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Korea’s Surion Helicopter Flies
March 15, 2010
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) flew the prototype of its Surion utility helicopter for the first time on March 10. Flown by two pilots and with a test engineer aboard, the Surion took off for a 30-minute maiden flight at Sacheon air base, near Korea’s south coast, and performed hovering and hover turns. The flight envelope will be expanded with...
moreQF-16 Target Program Launched
March 15, 2010
For many years the U.S. Air Force has operated a fleet of surplus Phantom IIs as QF-4s in the full-scale aerial target role (FSAT). Under projected usage rates, that fleet will be consumed within the next few years. Now, the Air Force has taken the first step to providing a replacement. Not surprisingly, the type chosen is the Lockheed Martin F-16, the...
moreMassive Cost Increase Projected for Lockheed Martin F-35
March 15, 2010
The average unit production cost (APUC) for the F-35 is now predicted to be as high as $112 million in current dollars, according to a Pentagon review of the program conducted later last year, which led to a restructuring of the program. The APUC estimate does not amortize the cost of system design and development (SDD). That cost has now risen by $3.2...
moreNo KC-X Competition as Northrop Grumman Pulls Out
March 09, 2010
A version of the Boeing 767 dubbed “NewGen Tanker” will win the reopened U.S. Air Force KC-X competition by default, after Northrop Grumman declined to bid the Airbus A330MRTT. Northrop and EADS expressed disappointment that “the revised source selection methodology now dramatically favors Boeing’s smaller refueling tanker.” The transatlantic partnership...
moreA400M Understanding Reached; EADS Declares a Loss
March 09, 2010
EADS will receive an extra €2 billion to continue the A400M program, as well as a loan of €1.5 billion to be repaid as a levy on future exports of the airlifter. An ”understanding” with the eight European partner nations also includes forgiveness of all late delivery penalties to date, and an acceleration of pre-delivery payments. The outline deal was...
moreEvergreen supports UAV team mapping Haitian Relief
March 01, 2010
Evergreen Helicopters is flying in unmanned systems teams using an Elbit Systems Skylark I mini man-pack UAV to map Haitian relief. The small UAV was used to search for signs of life at orphanages in the remote mountains outside Port-au-Prince following the January earthquake. Boulder slides cut off ground access to many of these facilities. The Skylark...
moreBrazil picks Rafale for French ‘strategic alliance’
February 19, 2010
Brazil’s purchase of 36 new fighters has pitted the air force’s preference for the Saab Gripen, backed by a 10-month technical report, against a presidential preference for the Dassault Rafale as part of a “strategic alliance” with France. Second in the air force’s ranking was the Boeing F-18 Super Hornet. According to the newspaper Folha de São Paulo,...
moreIAI Reveals Tanker Proposal
February 19, 2010
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is proposing aerial tanker versions of business jets such as the Gulfstream G550. At the Singapore Airshow earlier this month, a company official told AIN that its small and smart tactical tanker (SSTT) is still only a proposal, aimed at reducing the costs of aerial refueling training. But the idea has obvious application...
moreUK To Standardize on S-92 for Search and Rescue
February 19, 2010
The Sikorsky S-92A will take over search-and-rescue helicopter (SAR-H) duties in the UK, following selection of the Soteria Consortium by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). In the UK’s latest private finance initiative about 24 helicopters and their crews will be provided for 25 years, from 2012, by Soteria, which...
moreIndia To Test-fly Indigenous AWACS in 2012
February 19, 2010
India will test fly, in 2012, its indigenous airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system integrated onboard a modified Embraer EMB 145, an official involved in the project said. It is being developed by the Bangalore-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), a laboratory that forms part of India's Defence Research and Development...
moreBAE Systems Settles Illegal Payments Probes in U.S., UK
February 19, 2010
BAE Systems agreed to pay a $400 million fine to settle a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into commission payments made to secure arms contracts. BAE also made an out-of-court settlement with the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which has been investigating the company since 2004. The DOJ alleged that BAE had made payments from offshore...
moreNavy Requests Info for Next Presidential Helicopter
February 18, 2010
The U.S. Navy on Tuesday issued a request for information (RFI) for the helicopter that will possibly begin to replace the current fleet of “Marine One” Sikorsky VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns between 2017 and 2023. The RFI follows the termination of the VH-71 presidential helicopter program by the Pentagon last year and the subsequent approval of limited funds for...
moreA400M rescue goes past the wire
February 03, 2010
Airbus chief executive officer Tom Enders refused all comment on the A400M airlifter here yesterday as talks to continue the troubled project reached a critical stage in Europe. Defense procurement ministers from the eight European customer nations are to meet again today for the third time in as many weeks to discuss their negotiating position. Enders...
moreNorthrop and Raytheon battle for F-16 AESA radar business
February 03, 2010
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are going head-to-head with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar programs to update F-16 fighters and other fighters around the world. Northrop Grumman announced yesterday that it now has U.S. State Department licenses to talk to a number of export customers at DSP-5 level, a status that Raytheon announced for its...
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