All Helicopters articles – Page 457
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UK carrier concept awaits fighter decision
Howard Gethin/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence has opened a contest for the contract worth up to £1.48 billion ($2.44 billion) to build two aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. Invitations to tender have been issued to six potential prime contractors: British Aerospace Defence Systems, Marconi Electronic Systems, Boeing, Lockheed ...
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Single minded
Julian Moxon/BORDES As Europe's principal manufacturer of helicopter turboshafts and light military trainer engines, Turboméca clearly has strategic value. In the climate of mega-mergers, it is perhaps surprising to find that this company, nestling in the lee of the French Pyrennees, has no plans to offer itself as part of ...
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USAF searches for KC-135 navigation/communications upgrade
The US Air Force has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a further upgrade of its entire fleet of Boeing KC-135 tanker aircraft with a new global air traffic management (GATM) capability. The RFP comes as it nears a final decision on a similar modernisation of the avionics in ...
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F/A-18E/F :Transition issues
Introducing an improved product while sustaining demand for its predecessor is a difficult task for any manufacturer. It is particularly so for fighter producers, dealing with protracted procurement processes, long production lead times and intense international competition. Introduction of the E/F has led inevitably to questions about Boeing's approach ...
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Airbus Military gets ready in time for FLA decision day
Julian Moxon/PARIS Formation of the Airbus Military Company (AMC) is imminent as the 29 January deadline nears for submission of a definitive bid to the seven partner governments involved in the programme. AMC is charged with developing and marketing the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) airlifter. The offer, ...
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All-UK merger sends European defence into disarray
Dee Dee Doke/LONDON Paul Lewis and Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Julian Moxon/PARIS A rancorous reception from Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) greeted British Aerospace and GEC's announcement last week that a £7.7 billion ($12.3 billion) deal had been struck to create a monolithic defence entity based in the UK. ...
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Cash shortage threatens more procurement delays in S Korea
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The timetable for key South Korean defence procurement programmes looks likely to slip further as cash shortages continue, say senior defence and industry sources in Seoul. The delays are likely to hit programmes such as South Korea's F-X fighter programme and the E-X airborne early warning ...
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UK helicopter command poised to take control
Tim Ripley/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence is set to announce the formation of a new Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) by the end of January. It will be responsible for control of the peacetime operations of British Army Air Corps, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy battlefield helicopters. The ...
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Czechs extend Polish link with trainer offer
The Czech Republic is offering Poland major industrial participation in Aero Vodochody's light attack and jet trainer aircraft programmes as part of a wider move to increase political and economic co-operation between the two countries. Prague is proposing the transfer of wing manufacture for Aero's L-159 light combat aircraft ...
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Eurocopter offers Turkey higher-powered Tiger
Julian Moxon/BORDES Eurocopter has offered Turkey a version of the Tiger anti-tank helicopter powered by the USLHTEC T800 turboshaft in response to a demand for more power for hot and high operations. Turkey has a requirement for 145 anti-tank helicopters and has asked contenders to offer a choice ...
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Global races
A new form of arms race has begun in earnest: the race for global domination in aerospace and defence production. America's Boeing and Lockheed Martin were already ahead of the pack if you combine their respective sales in commercial and military aerospace, electronics, defence systems, missiles and space. Take away ...
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Taiwan LANTIRN
Taiwan has awarded Lockheed Martin a $106 million contract for 20 Sharpshooter targeting pods and 20 Pathfinder navigation pods to equip its fighter aircraft in a US Air Force foreign military sales deal. The pods are to be integrated with Taiwan's Lockheed Martin F-16s by 2001. The systems are a ...
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F119 powers up for F-22 production standard
Pratt & Whitney plans to deliver its first full production standard F119 engine for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 fighter test programme in November. The powerplant, the 18th of 26 flight test engines the company will deliver by the end of 2000, will form P&W's production endurance demonstration engine. "It ...
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F/A-18E/F: Changing Roles
What the F/A-18E/F is - and what it is not - is best understood within the context of the programme's history, as the Super Hornet is the survivor of one of the most confused periods in US naval aviation planning. A decade ago, the carrier air wing envisaged for ...
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ACE in the hole for AH-64 and UH-60
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Army plans to procure an Advanced Common Engine (ACE) in the 2,240kW (3,000shp) class for retrofit into in-service Boeing AH-64 Apache and Sikorsky Aircraft UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. US Army officials say the as-yet unfunded Common Engine Programme (CEP) is required for the ...
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RAH-66 Comanche team sticks with Longbow radar
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Boeing Sikorsky, the prime integrator for the US Army's RAH-66 Comanche armed reconnaissance/attack helicopter, is to retain the Lockheed Martin/ Northrop Grumman Longbow millimetre-wave radar after failing to find a viable alternative. The search for another fire control radar solution for the RAH-66 was directed ...
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Australia plans biological weapons buster
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Australian concerns at the potential for proliferation of chemical and biological weapons within the Asia-Pacific region have lead to plans for the development of what is being termed a "Special Weapons" capability by 2005. Key decisions on whether to proceed with the project are to be ...
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RAF Nimrod upgrade falls behind schedule
The Royal Air Force is unlikely to receive its first upgraded Nimrod MR4 maritime patrol aircraft until 2002, as a result of delays to the £2 billion ($3.3 billion) modification programme. The programme is thought to be up to eight months behind schedule, the first aircraft having been delivered ...
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Mercenary intentions
Alan Venter/LUSAKA The shooting down of three Angolan air force Mikoyan MiG-23s in the first week of January by Unita forces fielding hand-held surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) has introduced a new dimension to the Angolan war. The MiGs were engaged in ground support operations against Dr Jonas Savimbi's rebel army. ...
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Neural net controller for trial on F-15 ACTIVE
NASA and Boeing plan to begin flight tests of an advanced "neural network"-based controller on the F-15 ACTIVE (Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles) testbed by the end of next month. This is the first part of the Intelligent Flight Control System programme. The neural network-based controller is expected ...