All news – Page 7046
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Dasa continues to test decoy despite ministry doubters
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa)expects to complete flight testing of its towed radar decoy this year, in the face of a continued lack of commitment to the project from the German Ministry of Defence. Dasa has been proposing its decoy for German air force Transall C-160 transports, Panavia ...
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First OH-1 scout helicopters poised for series production
Paul Lewis/GIFU, JAPAN Series production of the first batch of Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) OH-1 scout helicopters will begin in June, as flight testing of four prototypes by the Japan Defence Agency (JDA) approaches the halfway mark. The JDA has concluded a production contract with KHI, clearing the way ...
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Turkey wants to add Arrow to its quiver
The US Government is considering an Israeli request to allow the sale of a variant of the Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile to Turkey. The USA has already given Israel the go-ahead to brief Turkey about the Arrow system, which is being developed by Israel with the help of US ...
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Raduga funds anti-ship missile
Russia's Raduga cruise missile design bureau is to use cash from its sale of the 3M-80 (SS-N-22 Sunburn) supersonic anti-ship missile to China to fund development of a next-generation hypersonic anti-ship weapon. China will receive the rocket/ ramjet-powered 3M-80 as part of its purchase of two Sovremmeny- class destroyers. ...
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RAF will replace Hawk fuselages
Ian Sheppard/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence has given its approval for the Royal Air Force to replace the centre and rear fuselage sections of 80 British Aerospace Hawks in a major structural upgrade required to keep the advanced jet trainer fleet in service until 2010. British Aerospace is due ...
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Kentron removes wraps from Raptor 1 weapon
South African guided- weapons specialist Kentron this week unveiled its previously classified Raptor 1 stand-off glide bomb at the Aerospace Africa 98 show at Waterkloof AFB, Pretoria. The Raptor 1 is a 1,200kg, 60km (32nm)-plus range weapon, with a television seeker and also fitted with flip-out wings (Flight International, ...
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SAIC's VTOL UAV prototype crashes
SAIC's bid for the US Navy's vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) project has been dealt another blow by the crash of its prototype. The SAIC Vigilante air vehicle crashed on 20 April during a test flight at a small airfield in Virginia. The composite ...
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India's avionics indecision holds back second batch of Su-30s
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Douglas Barrie/LONDON The Indian air force's second batch of Sukhoi Su-30 two-seat multi-role fighters has been delayed by up to 12 months because of difficulties encountered in finalising the aircraft's avionics configuration. Alexei Fedorov, former general director of AVPK Sukhoi, says that delivery of the ...
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US Army launches initiatives aimed at improving missile arsenal
Douglas Barrie/LONDON The US Army has launched a raft of weapons initiatives aimed at improving its short-range air-defence and air-launched anti-armour guided weapons, as well as extended-range high-precision guided munitions. The US Army Aviation and Missile Command has programmes under way to develop improved variants and potential successors ...
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Japan considers SARV-22 tiltrotor
Japan's Defence forces and its Maritime Safety Agency (MSA) are showing growing interest in a search and rescue (SAR) version of the V-22 Osprey, which Bell and Boeing are promoting as one of several future military variants of the tiltrotor. Japan has opened tentative discussions with Bell Boeing on ...
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Malaysia postpones AEW procurement for five years
Aircraft manufacturers lining up to meet Malaysia's airborne early warning (AEW) requirement are anticipating a delay of up to five years because of Asia's continuing economic crisis. Malaysia cut its defence budget by 10% after its currency plunged against the US dollar, although defence minister Syed Hamid Albar says ...
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Brunei seeks SAM
Brunei's requirement for a point defence low-to-medium altitude surface-to-air missile (SAM) is turning into a straight fight between Matra BAe Dynamics and Thomson-CSF. According to Matra, the competition has become a "head-to-head" between the Matra BAe Jernas, with its range of up to 8.5km (5 miles), and the Crotale-NG ...
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Malaysia backpedals on CN-235 buy
Malaysia's defence ministry is rethinking its contract to buy six CN-235 transport aircraft from IPTN because of concerns over the long-term future of the Indonesian manufacturer. The RM286 million ($75 million) deal was struck in February 1995. The aircraft were to have been delivered to the Royal Malaysian Air ...
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Kaman and GKN Westland battle for Indonesian order
Kaman and GKN Westland are once again facing off in South-East Asia, this time in Indonesia, to contest a requirement for a shipborne anti-submarine helicopter. Westland is plugging its Super Lynx 300 to meet an anticipated helicopter requirement for the Indonesian navy's six Ahmad Yani frigates, while Kaman is offering ...
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IR-OTIS for Asia
Sweden's Saab has begun marketing its IR-OTIS infra-red search and track (IRST) system for South-East Asian fighter upgrades. Saab says the system is well-suited for Northrop F-5 upgrade programmes and, possibly, for Lockheed Martin F-16s. Singapore has recently upgraded its F-5 fleet, while Indonesia and possibly Malaysia are set to ...
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Laser link lined up
Tim Furniss/LONDON The European Space Agency's (ESA) Artemis project is now well on its way after cost and technical problems combined to delay the satellite, which had been originally due to be in orbit now. The flight model has been completed by Alenia Spazio in Rome and will soon ...
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Tri-jet transformation
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES On the surface it sounds relatively straightforward. Boeing is converting ex-airline DC-10s to freighters for FedEx, and for any other operator that wants it. The real story is quite different in terms of scale, timetable and technical challenges. "It's been an enormous undertaking," says Boeing MD-10 deputy ...
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The vital combinations
Shahe Ouzounian/LONDON and FRANKFURT, Brent Hannon/TAIPEI ACCORDING TO Wilhelm Althen, chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo, the revolutionary break in January 1995 with the passenger side of Lufthansa's business was "-a process that hasn't just been about the last three years, it's a 20 year old road ...
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Civilised business
Guy Norris/LOSANGELES Boeing plans to deliver the first MD-17 Commercial Globemaster in early 2000 if it can launch the programme by the end of this year. The company believes it stands on the verge of a new market opportunity, but first it must convince the air cargo industry that ...
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More room on top
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON On 24 October 1997, Airbus Industrie retired the last Boeing Super Guppy from service, bringing to an end some 26 years of the outsized cargo turboprop's operations ferrying subassemblies between the consortium's European plants. At its peak, the fleet of converted Boeing 377s/C-97s totalled four aircraft, but in ...