Fixed-wing – Page 1389
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JDA near to F-15 radar choice
THE JAPAN Defense Agency (JDA) is close to a selecting a new radar for its fleet of McDonnell Douglas (MDC)/ Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ fighters, as part of a wider aircraft mid-life upgrade programme. The improved Hughes APG-63 upgrade radar is understood to be the Japan Air Self-Defence Force's ...
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Significant achievement
The first NH Industries NH90 takes shape. Julian Moxon/PARIS At first sight, it might be difficult to appreciate the significance of the all-composite fuselage shell sitting on makeshift landing gear at Eurocopter France's Marseilles factory. It is, however, the visible evidence of progress on what is potentially ...
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Evergreen eavesdroppper
The durable Lockheed C-130 has been used in many 'special' roles Martin Streetly/LONDON By the time the Lockheed C-130J transport aircraft enters production in 1996, the Hercules will have been in service for 40 years. Its longevity is matched by the diversity of roles it has been ...
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Boeing plans 767 tanker for Japanese requirement
BOEING HAS announced formally its intention to develop a combined military tanker/transport derivative of its 767, with the aim of securing a launch order from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF). It is offering two versions of the Tanker/Tanker Multi-Mission aircraft, based on the 767-200ER and stretched ...
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Brazil seizes Il-76
THE BRAZILIAN authorities have seized an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft carrying military spares to the Peruvian air force. Peru and Ecuador are involved in a border dispute. The aircraft, which was seized at Ortaleza Airport, was bound for Lima and carried spares for Peruvian Mil Mi-8 Hips. Ecuador ...
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Euroflag talks to Japan about Kawaski FLA role
Paul Lewis/TOKYO THE JAPAN Defence Agency (JDA) is holding discussions with Euroflag about the possible participation of Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) in the development and production of the Future Large Aircraft (FLA). The Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) has a long-term need for up 30 ...
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German air force ready to cover Bosnian withdrawal
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH THE GERMAN air force is ready to add its strength to an operation to cover the withdrawal of UN Protection Forces (UNPROFOR) from war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina if necessary, according to the Federal Ministry of Defence. The defence ministry says that, while a final go-ahead ...
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RAF to test civil training methods
THE ROYAL AIR FORCE is to train its multi-engine crew in the civil sector in a trial to establish whether such a route will provide an adequate level of tuition for military-transport pilots. Some RAF pilots are now undergoing multi-engine training in the civil sector in Canada. ...
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BAe offers Westland Tiger work
Douglas Barrie/LONDON BRITISH AEROSPACE is attempting to head off possible political pressure to select the Westland bid for the UK attack-helicopter programme by offering it a significant work package on the BAe-led Eurocopter Tiger contender, should it win. The move, which will be highlighted in ...
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Northrop Grumman plans to shed 1,000 more jobs
NORTHROP GRUMMAN is to shed another 1,000 jobs, following the Pentagon's decision to abandon the Tri-Service Stand-off Attack Missile (TSSAM) programme. The group says that the cancellation of the troubled stealth-missile programme should have little impact on this year's financial results, however. The latest cuts ...
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Forced landing ruins S African ACE
ATLAS AVIATION'S ACE trainer has been damaged, probably beyond repair, during a forced landing at Johannesburg's Jan Smuts Airport on 14 February. The accident rules out the South African-built all-composite trainer's participation at several international shows this year, and places a question mark over the future of the ...
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USA refutes UK export appeal
Douglas Barrie/LONDON THE US DEFENCE Secretary William Perry has rebuffed concerns from his UK counterpart Malcolm Rifkind that the "two-way street" in defence procurement between the two countries heavily favours the USA. Rifkind raised the issue in a letter to Perry in the wake of ...
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C-17 team wins Collier Trophy
THE US Air Force, McDonnell Douglas and industrial subcontractor team, which developed the C-17 transport, has won the 1994 Collier Trophy, the most prestigious US award for aeronautical achievement. The US National Aeronautic Association, which has presented the trophy since 1911, says that the award was bestowed "...for ...
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Lockheed completes aerodynamic flight tests of modified extended-range F-16
LOCKHEED HAS completed aerodynamic flight tests of the proposed extended-range F-16ES (enhanced strategic) configuration. Modifications, including shapes representing upper-fuselage conformal fuel-tanks and nose-mounted infra-red sensor balls, have been removed from the F-16C testbed and the aircraft returned to the US Air Force. The 21-flight test programme ...
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Looking at the thinking cockpit
How intelligent is the combat cockpit going to become? Douglas Barrie/LONDON Julian Moxon/PARIS Graham Warwick/ATLANTA A late 1980s' slice of Hollywood Cold War melodrama (Firefox) had film star Clint Eastwood stealing the Soviet Union's next-generation combat aircraft. In the ensuing chase, Eastwood has to ...
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P&W to deliver nozzles for ACTIVE testing
PRATT & WHITNEY plans to ship axisymmetric thrust-vectoring nozzles for a McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-15 to Edwards AFB, California, at the end of this month. A pitch/yaw balanced-beam nozzle (PYBBN) will be installed on each of the F-15's P&W F100-229 engines for flight-testing scheduled to begin in May. ...
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Israel arrows in on defence defence
Israel's main defence against ballistic-missile attack, the Arrow, is at a critical stage. Arie Egozi/TEL AVIV In Hebrew, the Israeli missile-defence organisation is called HOMA - meaning wall. Although it is the incidental result of Hebrew abbreviations, it has a special connotation to its main purpose ...
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Singapore negotiates with USA for additional F-16C/Ds
Douglas Barrie/LONDON SINGAPORE IS negotiating to purchase a further six Lockheed Block 52 F-16C/Ds. The deal would increase its total order to 24 aircraft, which is sufficient to equip two full squadrons. A foreign-military-sales (FMS) contract for the additional aircraft is expected to be concluded in ...
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Germany opts for integrated INS/GPS on Tornado
THE GERMAN AIR FORCE is opting for an integrated laser inertial-navigation/global-positioning system (LINS/GPS) to replace the existing inertial- navigation system (INS) in its Panavia Tornados. The German defence ministry says that Honeywell, Litton and GEC-Marconi Defence Systems are expected to bid to replace the GEC-Marconi FIN 1010 three-axis ...
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Dassault expects to keep combat-aircraft share
Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS DASSAULT AVIATION hopes to retain a share of at least 10% in combat-aircraft export markets, averaging sales of up to 30 aircraft a year over the next decade. The group also hopes to keep a 40% share of the business-jet market sector in which it is ...