All news – Page 7148
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Enaer plans to fly Chilean 707 tanker/AEW in 1998
ENAER plans to fly its modified Chilean air force Boeing 707 combined tanker/airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft for the first time early in 1998. Modification work, being carried out with the support of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), will see the aircraft fitted with nose- and side-panel-mounted phased-array radars similar to those fitted ...
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Elta begins development of phased-array fighter radar
Israeli radar house Elta is working on a phased-array fire-control radar for fighter aircraft, using technology developed originally for the Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Phalcon airborne- early-warning aircraft. No details of the programme have been released, but the phased-array development, if successful, will supersede Elta's family of planar-array radars, ...
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Report damns French policy
Julian Moxon/PARIS A French parliament report on the national defence industry has called for a complete review of France's long-term defence-spending plans to put right what it terms the "brutal and repetitive" reductions in funding over the past few years. The report, by the parliamentary deputy responsible for ...
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Poland threatens to cancel Huzar tender
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The new Solidarity Government in Poland is threatening to cancel the controversial avionics and weapons tender for the planned PZL-Swidnik Huzar battlefield helicopter. Programme sources say that the current tender could be dropped if no compromise agreement is reached between Boeing, which is offering an international ...
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Polish Government condemns Iryda jet trainer as a 'waste of public money'
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The Polish defence ministry has attacked the PZL-Mielec Iryda jet-trainer programme as a waste of public money, questioning the cash-strapped manufacturer's ability to produce an aircraft in this class. The ministry of national defence says that the $300 million which has so far been pumped into ...
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Italy eyes JSF to replace AMX and Harrier
Andrea Spinelli/GENOA Italy is the latest nation to show interest in joining the US Department of Defense's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project, with the air force and industry aiming to take more than "observer status". A formal announcement on joining the concept-definition phase of the JSF programme is ...
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China and Russia combine on KR-1
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Russia and China are collaborating to develop the KR-1 anti-radiation missile, a variant of the Zvezda Strela Kh-31P(AS-17 Krypton) for the Chinese air force. The Russian tactical-missile design house has already delivered a small number of the KR-1 missiles, which may also correspond to the internal ...
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RWR for F/A-18
Litton's Applied Technology division will provide 32 ALR-67 radar-warning receivers (RWRs) for Boeing F/A-18 Hornet strike aircraft sold to the Spanish air force and Royal Thai Air Force. The foreign-military-sales contract, awarded by the US Navy to the San Jose-based unit of Litton Industries, is worth $13 million. Deliveries of ...
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Global broadcast
The US Air Force has selected Hughes Information Systems to provide ground troops with terminals capable of receiving high-quality video and other imagery from global broadcast-system satellites which are being provided by another unit of Hughes Aircraft, Hughes Space and Communications. Hughes Information Systems was chosen in preference to Boeing, ...
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Litton supports RNZN
Four Kaman Aerospace SH-2G Super Seasprite multi-mission helicopters purchased by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) will be equipped with LR-100 electronic-support measures systems made by Litton's Amecom division. Source: Flight International
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VTOL contracts loom as CL-327 UAV flies
The US Navy is expected soon to select the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for its vertical- take-off-and-landing (VTOL) demonstration, following the successful first flight of one of its prime candidates for the programme. The UAV Joint Programme Office "is reviewing the bids and is close to awarding a contract ...
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Project Wedgetail contracts awarded
Three consortia, led by Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon E-Systems, have been awarded long-awaited initial-design-activity (IDA) contracts for Project Wedgetail, Australia's competition for an airborne early-warning-and-control-system (AWACS) aircraft. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is expected to pick the Project Wedgetail winner before the end of 1998, and award ...
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Satellite Launcher directory
Tim Furniss/LONDON The success of the European Space Agency-funded demonstration launch of the Ariane 502 in October buoyed the European space industry after the calamitous failure of the 501 in June 1996. Assuming a successful 503 demonstration flight in May, the Ariane 5 will be taken over by Arianespace ...
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Abbreviations
LEO Low Earth orbit. SS Sun-synchronous orbit. GTO Geostationary transfer orbit. GEO Geostationary orbit. Molniya Highly elliptical orbit based on use by Russian communications of same name. Note contracted payload means number of craft manifested for commercial launches - not the number of launches. Source: Flight International
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New Launchers
X-33 (suborbital): NASA has selected Lockheed Martin to develop and test fly the unmanned sub-orbital flight test vehicle in 1999, which may lead to the development of a new manned/unmanned re-usable SSTO VentureStar launch vehicle (RLV) to replace the Space Shuttle, capable of flying 18,000kg to LEO, starting in 2005. ...
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Moscow airports rebuild
Moscow's four main airports need more money and more passengersVnukovo airport ramp from the control tower Sheremetevo has retained passenger volume Domodedovo is Moscow's second-largest airport Zhukovski is a base for charter airlines Paul Duffy/MOSCOW In 1990, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow's four civil airports handled ...
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Sabah takes first BN2T-4S Islander
Sabah Air has taken delivery of the first Pilatus Britten-Norman BN2T-4S Islander. The Malaysian commercial operator will take delivery of a second -4S model in the first quarter of 1998 and has an option on a third. The twin-turboprop aircraft, an enlarged variant of the standard Islander, will be used ...
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Coast Guard looks at civil tilt-rotor option
Bell Boeing's Model 609 civil tilt-rotor is among options being considered by the US Coast Guard as it begins planning its long-term search-and-rescue requirements. The Coast Guard is examining its aviation needs and is expected to award study contracts in 1998. Bell Boeing has briefed the Coast Guard on ...
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MD Explorer goes to Grand Canyon
Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters has taken delivery of its first Boeing MD Explorer. The company is due to begin operations on 15 December. The eight-seat, twin-engined aircraft will be equipped for multi-mission operations, including search and rescue and firefighting. The acquisition was made in response to a recent ...
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London City limits peak-time access for business aircraft
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON London City Airport has banned access to business aircraft during peak operating hours. The airport joins a growing number of UK airports which are squeezing business-aviation traffic in favour of the more lucrative scheduled airlines. An increase in the airport's popularity has led to slot restrictions ...