All Helicopters articles – Page 450
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ANA hijack triggers security crackdown in Japan
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The death of an All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 747-400 captain at the hands of a knife-wielding hijacker has caused a tightening of security at all Japanese airports. His method of beating security has become clear. According to ANA, the Japanese transport ministry has instructed all ...
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US Army pushes cockpit management technology
Guy Norris/YUMAThe US Army has begun demonstrations of the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate (RPA), a cockpit management system for combat helicopters, amid mounting interest from potential non-rotary users, including the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) and Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programmes. A Boeing Phantom Works-led team developed the RPA over six ...
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Lockheed Martin turns maintenance attention to civil sector
Lockheed Martin Aircraft and Logistics (LMALC) is planning to expand its US and Argentina-based military maintenance operations into the civil aerospace market. Turnover at the Greenville-based company has grown to $800 million from $200 million three years ago and should reach $1 billion by 2003. LMALC president Daniel Patterson says ...
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Galaxy re-engining options opened up
Paul Lewis/MARIETTA Lockheed Martin has dissolved its C-5 Galaxy re-engining partnership with General Electric. It is soliciting competing proposals from Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce as the US Air Force leans towards making the airframer sole source contractor for C-5 re-engining. Draft requests for proposals (RFP) have been sent to ...
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Boeing selected in $1.3 billion Australian AEW&C contest
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRAAustralia has become the launch customer for Boeing's mid-sized airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system under a A$2 billion-plus ($1.3 billion) selection announced on 21 July.Boeing will deliver the first of seven B737-700 aircraft, carrying Northrop Grumman's Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar, by 2004-2005.The award is ...
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F-22 fights back with supercruise success
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES The US Air Force has warned Congress that failure to fund the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor in the fiscal year 2000 defence budget will have a major impact on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project. Maj Gen Claude Bolton, USAF programme executive, fighter and bomber programmes, ...
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House vote puts first nail in F-22's coffin
Congressional moves to cut funds for production of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor took a set closer to reality on 23 July, when the House of Representatives voted to withhold $1.8 billion for the first six aircraft. US Air Force (USAF) and industry hopes to restore funding now rest ...
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Brazil wins approval for P-3A/B Orions
The Brazilian Government has received US State Department authorisation for the acquisition of 12 maritime patrol Lockheed P-3A and P-3B Orions. Brazil's requirement dates back to 1994. The air force launched the PX programme to acquire a dedicated shore-based maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare platform to replace carrier-compatible Grumman S-2Es and ...
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USAF chips in for X-37 spaceplane
The US Air Force is to contribute $16 million to the NASA/Boeing X-37 experimental spaceplane programme as a follow-on to the USAF-funded X-40, to demonstrate technologies for future military spacecraft. The X-37 design is scaled up from the X-40, an unpowered vehicle built by Boeing and drop-tested from a helicopter ...
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Philippines ponders F-5 buy
The Philippines air force is considering purchasing secondhand Northrop F-5s from Taiwan to boost its fighter strength. The country's president Joseph Estrada says any such purchase could not be done directly, to avoid damaging relations with mainland China. Instead, the procurement would have to go through an intermediary. "It ...
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US Air Force fights for F-22 funding after Congress shock
The US Air Force has acted to justify its need for a stealthy air superiority fighter in the light of its Kosovo experience after being surprised by a Congressional move to delay the Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22 Raptor. A key Congressional subcommittee proposed that funds for the first six production ...
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Boeing plans reduced supplier base in bid to improve finances
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Boeing plans to cut its supplier base from over 31,000 companies to just 18,000 as part of a "managing for value" programme to improve the company's financial performance. The supplier base size is a key measurement in a "value scorecard" Boeing will use to track its progress. ...
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Battle expected for USAF C-130X award
At least four US aerospace firms are expected to compete in the US Air Force's $4 billion C-130X avionics modernisation programme (AMP). Incumbent Lockheed Martin will be trying to keep the work away from Raytheon Systems, Boeing and the Austin, Texas-based unit of Marconi Electronic Systems (formerly Tracor). The ...
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Winglets boost 707 cruise performance for BAC II
Burbank Aeronautical (BAC II) says the cruise performance of its Boeing 707-320B demonstrator is "dramatically" improved thanks to winglets installed before a transatlantic flight to Paris, where the modified aircraft was on static display at June's Paris air show. Although the company is evaluating precise performance figures, the winglets ...
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Turmoil strikes Australian AEW&C and airlifter projects
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australia's airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) and new light tactical airlifter projects have been thrown into turmoil following the appearance of a A$2.4 billion ($1.6 billion) hole in forward defence expenditure plans. A top-level upheaval inside the Defence Acquisition Organisation (DAO) has excaberted the situation. ...
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New identity
Airbus is awaiting a decision on its bid to build Europe's Future Large Aircraft Julian Moxon/PARIS When the response to the formal request for proposals for the Future Large Aircraft (FLA) military transport was delivered to Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK on 29 January, there was ...
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European split on competitor to V-22 tiltrotor
GKN Westland and Agusta are finalising a bid to the European Commission to fund a compound helicopter technology demonstrator. This signals the final break-up of the Eurofar consortium, which was created to develop a rival to Bell-Boeing's V-22 tiltrotor. The UK company is also in discussions with the Ministry ...
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Kosovo Apaches come under US Army fire
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC US Army Boeing AH-64A Apache attack helicopter pilots were undertrained and ill-equipped to engage Serb forces in Kosovo, according to a report written by Brig Gen Richard Cody, who led Task Force Hawk in Albania. The internal memorandum that was sent to Gen Eric Shinseki, the US ...
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Long sight for the UK
The UK's lengthy search for an airborne stand-off radar has resulted in a unique surveillance system Stewart Penney/LONDON Simultaneous announcements in London and Paris of the winner of the UK Airborne Stand-Off Radar (ASTOR) competition ended a battle which has raged for the best part of this decade and concludes ...
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Chile heads queue for export F/A-18E/F
Paul Lewis and Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Chile is expected to be the first country to request price and availability data on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, initiating moves to release the upgraded fighter for export. Boeing hopes to secure export release for the F/A-18E/F by year end, after ...