Helicopters – Page 475
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Level playing field?
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Canada's quest for a new search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter has attracted the usual bidders - with a twist. One candidate helicopter used to be operated by Canada, until all examples were sold; two were considered in a previous competition, but rejected; and one was ordered by ...
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AIDC turns to civil-manufacturing plans
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development (AIDC) is looking to civil-sector manufacturing to secure its future beyond the end of its Ching Kuo Indigenous Defence Fighter (IDF) programme in 1999. It has teamed up with France's Latecoère on a joint bid to build fuselage-extension plugs for the Airbus A340. It ...
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RoCAFseeks C-119 successor
Taiwan's air force, the Republic of China Air Force (RoCAF), is seeking funding to order up to 18 new tactical transport aircraft to replace its fleet of elderly Fairchild C-119s, many of which are now grounded because of a lack of spare parts. Taiwan has issued a request ...
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US Navy looks to refine CSA cofiguration
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON The US Navy (USN) is expected to release Common Support Aircraft (CSA) definition studies in early 1998. It is keen to bring forward the aircraft's initial operational capability (IOC) to between 2005 and 2008. The USN has a requirement for some 250 CSA aircraft, ...
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USBorder Patrol picks MD 600N to replace Hughes OH-6A
THE US BORDER Patrol has ordered 45 Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems)MD600Ns in a deal worth almost $71 million. The aircraft will replace the agency's fleet of Hughes OH-6A helicopters, with deliveries of nine MD600Ns a year starting n 1998. The eight-seat, single-turbine MD600N was ...
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US military considers civil helicopter lease
The US military is considering leasing civil helicopter services as a substitute for procuring new military rotorcraft. The US Navy's Military Sealift Command plans to launch a competition in fiscal year 1998 for commercially-operated vertical replenishment (VERTREP) of its warships. The contract is designed to meet a projected ...
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Cold climate Hornet
Finland's air force looks forward to operating the Boeing F-18 Hornet Rene van Woezik/Tampere-Pirkkala AB The motto of the Finnish air force is "Qualitas Potentia Nostra: In Quality Lies Our Power". In terms of its front-line hardware, however, this quality has recently teetered on the verge of ...
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Taiwan starts to consider fifth-generation fighters
Brent Hannon/TAIPEI Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE Taiwan's air force has begun planning the procurement of a fifth-generation fighter as a follow-on to the Dassault Mirage 2000-5s and Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs on order and now entering service. "We're now drafting a plan to study and evaluate the next-generation fighter," ...
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Increased potency
Bell's continued investment in the Cobra and Huey programmes may save money Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC VALUEFORMONEY is an overused phrase, but it is the central tenet of the US Marine Corps' programme to upgrade its Bell AH-1WSuperCobra and UH-1N Huey helicopters for continued service through to 2020. To ...
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Civil and military helicopter directory
Compiled by Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC and John Christovassilis/LONDON Helicopter manufacturers are working, with some success, to stimulate the civil market with the introduction of new designs. Bell Helicopter Textron, the leading civil-helicopter manufacturer with around half the world market, has revamped its commercial product-line, most recently ...
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Korean Air investigators focus on possible CFIT
Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE The investigation into the crash of a Korean Air (KAL) Boeing 747-300 in Guam which killed 227 people, has begun to focus on controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) as a possible cause. US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team leader George Black has stated ...
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Retina-projected images may have civil application
MICROVISION HAS signed agreements to demonstrate helmet-mounted displays (HMDs) using technology which projects images directly into the pilot's eye. The company will deliver one virtual retinal display (VRD) to Boeing Saab and two to an unnamed systems integrator. The Seattle, Washington-based company plans to have production VRD-based displays ...
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Military helicopters
The military helicopter arena continues to be a case of too many cooks chasing a limited amount of kitchen space: the market is oversubscribed with suppliers battling for too few buyers. Just when it appeared some progress towards rationalisation was taking place - the acquisition of McDonnell Douglas ...
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Funding is released for Brazil's SIVAM
FINANCING for Brazil's SIVAM Amazon-surveillance programme has been released, enabling Raytheon to begin work on the $1.3 billion programme. The US Export Import Bank is providing just over $1 billion of the funds required for the project, with the Swedish export bank Svensk Exportkredit, Raytheon and SIVAM Vendor ...
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Russians make a start on US trials for 'open-skies' treaty
Guy Norris/WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB Members of the Russian "open-skies" inspection team arrived at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, on 29 July, to begin a Ìve-day series of trial ßights over US territory as a prelude to full participation in the open-skies treaty. Russia and Belarus have yet to sign the treaty, which involves ...
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Four FATE fighter-demonstrator study contracts awarded
FOUR COMPANIES HAVE been awarded three-month, $300,000 US Air Force contracts to begin work on the Future Air-craft Technology Enhancement (FATE) unmanned, subscale fighter demonstrator. Under the study contracts, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas and Northrop Grumman will determine which aerodynamic, flight-control, subsystem and structures technologies should be incorporated in ...
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Snecma declines to take Trent 500 offer
Julian Moxon/PARIS French engine manufacturer Snecma has declined an offer from Rolls-Royce to take a share in the Trent 500 engine chosen to power the Airbus A340-500/600. It is Snecma's second refusal this year of an offer to join R-R on a Trent programme. R-R chairman ...
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Government clears Italian navy's contract for EH101s
Andrea Spinelli/GENOA The Italian navy's order for 16 EHIndustries EH101 maritime helicopters has finally been cleared by the Government's accounting office (Corte dei Conti) following almost two years of deliberations. The decision will allow Agusta, partner with GKNWestland in EHIndustries, to begin manufacturing the 16 aircraft. ...
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Staying afloat
Paul Lewis/TOKYO The number of modern military forces which continue to operate amphibians is diminishing and there are even fewer manufacturers still building such aircraft. Japan is proving to be one exception to the rule. Not only does its navy maintain a fleet of flying boats, but it ...
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Augustine's vision
Northrop Grumman has traded its independence to follow one man's vision of Lockheed Martin playing on the world stage Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NEARLY A CENTURY ago, a handful of men created what became the US aviation industry; names such as Glenn Martin, William Boeing, the Loughead ...