All articles by James Drew – Page 2
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NewsBoeing backs extended-range Harpoon to stave off Kongsberg threat
The US Navy will wrap up developmental free flight testing of the datalink-equipped Boeing Harpoon Block II+ sea-skimming, anti-ship missile next week, ahead of fielding on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet sometime between June and August of 2017.
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NewsBoeing resumes Advanced Super Hornet push as US Navy considers fleet size
Boeing Defense has “matured its thinking” about the Advanced Super Hornet concept that it launched in 2013 and flight tested, revealing a scaled-back configuration this week with fewer stealth features and perhaps a greater chance of being picked up by the US Navy.
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NewsDraft US defence spending bill funds 11 more F-35s and 14 F/A-18s
The Lockheed Martin F-35 and Boeing F/A-18 has received strong support from lawmakers in the US House of Representatives, with the defence appropriations subcommittee voting today on a draft spending bill that would buy 11 more Lightning IIs and 14 more Super Hornets than requested by the Pentagon for fiscal ...
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NewsUSAF issues RfP for initial design of next Air Force One
As America prepares to pick its next president, the US Air Force is about to put Boeing on contract to begin designing the next version of Air Force One.
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NewsUSAF proposes Gulfstream G550 CAEW to re-host electronic attack gear
The US Air Force has requested permission from Congress to shift advanced electronic attack hardware from its EC-130H Compass Call aircraft onto Gulfstream G550 conformal airborne early warning airframes.
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NewsTextron Systems beds down Aerosonde operations in Blackstone
The town of Blackstone, Virginia has become accustomed to the steady whir of the Lycoming EL-005 two-stroke, single-piston heavy fuel engine that powers the Textron Systems Aerosonde Mk4.7G.
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NewsF-35 locked and loaded with improved Block 3i software
The F-35 Joint Programme Office (JPO) has locked in the final software configuration for the Lightning II that the US Air Force’s first combat squadron at Hill AFB in Utah will declare initial operational capability (IOC) with some time between August and December.
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NewsDOD keeps eye on hypersonic missiles and manoeuvring warheads
As the USA, Russia and China pursue long-range, high-speed boost-glide and scramjet/ramjet-powered strike weapons, the deputy commander of US Strategic Command Lt Gen Stephen Wilson says arming those hypersonic vehicles with nuclear warheads is not currently part of the conversation, at least for America.
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NewsDOD awaits Northrop B-21 to fill 'long-range strike deficit'
Last month, a package of Boeing B-52 aircraft belonging to the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana deployed to Qatar to support bombing raids on the Islamic State terrorist network in Iraq and Syria. These B-52s replaced the Boeing B-1B “Bone” aircraft that left the region in January ...
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NewsSikorsky's optionally piloted UH-60A conversion to prove Matrix technology
Sikorsky will roll out its first optionally piloted UH-60A Black Hawk later this year ahead of a full flight campaign that will commence in 2017.
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NewsKC-46 team working fixes to complete C-17 demo in ‘late May’
Boeing is developing both a hardware and software fix for its KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling system that it hopes will resolve the boom axial loads issue that has so far prevented refuelling of the C-17A.
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NewsUTAS touts MS-110 reconnaissance sensor for MQ-9 Reaper
UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) has not given up trying to find a customer willing to install its dual-band DB-110 airborne reconnaissance sensor – or its newer multispectral version, the MS-110 – on the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper.
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NewsRaytheon retaining focus on small, swarming unmanned aircraft
US missile manufacturer Raytheon is zeroing in on low-cost, tube-launched small unmanned aircraft like the Coyote and autonomous swarming technology to capture new business as part of the Pentagon’s Third Offset Strategy.
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NewsInsitu pressing forward with FLARES as ScanEagle launch system
The quadcopter-based contraption Insitu and Hood Technology have developed for launching the ScanEagle – the flying launch and recovery system (FLARES) – should be ready for production by late 2017.
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NewsUS Army wants to boost reliability of MQ-1C Gray Eagle's engine
The US Army is pursuing component changes to boost the reliability of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1C Gray Eagle’s heavy fuel engine, the service’s product manager for the medium-altitude, long-endurance platform says.
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NewsKratos breaking into the unmanned combat air vehicle market
Kratos Defense is gaining ground in the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) market traditionally dominated by the world’s largest defence firms and privately-held General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in the USA, having captured at least one significant classified contract and most recently winning a place on the US Defense Advanced Research ...
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NewsUSAF to automate MQ-9 takeoffs and landings
The US Air Force is pressing forward with a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper upgrade that would allow the widely fielded armed aircraft to takeoff and land automatically.
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USAF’s Small UAS roadmap calls for swarming ‘kamikaze’ drones
If the US Air Force needed to break into places like Iran, North Korea, Russia or China, it would overwhelm those countries' integrated air defence systems with tens of thousands of small and relatively cheap small unmanned aircraft acting as jammers, decoys, cameras and “kamikazes”.
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NewsTextron pushing Shadow M2 airframe as it signs final V2 contracts
The US Army has put Textron Systems on contract to update all but two of its RQ-7 Shadows to the all-digital Version 2 system, and a deal for those remaining aircraft operated by the National Guard should be forthcoming later this year, says the manufacturer’s vice-president of tactical unmanned aircraft ...
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NewsTextron demonstrates VTOL Aerosonde as it snags US Army Shadow contract
Textron Systems says it has successfully demonstrated a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) with its Aerosonde unmanned air vehicle using the hybrid quadcopter technology that it is pursuing along with Latitude Engineering and Cloud Cap Technology.