All Helicopters articles – Page 453
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Brazil's new teeth
With the roll-out of the Embraer EMB-145SA and ALX on 28 May, the Brazilian air force is preparing to add two long-awaited aircraft to its fleet Jackson Flores jr/SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS The addition of the EMB-145 surveillance platform and the ALX light strike aircraft will give the Brazilian air ...
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Contracts
Lockheed Martin Sanders, electronic warfare prime contractor for its parent company's Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) proposal, has selected Litton Amecom to lead development of the electronic support measures (ESM)system, if Lockheed Martin wins the JSF contest. Israel's Rafael will supply its vertically launched Barak-1 point defence missile to Signaal of ...
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US DoD orders JDAM production ramp-up
Ramon Lopez/EGLIN AFB The US Department of Defense has ordered Boeing to accelerate production of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits for the US Air Force and navy because of a shortage created by its successful use in the air campaign over Yugoslavia, says Oscar Soler, JDAM programme manager. ...
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Lockheed Martin sees focus of UCAV shifting to surveillance
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA The US Air Force's proposed unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) may see its first operational applications in surveillance and reconnaissance roles rather than strike missions, according to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics president, "Micky" Blackwell. The shift in focus, Blackwell says, is likely to be driven by competing ...
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US probes launches
The US launcher industry may be grounded for up to six months as President Bill Clinton has ordered Defense Secretary George Cohen to investigate recent launch failures of Lockheed Martin Titan IV, Athena and Boeing Delta III boosters. Six failures between July 1998 and May this year have cost over ...
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Spain opens C295 account
The Spanish Government has opened the orderbook for the CASA C295 military transport with a deal for nine aircraft. "We have started marketing the aircraft worldwide as a natural complement to the smaller CN235 and C212," says CASA. It adds that there are "excellent prospects" for sales of around 20 ...
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US Army nears decision on Apache requirement
The US Army hopes to decide towards year-end on the number of Boeing AH-64D Apache helicopters it plans to remanufacture, as well as the mix and quantity of Lockheed Martin Longbow fire control radars needed to equip the fleet. It originally planned to modernise 748 AH-64As and acquire enough ...
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Australian defence budget gives priority to missiles
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australia's 1999 defence budget gives the go-ahead for the purchase of warstock quantities of advanced short range and medium range air to air missiles (ASRAAMs and AMRAAMs) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ...
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Investigators probe causes of booster failures
Preliminary investigations have identified hardware problems and corrupted software as possible causes of the recent failures of the Boeing Delta III and Lockheed Martin Titan IVB/Centaur boosters. The second burn of the Boeing Delta III second stage lasted 1s, rather than the planned 2min 47s, stranding the Orion 3 ...
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Rotary Rocket holds Virgin funding talks
Andrzej Jeziorski/PARIS California's Rotary Rocket is in talks with UK millionaire and Virgin founder Richard Branson on funding for its Roton re-usable launch vehicle (RLV) programme. Rotary Rocket chief executive Gary Hudson is understood to have met Branson to discuss the programme. The company needs about $150 million ...
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Warning revolution
The UK Royal Navy is set to make a quantum leap in its airborne early warning capability Tim Ripley/BOSCOMBE DOWNThe UK's Royal Navy is on course to field a revolutionary airborne early warning (AEW) helicopter early in the next century. It will allow the RN to fight in the so-called ...
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Suite tests
Flight tests will begin this year of the ITT Industries ALQ-211 suite of integrated RF countermeasures (SIRFC). Two self-protection suites have been delivered to the US Army for ground tests. Operational test and evaluation and production will begin in 2000. The army is to fit SIRFC to Boeing AH-64D Longbow ...
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India considers SAR pod for MiG-27 Floggers
The Indian air force is considering equipping its Mikoyan MiG-27 Floggers with an Elta synthetic aperture radar (SAR) pod, and with an electronic warfare suite also developed by the Israeli company. Elta, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), has signed major deals with India in recent months, ...
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USAF seeks to block Boeing/Elta AEW
The US Air Force has raised objections to Boeing and Elta teaming up to meet an Israeli air force requirement for advanced airborne warning and command aircraft. The pair will install an Elta Phalcon-based phased-array radar as the main sensor on a Boeing 767, or similar platform. Boeing was ...
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New Zealand F-16s to get strike capability
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRAThe Royal New Zealand Air Force is to upgrade the strike capabilities of its planned force of 28 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 15 fighters with pod-based ECM jamming and laser target designation systems. The office of New Zealand defence minister Max Bradford has confirmed that a range of ...
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Embraer to roll out aircraft for Amazon surveillance
Paul Lewis/RIO DE JANEIRO Embraer is planning to roll out the first of five ERJ-145SA airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft later this month, along with the first ALX light attack version of the EMB-314 Super Tucano. The aircraft form two of the three airborne systems that make up ...
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UK may shadow UAV trials for US Navy
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The UK may exercise a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate alongside US Navy vertical take-off and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle (VTUAV) sea trials. It is funding a study to define what is required for full function and control of VTUAV flight operations from warships. The ...
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Dutch eye F-16 replacement
Gert Kromhout/RIJNSBURG The Netherlands has launched a formal requirement study for a new fighter to replace its Lockheed Martin F-16MLUs between 2010 and 2025. The study will take into account expected long-term developments in the use of air power, and assess the potential of cruise missiles, armed helicopters ...
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$5 billion war chest for Kosovo brings defence industry boom
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The Clinton Administration's $5.1 billion request for extra defence spending to support the air war in Yugoslavia could become only a down payment to the long term cost of the conflict. The supplemental spending is needed for US air operations until 30 September since the air war ...
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Ahead of the game
The Czech air force has an ambitious re-equipment programme in mind Andrew Doyle/PRAGUEOf NATO's new East European members, the Czech Republic has the most advanced re-equipment programme. It will take delivery later this year of the first five of 72 indigenously developed Aero Vodochody L-159 light attack and reconnaissance aircraft. ...