Qatar's air force has received the first of its 18 AW139 multi-mission helicopters, becoming just the third military service to receive AgustaWestland's medium-twin design. Other users include the UAE and Ireland.
The Airbus Military A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) which has been selected by both the Saudi Arabia and the UAE air forces has passed another milestone and has now demonstrated simultaneous refuelling of two fighters.
Airbus Military has two major products in the pipeline, and the Middle East could play a significant role in their fortunes. Mike Martin looks at progress on the A400M military transport as it closes in on first flight and, in the next article, the Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) once more doing battle for a $40 billion contract.
Airbus Military has two major products in the pipeline, and the Middle East could play a significant role in their fortunes. MIKE MARTIN looks at progress on the A400M military transport as it closes in on first flight and, in the next article, the Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) once more doing battle for a $40 billion contract.
Jordan's King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) has signed an MoU with Finmeccanica's Selex Galileo division for the in-country development of joint UAV technologies and electro-optic sensors to equip the Jordan special operations forces.
With decision time looming in a number of important fighter competitions, and with the aircraft appearing to be well placed in several of these, 2009 could yet be 'the year of the Rafale'. JON LAKE reports
The Dubai International Air Chiefs Conference (DIAC), held on the sidelines of the Dubai Air Show, takes place on November 14. Organised by the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA), the event brings together leaders of the air force and air defence from around the GCC and beyond. RIAD KAHWAJI, chief executive of INEGMA looks at one of the key talking points.
The UAE ministry of defence working with INEGMA, the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, will be hosting a conference on intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance in Abu Dhabi in January
The UAE Air Force has just announced that it has selected Pilatus to provide basic trainers and has turned to SAAB for an Airborne Early Warning System.
“Despite the global economic climate, this year has been a very good year for Alsalam,” Mohammed Fallatah, President and CEO of Riyadh's Alsalam Aircraft Company, told Arabian Aerospace at the Dubai Air Show.
Many had expected that this year's Dubai air show would see the formal confirmation of a UAE air force order for the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master, the advanced jet trainer chosen by the UAE in February, when the UAE finally selected the type in preference to the rival T-50.
The Egyptian air force has placed an order for 24 more F-16C/D Fighting Falcons. These will be Block 52 aircraft, a new variant for the Egyptians, and they will produced by Lockheed Martin at Fort Worth, and not by TAI in Turkey, where 48 of Egypt's 138 Block 40 aircraft were built.
Esterline CMC Electronics (CMC) has been selected by the Chilean Air Force for the complete cockpit avionics systems upgrade of its Lockheed Martin C-130 fleet.
Raytheon has marked the official turnover of its newly-installed ASR-11 Digital Airport Surveillance Radar and AutoTrac II RAPCON facilities with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq.
France's Safran group has stepped up its commitment to sharing cutting-edge technologies in the United Arab Emirates with two joint venture agreements signed today with the UAE's Baynuna group.
Some journalists and analysts have leapt to astonishing conclusions,trying to make some connection between the presence of the Lockheed Martin F-22A Lightning II at Dubai, and a speech by Brigadier General Ibrahim Naser Alalawi, deputy commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, at the Dubai International Air Chiefs conference. The General underlined his hopes that: “Within a couple years the UAE, like many other countries, will have a fifth-generation fighter.”
The mock-up of BAE's innovative MANTIS UAV is on display in the Dubai static park, filling in for the real aircraft. On the eve of the show, BAE Systems revealed that the real aircraft was now well into its flight test programme, having undertaken its delayed first flight at Woomera, South Australia.
Selex Galileo's Unmanned Aerial System Falco will soon be engaged in a series of flight campaigns for potential customers in the Gulf region, the company said at the show today.
Though Boeing have given presentations about the AH-6i at the United States Army's Aviation Symposium and Exposition and at the Paris Air Show they chose to unveil the new variant of the Boeing H-6 (formerly McDonnell Douglas, formally Hughes) at Dubai.
Saudi Arabian military procurement staff will be at the Dubai Airshow next week and high on the nation's shopping list will be a potential purchase of six P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Boeing worth a reported US$1.3 billion.
