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June 18, 2009

IAI tanker program advances

By David Donald

While Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS prepare to lock horns again for the U.S. tanker replacement program, one might be forgiven for thinking that there were only two sources for modern jet tankers. IAI’s Bedek Aviation Group would certainly disagree.
Bedek is a leading MRO and conversion house for a range of Boeing types (737-300/400, 767-200/300, 747-400), and it holds a number of supp more

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Visitors up for Asian Aerospace in Hong Kong

By Charles Alcock

The 2009 Asian Aerospace show in Hong Kong is set to achieve significant growth in visitor numbers with organizers reporting that pre-registrations are more than 100 percent up on the same period ahead of the inaugural show in 2007. As of this week, just over 2,250 trade visitors had registered for the September 7 to 10 event and Reed Exhibitions aims to draw more than 10,000 for the strictly busi more

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Dassault looms large over Thales

By Jeff Apter

Thales, Europe’s third largest civil and defense aerospace group, makes its first appearance at Le Bourget since it acquired a new shareholder and executive board last month. The move, in which Dassault Aviation becomes a major active player following the ouster of long-time CEO Denis Ranque after a three-way struggle between the Thales board of directors, the French government and Dassault, fol more

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C Series supply chain locked; focus turns to production prep

By Ian Sheppard

Bombardier has moved into the next stage in the development of its new C Series aircraft, having secured the supply chain and completed the selection of all major suppliers. It is also preparing to break ground on the final assembly plant at Mirabel and is well ahead in planning its other facilities in Canada, Northern Ireland and China.
Ben Boehm, Bombardier Commercial Airplanes vice presi more

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SEI Shows Silens for AW139 Helicopter

Italy’s Servozi Elicotteristici Italiani (SEI) is exhibiting its new Silens cabin and noise-abatement system for the AgustaWestland AW139 VIP on static display here. Made of a self-sustaining composite structure forming a sort of secluded shell fixed to the helicopter’s lower structure and isolated from the ceiling and rest of the fuselage, the Silens System “dramatically” attenuates noise more

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Honeywell Avionics, APUs for ACG’s 68 A320s

Honeywell will supply avionics and auxiliary power units (APUs) for Aviation Capital Group’s fleet of 68 new Airbus A320s in a deal valued at more than $40 million. The avionics suite for ACG includes an enhanced ground proximity warning system, air data inertial reference system, emergency locator transmitters, solid-state flight data recorder, solid-state cockpit voice recorder, and flight man more

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Saudi Arabia Joins the Sniper Family

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has announced that it is to supply the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The Snipers will replace the LANTIRN system used by the RSAF’s F-15S strike aircraft. The deal represents the first phase of a $100 million multi-year sensor modernization program, conducted through Foreign Military Sales channels. The Sniper ATP is already more

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Bahrain Mumtalakat Buys More CAE Sims

CAE has sold two full-flight simulators to Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Co., the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain and owner of national carrier Gulf Air. The 7000 Series A330/A340 convertible FFS and 5000 Series A320 FFS, both with the Tropos-6000 visual system, will support the training of Gulf Air pilots. CAE will also provide a suite of support services over the next 10 years. The list pr more

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Premium Aerotec To Build Part of A350 Fuselage

German aerostructures specialist Premium Aerotec (Hall 1 Stand E197) has signed a contract with Airbus to provide the fuselage structure for the European manufacturer’s new A350XWB. The structures are for the floor and aft pressure bulkhead, adding to existing work it has to build forward section elements and aft side shells. The work is worth a total of approximately $500 million, said the EADS more

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Cobham Lands Airbus Satcom Antenna Deal

Satellite communications system supplier Cobham (Hall 2 Stand E83) has secured a contract to supply high-gain antennas for use on single-aisle and long-range Airbus airliners. The antennas first will be fitted to in-production A320-family airplanes pending certification of the configuration. Cobham’s HGA-7001 antenna will be used for long-range communication between pilots and ATC. The antenna s more

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