The single-engine AS550 utility helicopter is a military version of the AS350 Ecureuil. It is powered by a Turbomeca Arriel turboshaft. Approximately 4,266 AS350/AS550/EC130s were produced through 2011, including civil and military variants and those assembled under license. Another 31 units for military applications are slated for production between 2012 and 2021.
Malaysia's navy is still lobbying the government for budget approval to buy six anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters and more submarines. The deputy chief of the navy, Vice Adm. Mohammed Noordin bin Ali, tells Aviation Week the service still has to win budget approval for the helicopter purchase. The general consensus, in the navy and among industry executives, is that the government is likely to delay making major decisions on defense procurements until after the national elections. The government is required to call elections by the end of March.
The EC635 is the military version of the commercial EC135 light twin-turbine helicopter. It can be used for troop transport, search-and-rescue missions, and training. The latest models are the EC135P2e, powered by 667-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW206B2 engines, and the EC135T2e, with 634-shp Turbomeca Arrius 2B2s. Through 2011, 46 EC635s had been produced. Production of another 30 EC635s is forecast for the 2012-21 period.
The U.S. intelligence community, the collection of 16 federal agencies chaired by the director of national intelligence, is usually loathe to talk about its budget, believing that to reveal funding specifics would provide foreign adversaries with insight into U.S. clandestine activities. But when it comes to impending budget cuts related to sequestration, America's intelligence czar has a clear message of gloom and doom.
Orhan Abbas has been appointed senior vice president-commercial operations for the Americas by Emirates. He was vice president for India and Nepal, and had held senior commercial positions in Tanzania, South Africa and the Middle East.
A twin-engine, tandem-rotor, medium/heavy-lift transport helicopter, the CH-47 first flew in 1961. The current CH-47F production model is powered by two 4,733-shp Honeywell T55-714A turboshafts. The U.S. Army's MH-47G special-operations helicopter is based on the CH-47F. Through 2011, 1,361 CH-47s had been produced, inlcuding license production by AgustaWestland in Italy and Kawasaki in Japan. Approximately 326 new CH-47s are forecast to be produced from 2012 through 2021.
The Hawker Beechcraft King Air series of pressurized, twin-turboprop utility aircraft see widespread use in a variety of roles. Uses include utility, medevac, training, and VIP transport, while highly modified King Airs also are used as maritime patrol and ISR platforms. In U.S. military service, King Air variants are designated C-12. The MC-12W Liberty ISR aircraft is a recent version. First flight of a King Air took place in 1964 and to date more than 6,000 aircraft in the series have been built (for civil and military applications).
The Saab Gripen is a single-engine multirole fighter built in Sweden. A prototype made its first flight in 1988, and deliveries of the JAS 39A/B began in mid-1993. The improved JAS 39C/D followed in 2003. Power for the Gripen comes from a single Volvo/GE RM12 turbofan engine rated at 18,000- lb.-thrust with afterburning. Sweden and Switzerland plan to jointly develop the next-generation JAS 39E for entry into service beginning in 2018.
Hafei Aviation Industry Co. Ltd. builds the Z-9, a version of Eurocopter's AS365 Dauphin twin-turboshaft multipurpose helicopter. Z-9 deliveries began in 1982. Initial Z-9s were assembled from Aerospatiale-supplied kits, incorporation of an increasing proportion of Chinese-made equipment culminating in the completely indigenous Z-9B. The Z-9 is powered by Zhuzhou WZ-8 turboshafts, while the Z-9WE attack variant has Turbomeca Arriel 2C engines.
The F-CK-1 Ching-kuo (also called the Indigenous Defense Fighter) is a light fighter aircraft developed by the Taiwan state-owned aerospace company Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC) in the 1980s. Powered by two ITEC (Honeywell/AIDC) F125-100 afterburning turbofans, the aircraft entered service in 1994 and 134 F-CK-1A/Bs were completed by the time production stopped in 1999. Beginning in 2006, the aircraft were upgraded to F-CK-1C/Ds with new avionics, radar and weapons.
The Su-27/30/35 series is a family of twin-engine, single- and two-seat interceptor/multirole aircraft. Development of the Su-27 began in 1969, and a prototype made its initial flight in 1977. Power for the Su-27 comes from two Saturn/Lyulka AL-31F turbofans, each rated at 27,557-lb.-thrust with afterburner. Derivatives include the two-seat Su-30M multirole combat aircraft, Su-33 carrier-based naval aircraft and Su-34 fighter/bomber.
Large twin-engine fighter under development by Sukhoi, designed to compete with the stealth capability of Lockheed Martin's F-22 and F-35. The $8-10 billion estimated program costs are to be split between India and Russia. Total program requirements for the two countries could reach 500 aircraft. A prototype T-50 made its first flight in January 2010, powered possibly by a derivative of the Saturn 117S afterburning turbofan. Other reports have the fighter being powered by an all-new engine design.
The expense of an unmanned Mars sample-return mission (AW&ST Oct. 1, p. 36) should revive interest in the SCIM (Sample Collection for Investigation of Mars) concept, a low-cost alternative that was nearly selected as a Mars Scout mission in 2007.
The non-profit California-based B612 Foundation has received an independent program concept and implementation review of its proposed asteroid-hunting Sentinel Space Telescope, according to mission director Harold Reitsema.
Lockheed Martin's F-35 design was selected as the winner of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program in 2001. The JSF program calls for three versions: the F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing model, the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) F-35B, and the carrier-capable F-35C. Production F-35s are powered by a single Pratt & Whitney F135 afterburning turbofan engine rated at 40,000-lb.-thrust. In the B model, in Stovl mode, this engine drives a Rolls-Royce lift fan via a shaft and gearbox. The U.S.
The CN235 is a twin-turboprop transport and maritime patrol/anti-submarine warfare aircraft. As a transport, the aircraft seats 30-40 passengers (up to 53 paratroopers), or has a maximum payload of 11,023 lb. The stretched C295 version carries up to 78 troops, or a maximum payload of 20,392 lb. The CN235 is powered by two 1,750-shp GE CT7-9C turboprops, while the C295 has two 2,750-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127G turboprops. First flight of the CN235 prototype was in 1983. First flight of the C295 took place in 1997.
In 2001, the German telecommunications behemoth Deutsche Telekom purchased U.S.-based VoiceStream Communications and rebranded the domestic wireless provider as T-Mobile. Chrysler has had two foreign majority owners in the last 15 years: Germany's Daimler-Benz and now Italy's Fiat. Moreover, Venezuela's state-owned petroleum company has been the parent of U.S. oil company Citgo for more than two decades.
The U.S. Air Force is planning to conduct a Cyber Summit next month to help the service and industry shape the mission and its requirements, according to Lt. Gen. Mike Basla. The cyber mission is both critical—as virtually all U.S. weapons rely on networks for operation—and murky. The government has not fully organized to address the needs of the mission area, a frustration for senior leaders in the security community. The summit will be hosted by USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh and Secretary Michael Donley and attended by senior leaders in the service.
The Indian government has chosen the Boeing AH-64D Apache Block III in a competition for 22 new attack helicopters. As expected, the AH-64D beat the only other contender, Russia's Mil Mi-28 NE, which is understood to have fallen short of requirements during field trials last year. Air Chief Marshal Norman Browne, India's air force chief, said Oct. 5 that contract negotiations and other discussions will now begin. A final deal is expected to be worth $1.5 billion. The air force will also now decide on how many Apaches will be armed with the Longbow system.
When it comes to cybersecurity, the talk is all about defending the nation; rarely does it mention when the U.S. would choose to strike. The Pentagon is now talking more openly about offensive cyberstrikes as it nearly finalizes its new rules of engagement for them as part of the “most comprehensive change” to those rules in seven years.
General Manager ExecuJet UK Age 36 Following the sale of London City Airport, where Brutnell was commercial manager, he left to start ExecuJet's U.K. operation. Under his management, the operation grew from a single Falcon 900EX and five employees in 2008 to its current fleet of more than 50 aircraft, flying on a global scale from its new fixed-base operator location at Cambridge Airport.
