All Military UAVs articles – Page 317
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Running with it
If Europe has found a way of sorting out its fragmented space, guided weapons, commercial aircraft and even helicopter industries with a path being trodden for avionics, radar and other defence systems, the fighter road is far from clear. It is a worrying sign, given that air power will ...
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UK sends out for UAV assessment bids
Stewart Penney/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence is inviting a dozen companies to bid for the assessment phase of its Sender unmanned air vehicle (UAV) requirement. At the same time, the MoD and US Army have agreed a letter of intent (LoI) to explore opportunities for Tactical UAV (TUAV) co-operation. ...
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Comanche tests to speed up
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DCBoeing and Sikorsky plan to accelerate RAH-66 Comanche helicopter flight and system testing in a move to reduce development risk. This coincides with the US Congress signalling its intent to pay much closer scrutiny to the helicopter programme. Key members of the House Appropriations Committee defence panel warn ...
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Out on a wing
NASA is set to turn an experimental project into full-scale scientific and commercial work Guy Norris/LOS ANGELESAs shopping expeditions go, visiting NASA's display of Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project aircraft on 13 October has to rank as one of the strangest. On show, under the appropriate banner ...
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IAI/TAI agree deal
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will submit joint bids for contracts in Turkey and in countries where an Israeli company cannot be a prime contractor. The deal stems from good relations between the companies and close defence links between Israel and Turkey. Co-operation is likely ...
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Four tactical UAVs in US Army shoot-out
The US Army has initiated a fly-off at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to decide which of four tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV) candidates will be bought. The $325 million TUAV competition includes the AAI Shadow 200, Alliant Techsystems Outrider, General Atomics Prowler II and S-TEC STM-5B Sentry. The Shadow 200 ...
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Global Hawk downed by rogue abort signal
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELESNorthrop Grumman says the crash on 29 March of a Ryan Aeronautical RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was caused by an abort signal from another remotely operated vehicle which was being tested more than 250km (140nm) away. The signal accidentally triggered the Ryan UAV's flight termination ...
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Technical problems put back US Navy CL-327 sea trials
US Navy-sponsored sea trials of Bombardier Services' co-axial rotor CL-327 Guardian vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VTOL UAV) have been delayed by at least a month because of technical problems, say USN project officials. The decision to postpone the shipborne flight operations coincides with Bombardier Services' withdrawal ...
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US Marines get message with Cypher II
Sikorsky Aircraft has received $5.5 million from the US Congress to build two Cypher II unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) with ground control stations, for testing by the US Marine Corps. The contract includes options for another 10 of the all-composite vertical take-off and landing UAV rotorcraft. Dubbed Dragon Warrior by ...
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NATO makes a noise over Sentry re-engining deliveries
The NATO airborne early warning force (NAEWF) is expected finally to release a request for proposals (RFP) in October to re-engine its Boeing E-3A Sentrys ahead of the introduction of Stage 3 noise restrictions in Europe. The NAEWF operates 18 E-3As powered by Pratt & Whitney TF33-100 turbofans. The RFP ...
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USAF settles on 'waverider' scramjet missile
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US military has settled on development of a scramjet-powered "waverider" vehicle as its candidate for an inexpensive hypersonic stand-off missile, according to US Air Force Lt Col Walt Price, the Affordable Rapid Response Missile (ARRM) programme manager. Development of a Mach 6.5tactical missile employing ...
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USAF strike studies look beyond B-2
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are studying concepts for a future strike aircraft (FSA) under a 12-month US Air Force contract. The companies are refining requirements for a strike capability that could replace the USAF's B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers beyond 2030. The manufacturers are looking at a range ...
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Bombardier drops UAV bid on eve of sea trials
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Bombardier Services has withdrawn from the race to win a US Navy contest to supply a vertical take-off and landing unmanned air vehicle (VTOL UAV). The Canadian company was considered a leading contender for the multi-million dollar programme. The decision to drop out of the ...
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Unmanned alternatives
II(AC) Sqn pilots see unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) as a viable alternative to the manned aircraft for certain missions, particularly suppression of enemy air defences, and because of the political pressure to avoid casualties. A flight commander says the difficulty with UCAVs "is the physical pushing of the button. ...
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Mission possible
EW aircraft, tankers and AWACS turn the impossible into the achievable Stewart Penney/RAF Brize Norton & RAF Waddington DeeDee Doke/Aviano AB & RAF Mildenhall Missions over Iraqi and Yugoslavia would not be possible without force multipliers such as the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), electronic warfare (EW) assets ...
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Precision prerequisite
Without precision strike capabilities, a nation will not be asked to participate in coalition warfare. In most air forces, the laser-guided bomb (LGB) is the primary precision guided munition (PGM). Poor weather over Kosovo and Iraq during Desert Fox highlighted problems with bombing through cloud. RAF Chief of the ...
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Radical reform
The US Air Force is shifting priorities and working on a major facelift of its force structure Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Air power is on the verge of major changes, but it will take time to reshape today's force structure for the realities of expeditionary operations and coalition warfare, ...
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Force of the future - The first option
The RAF has adopted the role of an expeditionary air force Stewart Penney/LONDON Air power will nearly always be the first option for governments that want to apply pressure to truculent regimes. Recent experience, particularly over the Balkans, has underlined that, according to Royal Air Force Chief of the ...
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Table: Top 100 Aerospace Companies
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL TOP 100 AEROSPACE COMPANIES No Company Division Aerospace Sales ($m) Sales Op. Result 1998 ($m) Change 1998 ($m) Change 1 Boeing 55,424 ...
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NATO joins USAF command and control experiment
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NATO is participating in a US Air Force experiment to test command and control (C2) concepts for expeditionary operations. The Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX) now under way combines live and simulated forces in the second large-scale test of technologies which promise to enhance the capabilities of ...