Archive for April, 2008
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Vice Admiral Raman Prem Suthan, AVSM VSM, has taken over as the new Vice Chief of Naval Staff at a solemn occasion held in the precincts of the South Block. He takes over from Vice Admiral Nirmal Verma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC who now proceeds to Vishakhapatnam and takes over as the next Flag Officer Commanding–in–Chief of the prestigious Eastern Naval Command.
Vice Admiral Suthan returns back to New Delhi after a highly rewarding and successful year at the helm of Eastern Naval Command. A smart guard of honour followed by in –office ceremony signified the handing over.
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Posted in Indian Navy News | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Pratt & Whitney has been awarded a contract to provide engines to power new F-15K fighter jets for the Republic of Korea Air Force. Pratt & Whitney will provide engine kits to Samsung Techwin for local
assembly under the terms of the contract.
Pratt & Whitney’s F100 is the sole propulsion system for F-15s of the U.S Air Force, Japan Self-Defense Force and Israel Defense Force. It has been powering F-15s since first flight in 1972, and for the past 36 years. The F100-PW-229 has accumulated almost a million F-15 flight hours .
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Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies, Military News - Asia | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
The ScanEagle unmanned aircraft (UA), a joint effort of The Boeing Company and Insitu Inc., this month logged a pair of service milestones as it surpassed 50,000 combat flight hours with the U.S. Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF) in Iraq and 1,000 shipboard recoveries with the U.S. Navy.
The long-endurance, fully autonomous ScanEagle entered service with the Marines in July 2004 and provides cost-effective and persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services. The Navy has used ScanEagle since July 2005 aboard the USNS Stockham, USS Whidbey Island, USS Oscar Austin, USS Oak Hill and the USS Carter Hall.
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Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies, Military News - America | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
It has been enemy plane number one for India, it is configured to carry nuclear weapons against India and now India has to pay for this old plane in new avatar. US fighter jet producer Lockheed Martin today submitted its bid for Indian Air Force’s mega deal for induction of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), claiming its F-16IN would exceed India’s expectations. F-16 has been the mainstay of Pakistan Air Force for more than two decades and is usually offered free to Pakistan.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company President Ralph D Heath was asked about the advanced technologies being offered to IAF as the F-16s form part of the Pakistan Air Force fighter fleet too. In a typical marketing talk he replied that the F-16IN would have “a multitude of cutting-edge technologies”.
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Posted in Opinions and Articles | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
BAE Systems will lead a team of scientists that will develop miniature robots to improve military situational awareness. The company signed a $38 million agreement with the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to lead an alliance of researchers and scientists from the Army, academia and industry.
The Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Collaborative Technology Alliance will research and develop advanced robotic equipment for use in urban environments and complex terrain, such as mountains and caves. The alliance will create an autonomous, multifunctional collection of miniature intelligence-gathering robots that can operate in places too inaccessible or dangerous for humans.
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Posted in Defence Research and Development | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
The 48 Gripen fighters that Sweden has offered to Norway meets all the requirements that Norway has specified in the request documentation for the Royal Norwegian Air Force Future Combat Aircraft.
Gripen says that the Gripen fighter for Norway is a true swing-role, next generation combat fighter to meet Norway’s needs for the defence of its national territory, including surveillance of the high North, and participation in international, multi-national forces. Gripen is fully NATO interoperable, can carry a wide range of internationally sourced weapons, includes increased combat range and endurance, additional weapons carriage capability and increased payload, a more powerful engine and super cruise capability. The proposal also includes a joint logistic solution and other areas of multi-national co-operation that will reduce the operational cost for both countries.
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Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies, Military News - Europe | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Friday April 25th will for the first time publicly reveal their new plans for initial airworthiness of light aircraft weighing less than 2,000 kg (4,410 lbs). This is part of a complete overhaul of the regulatory system for certifying light aircraft, pilot licensing and operations for all 27 countries within the European Union. The presentation will be made at a day-long workshop held during the Aero Expo show held at the Pribram Airport April 25-27. The proposed changes were released April 17th by EASA in a Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA).
NPA No. 2008-07 describes EASA’s intention to “create a lighter regulatory regime based around a new process for the European Light Aircraft (ELA) and to introduce a concept of standard changes and repairs.” EASA states that “ELA is not a new category of aircraft defined by criteria such as stalling speed or certification code, but is a substantially simpler new process for the regulation of aircraft and related products, parts and appliances. (more…)
Posted in International Aerospace News | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
In New Delhi today 28 April 2008 Saab, acting through its Gripen International Business Unit, handed-over its compliant response to the Ministry of Defence, government of India Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for the Indian Air Force.
Gripen IN is based on the newly launched Gripen NG, the next generation of Gripen, an enhanced version of the well proven Net Centric Warfare Gripen multi-role fighter, which has unbeatable low acquisition, operation and support costs. Gripen IN provides freedom of choice in weapons and sensors and an unrivalled sustained sortie generation rate through high availability.
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Posted in Defence Products Manufacturing Companies, Indian Air Force News | No Comments »
Monday, April 28th, 2008
In its thirteenth flight conducted from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, today (April 28, 2008), ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C9, successfully launched the 690 kg Indian remote sensing satellite CARTOSAT-2A, the 83 kg Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nanosatellites for international customers into a 637 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). PSLV-C9 in its ‘core alone’ configuration launched ten satellites with a total weight of about 820 kg.
After the final count down, PSLV-C9 lifted off from the second launch pad at SDSC SHAR, at 09:24 Hrs IST with the ignition of the core first stage. The important flight events included the separation of the first stage, ignition of the second stage, separation of the heatshield at about 125 km altitude after the vehicle had cleared the dense atmosphere, second stage separation, third stage ignition, third stage separation, fourth stage ignition and fourth stage cut-off.
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Posted in International Aerospace News | Comments Off
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Next launch of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C9, is scheduled to carry India’s latest Remote Sensing satellite, CARTOSAT-2A along with Indian Mini Satellite (IMS-1) and eight nanosatellites from abroad around 9.20 am on Monday, April 28, 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This will be the thirteenth flight of PSLV and third flight with ‘core-alone’ configuration.
CARTOSAT-2A weighing about 690 kg carries a state-of-the-art Panchromatic camera (PAN) that is capable of taking black-and-white pictures in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The imagery will have a spatial resolution of about one metre. (more…)
Posted in International Aerospace News | No Comments »
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Boeing moved the 787 Dreamliner static test airframe from its Final Assembly facility in Everett to its structural test rig this evening. The test rig is located only 1,000 feet away from Final Assembly at the Everett factory.
Some assembly remains to be completed on the static airframe. That work will be completed concurrently with test set-up. Test set up is expected to begin immediately, with tests commencing this summer.
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Posted in International Aerospace News | No Comments »
