All Military UAVs articles – Page 330
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Quick-change artist
Peter Gray/ARLINGTON The tilt-rotor concept has been around for many years, but only recently has the first military application (the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey) received production approval from the US Department of Defense. Even more recently, Bell and Boeing have launched the Model 609 civil tilt-rotor which is scheduled to fly ...
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Aerial targets
Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $29 million contract from the US Navy for 119 BQM-74E aerial targets. The contract represents the third option to a competitive contract awarded in 1996. The target simulates aircraft, anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles. First deliveries are expected in May 1999. In October, the ...
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Seventh Proton blast-off Khrunichev figures
Tim Furniss/LONDON Khrunichev's Proton K/DM booster had its seventh commercial launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 3 December. The Russian company says that it hopes to earn $850 million from its Proton satellite launcher business, covering 22 flights in the five years between 1996 and 2000. The launch mirrors ...
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Australia nears Global Hawk goal
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Peter le Franchi/CANBERRA Australian and US Government-to-Government negotiations over Australian Defence Force participation in the Teledyne Ryan Global Hawk long-endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) are virtually complete and may result in a formal agreement by the end of December, according to programme sources. Australian interest ...
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VTOL contracts loom as CL-327 UAV flies
The US Navy is expected soon to select the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for its vertical- take-off-and-landing (VTOL) demonstration, following the successful first flight of one of its prime candidates for the programme. The UAV Joint Programme Office "is reviewing the bids and is close to awarding a contract ...
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USAF receives E-8
The US Air Force will achieve the initial operational capability for the Northrop Grumman Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) this month. The initial fielding landmark was made possible after the US aerospace firm delivered the third production JSTARS aircraft to the USAF in November. Although not yet "operational", ...
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Eagle Eye VTOL demonstrator gets airborne again
The Bell Helicopter Eagle Eye tiltrotor unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has resumed flying in preparation for the forthcoming US Navy vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) demonstration, which may lead to the fielding of an operational system. The USN's plans for a maritime VTOL UAV were shelved five years ago, ...
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Outrider builds up flight hours
Alliant Techsystems says that its Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle has completed four test-flights, including its first back-to-back flights and the longest flight to date, 1h 22min. The tests, which used the new UK-built UAV Engines 801R rotary powerplant, verified the performance of the stability-augmentation system. Following design changes, the ...
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Towards hypersonic flight
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Progress in the development of airbreathing powerplants for hypersonic vehicles has been hampered since the 1960s by unexpected complexities encountered with the scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet), until recently the only real candidate for powering such high-speed craft. In an effort to address the impasse, leading international figures in ...
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Northrop Grumman eyes multi-function IIR
Northrop Grumman is developing a conformal array multi-function imaging infra-red (IIR) sensor system intended for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The distributed-architecture infra-red system (DAIRS) is to be demonstrated in Northrop Grumman's BAC One-Eleven testbed in mid-1999, leading to US Navy flight-tests in a Boeing TAV-8B in mid-2001. ...
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Lockheed Martin and Tracor work
Lockheed Martin and Tracor Flight Systems are to collaborate in the development of the next-generation aerial target based on Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter as well as uninhabited combat air vehicles (UCAVs). "US Air Force inventory F-16s are being considered to support the collaboration," says the US aircraft manufacturer. ...
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Dogfight missile shows its teeth
Matra BAe Dynamics has claimed success for the latest test firings of its ASRAAM dogfight missile. In two test launches at Eglin AFB, Florida, missiles were fired from Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft. The first test in September was designed to gather vibration and seeker ...
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Outrider flies into confused future
The Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV) has resumed flight testing, but the future of the project is a matter of debate. Flight trials in the advanced concept technology-demonstration continues, with the Outrider now powered by a new engine. Officials will, however, have to revamp the ...
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Matra BAe ASRAAM hits targets in Eglin firings
Matra BAe Dynamics has carried out two successful test firings from a Lockheed Martin F-16 of the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) at the USAir Force's Eglin AFB, Florida. The first firing was the final dispersion round in the ASRAAM trials programme, which was completed on 20 September. ...
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GKN Westland begins belated DIRCM testing
GKN WESTLAND has finally begun flight-testing of the Northrop Grumman Nemesis directed-infra-red countermeasures (DIRCM) system. Flight testing on a Sea King testbed began on 27 October, about a year behind schedule. Trial installations are already under way and production systems are expected to be fielded by late 1998. ...
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Propelling changes
There can be few propulsion-development efforts as focused, or as consistent, as the US Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHPTET) programme. Tasked with essentially "doubling propulsion capability" (ie, improving all major performance and maintenance measures by a factor of two) by the start of the 21st century, this vast ...
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Tornado storms on until 2018
The Royal Air Force will run its Panavia Tornado GR4 fleet until 2018, indicating that procurement of its replacement, the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS), is slipping. The RAF had been working toward procurement of the FOAS and replacement of the Tornado GR4 by 2013-15, but industry and ...
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Outrider is grounded pending accident probe
Contractor testing of the Alliant Techsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (UAV) has been suspended pending completion of an investigation into the crash of a prototype during a flight evaluation on 15 October at Hondo, Texas. It was the final test of the UAV with the McCulloch 4318F ...
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PATS unveils lightweight rotary-engine APU for corporate jets
PATS, The US supplier of auxiliary-power-unit (APU) installation kits, has revealed a lightweight rotary-engine APU for corporate jets which the company claims will lead to significant cost savings compared with conventional turbine APUs. The "non-turbine heavy-fuel engine" is based on the Wankel engine design originally used in motor ...
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Persistent ambitions
Unmanned combat-aircraft are coming, but they will not be going into battle any time in the too-near future. Harsh lessons learned developing relatively simple and inexpensive unmanned air-vehicles (UAVs) have made manufacturers and operators alike extremely cautious in planning the introduction of more costly and sophisticated uninhabited combat air-vehicles (UCAVs). ...