All news – Page 7501
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Croatia orders Bell 206B-3 JetRangers
Croatia has ordered ten Bell 206B-3 JetRangers, worth $15 million with training and support, for initial-entry helicopter pilot training in its air force. The deal is the first major aircraft purchase by Croatia since the signing of the US-brokered Dayton peace agreement on Bosnia. Pilot and maintenance training ...
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Austria evaluates F-16 and F-18
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA An Austrian air force team has visited the USA to evaluate the Lockheed Martin F-16C/D and McDonnell Douglas F-18C/D as it prepares for a fighter competition expected to get under way in 1997. Evaluation of aircraft, including in-country demonstrations, is expected to be complete by ...
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Turkey issues RFP for F-5 avionics-upgrade plans
Tony Gill/WASHINGTON DC Turkey has issued a new request for proposals (RFP) for an avionics modernisation of its Northrop F-5s. A separate, but interdependent F-5 structural upgrade, to be performed by the Turkish air force and local industry, makes up the remainder of a programme to update ...
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Rafael reveals ramjet work
Douglas Barrie/LONDON Rafael of Israel is working on the design of ramjet-missile power plants, with test launches having already been carried out. The programme feeds into projects now in the development stages. The state-owned group's Manor Propulsion and Explosive Systems division has tested an annular-intake ...
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MDC targets JDAM at European market
McDonnell Douglas (MDC) is discussing the sale of its Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) with France, Germany and the UK, as flight-testing of the weapon gets under way in the USA. The first fully guided flight of a Mk84 900kg bomb equipped with the JDAM inertial-navigation/global-positioning (INS/GPS) guidance tail-kit is ...
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Hughes wins upgrade
Hughes Aircraft has been awarded a $12.7 million subcontract by Dornier to supply its Sentry air-defence system for the German air force's Control and Reporting Centre at Schonewalde. The Sentry will be customised for the air force with the addition of a Boeing E-3A AWACS data-link. Source: Flight ...
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Hughes protests in vain
The US General Accounting Office, has denied Hughes Aircraft's protest at the US Air Force's selection of Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas, to develop the Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM), in a programme which could be worth $3 billion. The GAO's decision to turn down Hughes Aircraft ...
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ITP draws up thrust-vector plan for EJ 200
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Eurojet partner ITP of Spain is planning to run vectored-thrust nozzle tests on an EJ200 engine developed for the Eurofighter EF2000 in early 1998. A first flight test could take place as early as 2000. ITP is already responsible for the nozzle on the ...
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Poland's president promises defence spending increase
Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski plans to double defence spending from 1998 to 2002, to help speed up his country's entry into NATO. Kwasniewski says that the money, amounting to Pzl8 billion ($6.2 billion), will be needed to fund armed-forces modernisation programmes, including the purchase of new multi-role combat ...
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Romanian air force receives first C-130Bs
The Romanian Air Force took delivery of its first two ex-US Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130B transports on 23 October. One of the aircraft, in Romanian air force colours, is shown at Shannon, Ireland, en route for Bucharest. Romania will take delivery of two more C-130Bs in November, and is ...
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South Korea considers stand-off weapon selection
Paul Lewis/SEOUL The SOUTH Korean air force is expected to make a decision in 1997 on the selection of a new air-launched stand-off weapon to arm its McDonnell Douglas F-4E and replacement F-X aircraft. South Korean interest is focused primarily on the Rockwell International AGM-130 ...
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Turkey will join USA in fielding Army Tactical Missile System
Turkey is to join the US Army in deploying the Lockheed Martin Vought Systems Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). The US defence contractor says that Turkey has agreed to buy 72 ATACMS missiles, worth $48 million. The foreign-military-sales transaction is the first outside the USA for the surface-to-surface ...
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Bombardier offers Challenger 604 part-shares
Bombardier Business Jet Solutions has taken delivery of the first Canadair Challenger 604 for use in its FlexJet fractional-ownership programme. The delivery boosts the number of aircraft operated by the Bombardier/AMR Combs joint venture to 22, including eight Learjet 31A light business jets, nine mid-sized Learjet 60s and three wide-body ...
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Main PNG helicopter operators
Papua New Guinea's (PNG's) two major helicopter operators plan to merge in early 1997 in an effort to combat growing international competition for their established businesses. Hevilift and Pacific Helicopters have a combined fleet of more than 70 aircraft, ranging from Bell 206 Jet Rangers, through light and ...
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Raytheon begins first Premier I fuselage
Graham Warwick/WICHITA Raytheon Aircraft is to produce the first composite-fuselage section for the Premier I business jet later in November, using fibre-placement technology. The forward-fuselage section is intended as a demonstration article, but could be used in an aircraft if it passes all qualification tests. ...
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FAA approves Duke strakes
Vortex-generator specialist Boundary Layer Research has obtained a US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type-certificate for fitting a pair of aft-body strakes to Beech Duke models 60, A60 and B60. The two 1.6m-long strakes, weighing a total of 3.4kg, are riveted to the underside of the aft fuselage. They are claimed ...
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Funding hurdle bars further SW-4 progress
Andrjez Jeziorski/WARSAW Polish helicopter manufacturer PZL-Swidnik successfully completed the much-delayed first flight of its SW-4 light helicopter on 26 October, but now has to fight for Government funding to complete certification. The single turbine five seater is the first new East European aircraft, designed and ...
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AVIC and AIA discuss extended-range AE-100
Aviation Industries of China (AVIC) and Aero International Asia (AIA) are discussing development of an extended-range version of the proposed AirExpress AE-100 family of regional aircraft. According to industry sources, it is planned to offer the option of a longer-range derivative, designed to fly up to 4,800km ...
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China signs contract for CFM56-5B4s to power its A320 fleet
China Aviation Supplies (CASC) has signed a $130 million contract with General Electric/Snecma for CFM56-5B4 engines to power 13 Airbus A320s for China Northwest Airlines and Zhejiang Airlines. Under a deal already agreed with CASC, ten of the A320s will be allocated to China Northwest, and the remaining ...
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MDC board terminates MD-XX
McDonnell Douglas' (MDC) long-term commitment to the commercial jet-airliner business has once more been thrown into doubt following the board's decision to scrub plans for the proposed MD-XX tri-jet. MDC chief executive Harry Stonecipher admits that the decision to abandon the programme, which was taken at a ...