Helicopters – Page 472
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Enhanced Skynet 4 launched
Tim Furniss/CAPE CANAVERAL The UK's Skynet 4D military-communications satellite was lofted into orbit by a three-stage Boeing Delta 2 booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 10 January. The launch was the first of 18 planned by the Delta this year and the first of 11 Matra Marconi Space ...
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USN picks UAVs for VTOL demonstration
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Navy will test three entirely different unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) designs in its forthcoming vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) demonstration, which the contractors hope will lead to the deployment of an operational system. In late 1997, the UAV Joint Project Office chose Bell Helicopter, Bombardier and Science ...
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Bell Boeing 609
Sales of the Bell Boeing Model 609 civil tilt-rotor are ahead of expectations, with deposits received for more than 40 aircraft so far. "The order rate is beyond what we hoped for this early," says marketing chief Ron Reber. "We are overwhelmed by the response." The $8-10 million pricetag ...
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Quick-change artist
Peter Gray/ARLINGTON The tilt-rotor concept has been around for many years, but only recently has the first military application (the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey) received production approval from the US Department of Defense. Even more recently, Bell and Boeing have launched the Model 609 civil tilt-rotor which is scheduled to fly ...
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AIDC and Latecoere team to bid for Airbus contracts
Taiwan has signed an agreement with Latecoere of France to team with Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) to bid for Airbus A340-500/600 work. It also expects to start subcontracting to Boeing shortly, as part of a move to reduce the company's reliance on military work. Under a memorandum of understanding ...
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Airjet cancellation sparks reactions
Julian Moxon/Paris Aero International (Regional)'s (AI(R)) decision to cancel the Airjet 70 regional jet programme has had considerable fall-out in other sectors of the industry, with French-engine builder Snecma saying that it is pulling out of a deal with Pratt & Whitney Canada to develop the SPW14 engine selected ...
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From strength to strength
Peter Henley/MARIETTA The C-130 Hercules has been in service with military and commercial operators around the world since the 1950s. Demand for the type has been such that it has stayed in production throughout that period. It has appeared in various guises since the original A model. The major ...
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Enaer plans to fly Chilean 707 tanker/AEW in 1998
ENAER plans to fly its modified Chilean air force Boeing 707 combined tanker/airborne-early-warning (AEW) aircraft for the first time early in 1998. Modification work, being carried out with the support of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), will see the aircraft fitted with nose- and side-panel-mounted phased-array radars similar to those fitted ...
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Poland threatens to cancel Huzar tender
Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH The new Solidarity Government in Poland is threatening to cancel the controversial avionics and weapons tender for the planned PZL-Swidnik Huzar battlefield helicopter. Programme sources say that the current tender could be dropped if no compromise agreement is reached between Boeing, which is offering an international ...
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VTOL contracts loom as CL-327 UAV flies
The US Navy is expected soon to select the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for its vertical- take-off-and-landing (VTOL) demonstration, following the successful first flight of one of its prime candidates for the programme. The UAV Joint Programme Office "is reviewing the bids and is close to awarding a contract ...
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Project Wedgetail contracts awarded
Three consortia, led by Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon E-Systems, have been awarded long-awaited initial-design-activity (IDA) contracts for Project Wedgetail, Australia's competition for an airborne early-warning-and-control-system (AWACS) aircraft. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is expected to pick the Project Wedgetail winner before the end of 1998, and award ...
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USAF receives E-8
The US Air Force will achieve the initial operational capability for the Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) this month. The initial fielding landmark was made possible after the US aerospace firm delivered the third production JSTARS aircraft to the USAF in November. Although not yet "operational", ...
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CH-60 completes first shipboard deployment
The Sikorsky Aircraft CH-60 fleet-combat-support helicopter has successfully completed its first shipboard deployment in the Atlantic as part of a US Navy test programme to demonstrate that it has enough performance for the required missions. The CH-60 combines features of the US Army's UH-60 Black Hawk and the USN's ...
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Training in private
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Tomorrow's combat pilots could find themselves training in classrooms, in simulators, or even in aircraft bearing a plaque with the legend "Owned and operated by-". Whether the term is "contractise", "privatise" - or, some would complain, compromise - the commercial operation of military training is fast ...
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The right image
Hughes Aircraft is under contract to provide the mid-wavelength staring infra-red imaging system for Kaman Aerospace Super Seasprite helicopters sold to the Royal Australian Navy. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Hughes will provide 11 of the systems, designated the AAQ-27. Deliveries are to begin in 1999 and ...
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GEC-Marconi sets its sights on Kuwaiti AH-64 orders
Kuwait has become the main target for GEC-Marconi Avionics in its bid to secure export orders for its Helicopter Integrated Defensive Aids System (HIDAS) following a contract from the British Army to fit the equipment on its Boeing WAH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The UK Ministry of Defence signed the ...
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Saudi air force may add on 25 more F-15s to Boeing order
The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) has begun preliminary discussions with Boeing over the acquisition of as many as 25 F-15Ss to complement the 72 it already has on order. The RSAF has asked for "pricing and availability data" on the two-seat variant of the F-15. The purchase would ...
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Secure communications
Tim Furniss/RAF OAKHANGER Matra Marconi Space (MMS) of Stevenage, UK, is completing production of the first of three uprated Skynet 4 UK-dedicated military-communications satellites, which are to be launched on a Boeing Delta booster from Cape Canaveral in January 1998. The Skynet 4D will be followed by crafts ...
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Regional pool plan for Globemasters mooted
Mike Martin Could small fleets of Boeing C-17 Globemaster aircraft be operated on a pool basis in Europe and even the Middle East one day? "It's a great idea," says Stuart Thomson, Boeing's business development vice-president, Military Transport, at the show. "Nobody (at Boeing) ...
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USAF abandons winner-take-all EELV approach
The US Air Force has changed its procurement method for its next-generation Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELV), abandoning its previous winner take-all approach in favour of a rolling batch-procurement competition. Lockheed Martin and Boeing had been competing in a winner-take-all competition for a $1.6 billion engineering and manufacturing ...