All Military UAVs articles – Page 322
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UK pauses on unmanned combat role
Ramon Lopez/BRISTOL Howard Gethin/LONDON The UK Ministry of Defence is to launch a third-phase concept study of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) and conventional air launched cruise missiles (CALCMs). The study will seek alternatives to manned aircraft in the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS) project to develop a successor to ...
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New from old
PaulLewis/WASHINGTON DC The remanufacturing of military helicopters is not a new business. For the US aerospace industry it is set to become a proportionally more important source of rotary-wing revenue over the next 10 years. There are around 6,500 helicopters in the US military inventory, significantly down from the Vietnam ...
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Kosovo air campaign intensifies
Howard Gethin/RAF MILDENHALL NATO has sharply stepped up its air campaign against Yugoslavia, with over 80 separate targets attacked in the four days from 3 April, of 190 made since the outbreak of hostilities. NATO aircraft flew 438 sorties against 28 targets on 5 April alone. "We've increased the ...
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Lockheed Martin favours German cannon for JSF
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin, which is competing against Boeing for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), has baselined Germany's Mauser 27mm cannon for its bid, but is also considering the General Dynamics GAU-12 25mm three-barrel Gatling gun, with either weapon to be mounted in the aircraft's weapons bay. ...
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US forces to push forward AIM-9XL flight tests
The US Navy and US Air Force are planning an aggressive 34-month flight-test programme for the Raytheon AIM-9X Evolved Sidewinder air-to-air missile following its first firing. Funding is being sought at the same time for initial low rate production of 150 missiles. About 16 separation firings and more than ...
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Turbofan chosen for unmanned air vehicle
AlliedSignal's F124turbofan will power Boeing's unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), which is to be flight tested under a US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency technology demonstration contract (Flight International, 31 March-6 April). The unreheated turbofan was chosen over the Rolls-Royce Turboméca Adour to power the UCAV. The F124 is ...
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NATO reacts to surveillance challenge
Tim Ripley and DeeDeeDoke/LONDON Allied commanders are calling in additional surveillance assets to improve their coverage of Yugoslavia in an effort to combat intensifying Yugoslav military action in Kosovo. US Air Force General Atomics RQ-1A Predators and US Army TRW Hunter unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) - the latter on their ...
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Global Hawk is destroyed in China Lake crash
A Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle (UAV) was destroyed in a crash during a test flight at the NAS China Lake test centre on 29 March, just 20min after taking off from Edwards AFB in California. "We don't know what caused the crash, or any of the ...
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USAF seeks offers on biological/ anti-chemical warhead options
Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC The US Air Force is seeking industry participation in the development and demonstration of an anti-chemical and biological agent warhead to fit to a range of guided air-to-surface munitions. According to the USAF Research Laboratory's Munitions Directorate, the Gulf War against Iraq highlighted the need ...
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Phantom Works wins UCAV contract
Boeing's Phantom Works has won the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract to demonstrate an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) designed for strike and defence-suppression missions. The company has received a 42-month, $131 million cost-sharing contract to build and test a UCAV demonstrator system. Two tail-less, stealthy ...
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Bomber roadshow
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC The USAF is pushing its bombers to the forefront of the expeditionary air force concept. But how long can they last? Deployment side by side of Northrop Grumman B-2s and Boeing B-52s is set to become commonplace as the US Air Force seeks to ...
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Pakistan unveils low cost unmanned air vehicle for 'poor' nations
Pakistan's Air Weapons Complex (AWC) says that its new low-cost unmanned air vehicle (UAV) is aimed at 'poor' nations. Officials give no indication as to how inexpensive the UAV is to purchase. The Mark 2 vehicle's show debut was the first time it had been seen outside Pakistan. An earlier ...
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Fly-off will decide winner of US Army fast-track UAV contest
The US Army is to open its Close Range Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicle (CR-TUAV) programme to a fast-track competition, with "fly-off" flight trials to be completed by August. The competition will be conducted in two phases, with the first to demonstrate system capabilities. The second phase calls for selection ...
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Bombardier wins Australian UAV lease competition
Peter La Franchi/CANBERRA Bombardier Defence Systems has won an Australian Department of Defence competition for the short-term lease of a tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV), with its Guardian CL-327 vertical take-off and landing system. A contract is expected to be signed in the next two to three weeks. Bombardier ...
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Gulf states go shopping - but there's no big deal
As US and UK warplanes continued to bombard neighbouring Iraq , defence officials and military representatives from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states went shopping. Their marketplace: the 4th International Defence Exhibition and Conference, or IDEX 99, in the United Arab Emirates capital, Abu Dhabi. About 850 exhibitors from 41 ...
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Northrop launches F/A-18 radar drive
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Northrop Grumman has begun flight testing a "fourth generation" active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar as it prepares to bid to develop an active-array radar for the Boeing F/A-18E/F. The technology demonstration, in the company's BAC One-Eleven avionics flying testbed, is in support of its ...
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News in Brief
Cambodia must pay up Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has suspended delivery of four Cambodian air force MiG-21 fighters to ensure the payment of a $1 million bill for upgrading the aircraft. The first two upgraded MiG-21s were delivered in January 1997. Work on the other four was frozen when ...
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Revolutionary rotorcraft enters US race for maritime VTOL UAV
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The UK's Intora-Firebird is to offer its Firebird hydrogen peroxide-powered rotorcraft in the US Department of Defense's competition to acquire a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for the US Navy and Marine Corps. The company joins a list of contenders for the ...
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Electro-magnetic launcher sought for carrier
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The US Navy (USN) intends to award competing contracts for development of an electro-magnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) for the planned CVX next-generation aircraft carrier. The first CVX, which would be capable of conventional take-off-and-landing (CTOL) operations, would be bought in the fiscal year 2006. ...
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Heavyweights to contend supply contract
The US Navy will shortly issue fresh request for proposals (RfP) to helicopter manufacturers and operators for a three year vertical replenishment (vertrep) service to support the fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf. This latest vertrep contract, extendible for up to five years, follows a series of ...