Fixed-wing – Page 292
-
Opinion
OPINION: Boeing defence unit under pressure to win big
While their colleagues in the commercial sector face the challenge of ensuring that production rates can keep pace with record-breaking demand, the folks at Boeing Defense & Space must be wishing for a similar set of problems.
-
NewsLockheed C-130J not entered in Canadian FWSAR competition
Canada’s decade-long quest to purchase a new fixed-wing search and rescue (FWSAR) aircraft has come down to three contenders, the Embraer KC-390, Alenia Aermacchi C-27J and Airbus Defence & Space C-295W.
-
News
Bell to test new blades for V-22 Osprey
Bell Helicopter will, in 2017, fly a V-22 tiltrotor equipped with new prop rotor blades designed to reduce manufacturing costs on the type.
-
NewsCombat-coded F-35A to begin dropping bombs
In February or early March, a combat-coded F-35A from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill AFB will release an inert, laser-guided bomb at the nearby Utah Test and Training Range.
-
NewsLife of RAF Tornado squadron further extended to 2018
Further detail on the UK Ministry of Defence’s November Strategic Defence & Security Review (SDSR) has revealed the retirement of a Panavia Tornado GR4 squadron will be pushed back to 2018, from the previously announced 2017 date.
-
NewsUK eyes potential for in-flight refuelling of helicopters
The UK is exploring options for its transport rotorcraft, including in-flight refuelling, as it looks to extend the operational range of its fleet in line with commitments in a recent defence review.
-
NewsNew Lithuanian SAR helicopters report for duty
Airbus Helicopters has completed deliveries under a three-unit deal to equip the Lithuanian armed forces with AS365 N3+ rotorcraft equipped for search and rescue (SAR).
-
NewsLockheed starts systems retrofit on Israeli C-130J
Work to install additional systems on the first of the Israeli air force's Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transports began in mid-January at the manufacturer's facility in Greenville, South Carolina.
-
NewsF135 production to jump 110% as DOD and P&W reach agreement
The US defense department and Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II engine supplier Pratt & Whitney have reached a “handshake agreement” in contract negotiations for production of 167 F135 turbofan engines, according to a joint statement released today.
-
NewsBoeing B-52 evolves again with guided weapons launcher
On 16 January 1991, seven Boeing B-52Gs fully loaded with AGM-86C conventional air-launched cruise missiles took flight from Barksdale AFB in Louisiana on a top-secret mission to destroy targets inside Iraq.
-
NewsPICTURES: Airbus to flight test new C295 aerial refuelling rig
Airbus Defence & Space's development of an air-to-air refuelling system for the C295 is moving ahead, with a “dry contract” flight test planned in 2016, ahead of a full fuel transfer trial.
-
News
Warsaw nears decision in UAV contest
Poland's defence ministry is moving forward with its effort to select mini and tactical unmanned air systems, having launched the process early last year. Final requirements are expected to be released this month, with local news agency PAP reporting a deal should be signed early this year.
-
NewsUS Air Force highlights UAV staffing strain
The number of daily US Air Force unmanned air vehicle combat air patrols (CAPs) reached its peak in 2015, but such demand, and the resulting manning shortages, have put extra strain on surveillance operations.
-
NewsUS Army approves Block II Chinook plan
A top US Army acquisition executive has given the service approval to proceed with the Block II Chinook programme, a long-term effort aimed at replacing or rebuilding today’s tandem-rotor Boeing CH-47F and MH-47G fleets in the 2020s.
-
NewsUS Navy retires its last S-3B Vikings
The US Navy has bid farewell to its two remaining Lockheed S-3B Vikings after some 40 years in service, as one transitions to NASA and the other to the US Air Force’s aircraft boneyard.
-
NewsFleet-wide F-35 fix targets fuel tank over-pressurisation
The concurrency curse has struck the Lockheed Martin F-35 again, this time during lightning protection qualification, when it was discovered the jet’s fuel tanks could over-pressurise “beyond design limits” in certain flight profiles.
-
News
Malaysia takes delivery of its second A400M
The Royal Malaysian Air Force has accepted its second Airbus Defence & Space A400M tactical transport during a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.
-
NewsF-35 training at Luke AFB gathers pace with 34 jets
The multinational pilot training centre at Luke AFB in Arizona has grown exponentially since receiving its first Lockheed Martin F-35 in March 2014, and that pace won’t let up in 2016 as the 56th Fighter Wing zips past 3,000 Lightning II sorties.
-
NewsBoeing tapped for P-8A upgrade as AAS and Harpoon move forward
Boeing will receive a work package from the US Navy to design and incorporate “Increment 3 Block 2” improvements into the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, according to a contracting announcement released on 12 January.
-
NewsDemand for low airfares increasing appeal of unmanned flight
The rising cost of providing navigation equipment for airline pilots, and the parallel demand for cheaper airfares, will inevitably lead to piloted flight being obsolete in 40 years’ time, a defence consultant has argued.