All Helicopters articles – Page 485
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Investigators probe DarkStar accident
THE LOCKHEED Martin/Boeing team is hurriedly revising plans for its second DarkStar unpiloted surveillance aircraft, following the destruction of the first aircraft in a crash at Edwards AFB, California, on 22 April. The accident compounds already-serious delays to the Tier III Minus DarkStar programme, which is being developed ...
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Boeing suspension
New York-based EDO has received a $1.1 million subcontract to support Boeing Defense & Space Group's Military Airplanes division in development of new weapon-suspension and -release equipment for future combat aircraft under the US Air Force's Weapons Carriage Technology programme. Source: Flight International
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Pentagon orders VIP aircraft update
US DEFENCE SECRETARY William Perry, has ordered that all US military transports dedicated to passenger flights, be equipped with cockpit-voice recorders (CVRs), flight data recorders (FDRs) and global-positioning-system (GPS) hardware. In a letter to armed forces chiefs, Perry says: "Military flight crews must have the most capable and ...
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Lockheed Martin confirms follow-on transport plan
Graham Warwick/ATLANTA LOCKHEED MARTIN is looking for partners to develop a multi-purpose large aircraft to replace Boeing KC-135 tankers, Lockheed C-141 transports and tanker/transports such as the Lockheed TriStar and McDonnell Douglas KC-10. The aircraft, dubbed the "World Airlifter", would also be offered as a ...
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Pentagon plans aerostat cruise-missile defence
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US military is moving ahead with plans to field helium-filled aerostats to help support cruise-missile defences. A new tri-service project office, called the Joint Aerostat Project Management Office for Cruise Missile Defence is being established under US Army auspices at the ...
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DarkStar rises over California
The Lockheed Martin/ Boeing DarkStar high-altitude endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) had its first flight at Edwards AFB, California, on 29 March. The 21m-span UAV had a fully automated flight lasting 20min from take off to landing using differential global-positioning-system (GPS) navigation signals for guidance throughout. "The ...
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Eurocopter is close to clinching Cougar sales
Julian Moxon/MARIGNANE Eurocopter president Jean-Francois Bigay claims that the Franco-German consortium is aiming to conclude orders for "around 100" AS.532 Cougar military-transport helicopters this year. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and a further unnamed country are among those which could, says Bigay, make ...
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VTOL contenders line up for TUAV
BELL HELICOPTER Textron has surprised rivals by offering the Eagle Eye tilt-rotor unmanned air vehicle for the US Department of Defense's multi-billion dollar Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) competition (Flight International, 27 March -2 April). The US helicopter maker joins at least six other bidders for a two-year ...
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Norwegian upgrade
Norway plans a $65 million upgrade of its four maritime-patrol Lockheed Martin P-3C Orions with satellite and secure communications and missile-warning systems. Loral Defense Systems will be prime contractor. Source: Flight International
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BAe offers to build new Nimrod 2000s for RAF
Douglas Barrie/WARTON BRITISH AEROSPACE HAS submitted an option to build new Nimrod 2000s in support of its bid to meet the Royal Air Force's replacement maritime-patrol-aircraft requirement. With its offer, BAe hopes to overcome possible RAF concerns over the attrition rate of its maritime patrol ...
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Bell to lead AH-1W and UH-1 upgrades
Graham Warwick/Atlanta THE US MARINE CORPS is to award Bell Helicopter Textron a single prime contract to upgrade its AH-1W SuperCobra and UH-1N Huey dynamic systems and AH-1W cockpit in November 1997. Bell will then conduct a competition on behalf of the USMC to select equipment for ...
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USA thinks again on combat-aircraft sales
US POLICY BARRING THE sale of combat aircraft to Latin America is "under review" by the Departments of Defense and State. That is all the US Government would say at the show, despite fielding a major military presence led by defence secretary William Perry, after boycotting the show in 1994. ...
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Concerns about V-22 downwash crop
BELL BOEING AND the US Marine Corps are playing down concerns over downwash which emerged from testing of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor. A report rated downwash as a "moderate risk" after a test in which a soldier rappelled 18m (60ft) from the rear ramp of a hovering V-22 and was ...
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Four decades of development
THE TILT-ROTOR is a remarkable aircraft. With the "prop-rotor" nacelles vertical, it can hover, fly sideways and backwards and turn on the spot - just like a tandem-rotor helicopter. With the nacelles horizontal, it has the speed, range and cruising altitude of a conventional twin turboprop. The ...
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Win some, lose some
The US DoD's 1997 budget request represents a 6% decline in defence spending. Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC THE US Department of Defense (DoD) has sent to Capitol Hill a fiscal year 1997 budget request which represents a 6% decline in Pentagon spending from the previous year's ...
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Vertical virtuality
Peter Gray/FORTWORTH If "flying" the simulator is any guide, Bell Boeing's V-22 Osprey proves the tilt-rotor concept. THE PRINCIPLE behind tilt-rotor aircraft has been around almost since the Second World War. Bell developed the first experimental design in the mid-1950s, carried the idea forward with the XV-15 technology demonstrator, ...
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US Air Force moves on with anti-missile laser device
Karen Walker/ORLANDO A REQUEST FOR proposals (RFP) covering the development of an anti-missile laser system will be released by the US Air Force in May. Two teams aim to win the airborne-laser (ABL) system demonstration/validation award. The $754 million demonstration phase will allow the winning ...
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Buses to Bosnia
As USAF McDonnell Douglas C-17s are withdrawn from Bosnia, assessment of the transport aircraft begins Tim Ripley/BOSNIA WHEN THE HARSH Balkan winter halted US Army efforts to bridge the River Sava and troop trains became backed-up in Hungarian marshalling yards, US military planners began to ...
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Lockheed Martin pushes Orion 2000 to US Navy
LOCKHEED MARTIN is lobbying the US Navy to commit to the Orion 2000 as its replacement for its Orion P-3Cs before the UK Ministry of Defence chooses its next-generation maritime patrol aircraft in July. The US manufacturer has teamed with GEC-Marconi and Hunting to compete with British Aerospace/Boeing ...
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S Korea/IPTN in CN-235 trade
SOUTH KOREA IS negotiating a barter-trade deal, with Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN), for up to 14 Indonesian-built CN-235 transports. Discussions focus on the supply of an initial eight CN-235 turboprops, with a follow-on purchase of a further six aircraft. The South Korean air force requires the first ...