate 328JET
Fairchild Aerospace has delivered a corporately configured 328JET to US automotive parts supplier Johnson Controls. The $11.9 million aircraft, will be deployed by Johnson Controls as a corporate shuttle when it enters service this quarter. The delivery marks the third sale of a corporate 328JET. The first aircraft was delivered ...
-
News
CJ1 set for demonstration
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Cessna expects to put its first production Citation CJ1 entry-level business jet into demonstrator service in February. Customer deliveries start in April. The CJ1 is an upgrade of the CitationJet, with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics and a 90kg (200lb) increase in gross weight. Supplemental type ...
-
News
Comair aircraft
Comair Jet Express, the Cincinnati-based business aircraft charter and management division of Delta Connection airline subsidiary Comair, has added a Bombardier Challenger 604 and Learjet 60 to its four-strong fleet. Source: Flight International
-
News
Leasing company places first GIV
Gulfstream GATX Leasing has placed its first aircraft, a Gulfstream IV-SP, into service on short-term lease with a North American company. The aircraft is the first of six ordered by the leasing company, an 85:15 joint venture between lessor GATX Capital and manufacturer Gulfstream Aerospace. Five GVs will be ...
-
News
Kamov makes plans to beat Ka-226 backlog
Kamov plans to deliver "at least 14" Ka-226 twin-engined helicopters within two years to meet its growing order backlog. This year the Russian manufacturer's Orenburg-based Strela plant will build one prototype and five pre-production helicopters which will be shipped to the Kamov plant near Moscow in mid-2000. The first ...
-
News
Forced landing
A New Piper Aircraft Meridian prototype landed on a public highway near the manufacturer's base in Vero Beach, Florida, on 7 January after suffering fuel starvation. The two crewmembers were unharmed. An auxiliary fuel tank, fitted to the second of four prototypes to measure usable fuel, is believed to have ...
-
News
Avgas pollution may leave aircraft to costly to repair
The fuel systems of thousands of general aviation aircraft in Australia could be permanently damaged by corrosion and require replacement because of the ongoing aviation gas crisis there. There is also the possibility of further aircraft groundings following the discovery of contaminated aircraft outside the original exposed area. More ...
-
News
Avanti delivery heralds recovery
Piaggio Aero Industries plans to deliver a P.180 Avanti twin-pusher business aircraft at the end of this month. The handover, to an unnamed customer, will mark the first sale of the turboprop since 1998, when the former Rinaldo Piaggio was renamed in the takeover by Turkey's Tushav group. Tushav owns ...
-
News
Motorglider maker partners Platforms
Brazilian motorglider manufacturer Aeromot has signed an agreement with US company Platforms International to establish an airborne wireless communications system. Under its strategic partnership with Platforms' Brazilian subsidiary, Belo Horizonte-based Aeromot Group will become prime contractor for the company's aviation operations in Brazil. Platforms' Airborne Relay Communications (ARC) ...
-
News
Regionals get new rival
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Former Fairchild Aerospace executive Earl Robinson has returned to the regional aircraft ring by unveiling an ambitious $660 million plan to develop a family of 55-110-seat jets to compete in an overcrowded market. Robinson is heading a start-up company called Alliance Aircraft and claims to ...