All articles by James Drew – Page 8
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NewsLockheed prepping Advanced EOTS and Legion Pod for flight tests
Lockheed Martin is assembling a prototype of its "advanced" electro-optical targeting system (EOTS) that is being offered to replace today’s baseline F-35 EOTS sensor ahead of flight testing next year.
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NewsAviation accounts restored in DOD 'unfunded priority' lists
If Congress directed an extra $690.5 million to the US Air Force, it would restore the five Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft that it cut from its fiscal year 2017 budget request. The US Marine Corps, meanwhile, would spend a $750 million windfall on two more F-35Bs and two ...
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AnalysisANALYSIS: America's hypersonic missile revolution beckons
Long before hitching a ride to the moon aboard Apollo 11, then US Air Force test pilot Neil Armstrong was zipping around in a rocket-powered North American X-15, which to this day remains the fastest manned, winged aircraft ever built. That flight record of Mach 6.72 or 7,274km/h was set ...
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NewsVIDEO: Aurora’s LightningStrike wins DARPA VTOL X-plane comp
Aurora Flight Sciences will build a prototype of its unmanned, hybrid-propulsion “LightningStrike” aircraft after beating two remaining competitors for the coveted DARPA vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) X-plane project.
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NewsBoeing’s second KC-46A achieves first flight
Boeing’s second functional KC-46A has joined the fledgling Pegasus fleet as the US Air Force's next-generation tanker programme advances toward a production decision by the Pentagon in April or May.
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NewsHELI-EXPO: FVL 'taking off' as military helo sales wane
With global sales of military rotorcraft set to decline, the AHS International vertical flight technology society is pushing future vertical lift as a way of replacing veteran rotorcraft designs like the Sikorsky H-60 and Boeing H-47, which trace their lineage back to the 1960s.
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HELI-EXPO: Lockheed-Sikorsky Raider could answer FVL call
Lockheed Martin Sikorsky will answer the US Army’s call for information on potential light armed reconnaissance and attack aircraft with a proposal derived from the S-97 Raider.
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HELI-EXPO: Retired UH-60As could have big commercial future
A Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk might seem out of place at a commercial helicopter convention, but several companies were present at this year's Heli-Expo touting modifications and mission kits for retired US Army A-models as they eye a potentially huge supply of feeder aircraft.
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HELI-EXPO: Sikorsky nears full EASA approval for VIP S-76D
Sikorsky is “probably about several months away” from clearing up outstanding certification issues covering the VIP configuration of its S-76D with the European Aviation Safety Agency.
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NewsHELI-EXPO: Bell seeks buyer for 412EPI display model
As well as showing off its latest clean-sheet designs, Bell Helicopter is also using the Heli-Expo show this week to offload a surplus 412EPI display model.
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HELI-EXPO: Robinson begins taking orders for R44 Cadet
Robinson has begun taking orders for its new twin-seat derivative of the Raven, the R44 Cadet, as it closes on US Federal Aviation Administration certification.
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HELI-EXPO: Lockheed-Sikorsky considers new commercial helicopters
Sikorsky is looking beyond the S-76D and S-92 to new commercial products, potentially clean-sheet designs in the medium or light classes or “significant upgrades” to existing designs.
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NewsFinmeccanica to offer AW139 and AW119 for US military missions
Finmeccanica intends to compete for two substantial helicopter requirements by the US military, offering the 15-seat AW139 as a replacement for the US Air Force’s 62 UH-1Ns and the AW119 Koala for the US Navy's helicopter training programme, potentially replacing up to 117 Bell 206-based TH-57 Sea Rangers.
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NewsHELI-EXPO: Bell rules out future conventional military helicopter developments
Mitch Snyder, the chief executive of Bell Helicopter, does not imagine the company offering another clean-sheet helicopter type to the US military after completing delivery of the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom programmes of record.
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NewsVIDEO: Bell relentlessly pursuing 525 despite market troubles
Work on the Bell Helicopter 525 Relentless is accelerating at the company’s assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas, as the third flight-test vehicle (FTV) nears completion and the first two production-representative examples also begin to take shape.
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NewsUSAF flaunts ‘arsenal plane’ concept at Air Warfare Symposium
The US Air Force has offered the first artist’s impression of the Pentagon’s “arsenal plane” concept in a video presented by service secretary Deborah Lee James at an Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
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NewsBoeing and Lockheed back off potential bomber challenge
Boeing and Lockheed Martin will not challenge the US Air Force’s long-range strike bomber pick in the US Court of Federal Claims, or continue any action through the Government Accountability Office.
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NewsUSAF Global Strike chief seeks beefed-up bomber force
The head of US Air Force Global Strike Command has called for a beefed-up bomber force of “175 to 200” bombers and will make a formal recommendation to the service chief of staff and major command leaders next month.
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NewsUSAF reveals Northrop's B-21 long-range strike bomber
The US Air Force has revealed its bomber for the 21st century, the Northrop Grumman B-21 long-range strike bomber.
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NewsNorthrop preparing German Euro Hawk to fly again
The Northrop Grumman-built “Euro Hawk” unmanned air vehicle will fly again after the Germany Air Force decided to resume testing of the aircraft and its Airbus Defence & Space signals intelligence payload.