Getafe, Madrid, Spain, October 11, 2023 – Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) and the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) worked together to successfully complete the automatic air-to-air refuelling (A3R) flight test campaign with the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) and F-15 fighter, ahead of its certification in the first half of 2024.
Over the course of three weeks in August, a RSAF A330 MRTT made more than 500 automated wet and dry contacts with the air force’s full fleet of receiver aircraft, including the F-15SG aircraft, a customised variant of the US-built F-15E Strike Eagle air-to-ground fighter jet.
The flight tests with F-15SG were conducted in Singapore, covering the whole operational AAR envelope in different weather conditions under the supervision of the Spanish certifying authority, called INTA (National Institute for Aerospace Technology).
Hamburg, Germany, September 25, 2023 – During the German National Aviation Conference in Hamburg, Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) Helicopters unveiled the PioneerLab, its new twin-engine technology demonstrator based on the H145 platform. It complements Airbus’ range of FlightLabs and focuses on testing technologies that reduce helicopter emissions, increase autonomy and integrate bio-based materials.
The PioneerLab aims to demonstrate a fuel reduction of up to 30% compared to a conventional H145, thanks to a hybrid electric propulsion system and aerodynamic
improvements. Aboard the demonstrator, Airbus Helicopters will also flight-test structural components made from bio-based and recycled materials, which aim to reduce the
environmental footprint across the entire aircraft life cycle. The company intends to produce the new parts using processes that reduce material and energy consumption and improve recyclability. Further research activities will include the integration of the latest digital technologies into the aircraft’s flight control system and associated sensors to increase autonomy and safety during critical flight phases such as take-off and landing.
PioneerLab is partially co-funded by the BMWK, the Federal German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Actions through its national research program LuFo. Airbus Helicopters’ FlightLabs provide agile and efficient test beds to quickly test technologies. They are part of the company’s strategy to bring incremental innovation to improve its current products and as well as to mature technology for future platforms.
The PioneerLab’s flight campaign has already begun at the manufacturer’s largest German site in Donauwörth, with a rotor strike alerting system being the first techno-brick tested on board the demonstrator. The next phase will be to test an automated take-off and landing system.
PRNewswire/ — For the first time in history, the U.S. Navy and Boeing [NYSE: BA] have demonstrated air-to-air refueling using an unmanned aircraft – the Boeing-owned MQ-25™ T1 test asset – to refuel another aircraft.
During a test flight on June 4, MQ-25 T1 successfully extended the hose and drogue from its U.S. Navy-issued aerial refueling store (ARS) and safely transferred jet fuel to a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet, demonstrating the MQ-25 Stingray’s ability to carry out its primary aerial refueling mission.
During the initial part of the flight, the F/A-18 test pilot flew in close formation behind MQ-25 to ensure performance and stability prior to refueling – a maneuver that required as little as 20 feet of separation between the MQ-25 T1 air vehicle and the F/A-18 refueling probe. Both aircraft were flying at operationally relevant speeds and altitudes. With the evaluation safely completed, the MQ-25 drogue was extended, and the F/A-18 pilot moved in to “plug” with the unmanned aircraft and receive the scheduled fuel offload.
The milestone comes after 25 T1 flights, testing both aircraft and ARS aerodynamics across the flight envelope, as well as extensive simulations of aerial refueling using MQ-25 digital models. MQ-25 T1 will continue flight testing prior to being shipped to Norfolk, Virginia, for deck handling trials aboard a U.S. Navy carrier later this year.
The Boeing-owned T1 test asset is a predecessor to the seven test aircraft Boeing is manufacturing under a 2018 contract award. The MQ-25 will assume the tanking role currently performed by F/A-18s, allowing for better use of the combat strike fighters and helping extend the range of the carrier air wing.
Dallas, Texas March 4, 2021 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) successfully tested its next-generation Extended-Range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (ER GMLRS) munition in an 80-kilometer flight demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. During the flight test, the ER GMLRS round was fired from the U.S. Army’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS®) launcher, built by Lockheed Martin, meeting test objectives. The demonstration confirmed the missile’s flight trajectory performance, range and validated interfaces with the HIMARS launcher and system software performance.
Lockheed Martin has produced more than 50,000 GMLRS rounds and is under contract to produce more than 9,000 new GMLRS unitary and alternative-warhead rockets, more than 1,800 low-cost reduced-range practice rockets and integrated logistics support for the U.S. Army and international customers. The systems are produced at its Precision Fires Center of Excellence in Camden, Arkansas.
For more than 40 years, Lockheed Martin has been the leading designer and manufacturer of long-range, surface-to-surface precision strike solutions, providing highly reliable, combat-proven systems like MLRS, HIMARS, ATACMS and GMLRS to domestic and international customers.
ST. LOUIS, Feb. 23, 2021 — A new era in aircraft design and build has begun as the first U.S. portion of the T-7A Red Hawk advanced trainer has officially entered the Boeing [NYSE: BA] jet’s state-of-the-art production line.
The training jet, designated the eT-7A Red Hawk by the U.S. Air Force because of its digital heritage, was fully designed using 3D model-based definition and data management systems developed at Boeing during the last two decades. The T-7A Red Hawk employed the digital engineering and design of the Boeing T-X aircraft that went from firm concept to first flight in just 36 months.
The Advanced Pilot Training System also incorporates leading-edge ground-based live and virtual simulators to give students and instructors a “real as it gets” experience.
In September 2018, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $9.2 billion contract to supply 351 advanced trainer aircraft and 46 associated ground-based training simulators. Saab is teamed with Boeing on the trainer and provides the aft fuselage of the jet.
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries and leverages the talents of a global supplier base. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.
– The demonstrator will help the Navy determine technical requirements for future carrier-based weapons systems
Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Navy will demonstrate advanced missile technologies that will make carrier air wing strike fighters more lethal against threats into the next decade.
Boeing has been awarded a $30 million contract from the Navy to co-develop the Supersonic Propulsion Enabled Advanced Ramjet (SPEAR) flight demonstrator with the Navy’s Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. The contract award comes after the Department of Defense requested information from the defense industry to help the Navy determine technical requirements of future carrier-based land and sea strike weapons systems.
“The SPEAR flight demonstrator will provide the F/A-18 Super Hornet and carrier strike group with significant improvements in range and survivability against advanced threat defensive systems,” said Steve Mercer, Boeing’s SPEAR program manager. “We have a talented team of engineers to meet the challenging technical demands and schedule timeline that the SPEAR program requires. We look forward to working with Navy experts to advance technologies for the Navy’s future capabilities.”
Boeing and the Navy Air Warfare Center Weapons Division plan to fly the SPEAR demonstrator in late 2022. Prior successes by Boeing in developing supersonic and hypersonic technologies include the X-51 Waverider test vehicle in 2010 and the Variable Flow Ducted Rocket propulsion system under the Triple Target Terminator program in 2014.
Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading provider of commercial airplanes, defense, space and security systems, and global services. As a top U.S. exporter, the company supports commercial and government customers in more than 150 countries. Building on a legacy of aerospace leadership, Boeing continues to lead in technology and innovation, deliver for its customers and invest in its people and future growth.
All six Super Tucano aircraft ordered by The Philippine Air Force (PAF) have been officially handed over to the Air Force today. The aircraft will be deployed for close air support, light attack, surveillance, air-to-air interception, counter-insurgency missions, advanced training and are part of PAF’s ongoing modernization plan.
“The Philippine Air Force takes pride in welcoming the six A-29B Super Tucano from Embraer Defense and Security into the blue fold of our skies as part of our fleet. The addition of these close air support aircraft is a great leap in our air power capability as we soar together in our flight to a more capable and credible Air Force for the nation and its people,” Lieutenant General Allen T. Paredes AFP, Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force.
“It is an honour to deliver these six A-29 Super Tucanos to The Philippine Air Force,” said Jackson Schneider, President and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security. “Delivering an aircraft amidst a global pandemic is challenging, but we were committed to go the extra mile every step of the way to have the aircraft in the hands of PAF to fulfil their security missions.”
These aircraft will be operated and maintained by the 15th Strike Wing, the PAF’s end-user. In November 2017, a firm order of six A-29 Super Tucano light attack and advanced training aircraft for the Philippine Air Force (PAF) was made after a comprehensive public bidding process.
The A-29 Super Tucano is a durable, versatile and powerful turboprop aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of missions, even operating from unimproved runways. To date, the Super Tucano was selected by 15 air forces worldwide.
Airbus logo at the entrance of the Airbus facility in Bouguenais
PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <AIR.PA> deliveries rose 50% in June compared with May and reached their highest level since the coronavirus crisis spread to Europe in March, but the accelerating recovery failed to prevent first-half deliveries from sliding to a 16-year low.
Figures released by the European planemaker late on Wednesday underscored a collapse in aerospace industry fortunes since early this year, hours after Airbus workers facing job cuts staged their first strike in 12 years.
Deliveries rose to 36 aircraft in June from 24 in May and a low of 14 in April. For the first half, deliveries fell by 49% to 196 planes compared with 389 in the same period last year.
Airbus has said it faces an average 40% drop in business over the next two years, forcing it to cut 15,000 jobs, or 11%, of its workforce. Unions oppose compulsory cuts.
Facing a slump in demand, planemakers have been urging airlines to take planes that have already been built in return for agreement to defer others due at later dates.
Some aircraft, however, are going straight into storage because travel demand is recovering slowly, experts say.
June’s figures suggested negotiations were partially paying off as Airbus handed over three wide-body A350-900 aircraft for European airlines despite a glut of large jets.
But deliveries of many other wide-body aircraft at Airbus and U.S. rival Boeing <BA> remain hampered by weak demand for long-haul travel as a result of the crisis.
Sources said last month that Airbus had sent out dozens of default notices to airlines in a bid to keep deliveries moving.
With airlines focusing on survival, Airbus posted no orders for a second month.
Gross orders so far this year remained at 365 jets, but net orders adjusted for cancellations slipped by one unit to 298, after lessor Avolon cancelled one of 10 A330neos it has ordered.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Leslie Adler)
PARIS (Reuters) – Air France <AFLYY> said on Sunday it planned to run its entire flight schedule on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7, despite calls by some crew unions to strike as part of ongoing nationwide protests over the government’s efforts to reform the pension system.
“On January 6 and 7, 2020, Air France plans to operate its entire flight schedule,” the airline said in a statement, which also cited discussions between the government and unions that it said had resulted in guarantees for flight crews’ future pension system.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Gareth Jones)
An Air France Airbus A319 plane takes off from the Nantes-Atlantique airport in Bouguenais near Nantes
President Trump accused Iranian general Qassem Soleimani of planning “imminent and sinister attacks” Friday in his first televised remarks since thedeadly airstrike that killed the generalat Baghdad’s international airport.
“We took action last night to stop a war,” Trump said during brief remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We did not take action to start a war.”
Without divulging details about what led to the early morning airstrike that killed Soleimani and nine others, the president said the United States “caught” the general “in the act and terminated him.”
“Soleimani made the death of innocent people his sick passion,” Trump added, saying that “what the U.S. did yesterday should have been done long ago.”
The killing of Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, marks a major escalation in the standoff between Washington and Tehran, which has careened from one crisis to another since Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and imposed crippling sanctions.
Senior State Department officials described the killing as a defensive strike supported by solid intelligence and claimed Soleimani was planning imminent attacks against United States interests and personnel in the region.
