Podcast: What Are SPACs -- And Why Are They Important To A&D?

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  January 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Leonardo buys Swiss helicopter firm

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Italy's Leonardo has dropped plans to develop a new, single-engine helicopter and opted instead to buy a small Swiss firm that has already built one. The Italian defense giant announced on Tuesday it was purchasing Kopter Group AG, which has developed the SH09, a five- to eight-seater helicopter built with carbon composite materials which first flew in 2014. A clean-sheet design developed by a small group of engineers, the SH09 maximizes pilot view as well as interior space with a maximum takeoff weight of 2,850 kg, while its Honeywell HTS 900 engine provides an 800km range and 140 knots top speed. With the purchase, which is worth $185 million plus future pay-outs linked to the success of the program, Leonardo said it was saving itself the resources it had planned to use designing its own new helicopter in the category. “This acquisition will replace the planned investment aimed at the development of a new single engine helicopter,” the firm said. “Kopter's SH09, a new single engine helicopter, is a perfect fit for Leonardo's state of the art product range offering opportunities for future technological developments,” it added. The Swiss company's skills would also be used to develop new technologies like hybrid and electrical propulsion, Leonardo said. A company spokesman said the SH09 was viewed as a civil program in the short term. "The priority is the civil market but in the future, we will see – a military application is not excluded. However for now our AW119 is our military product in the light, three-ton, single-engine class," he said. The purchase is an unusual step for the Italian firm, which has hitherto designed its own helicopters such as the AW139 and AW101, formerly under the AgustaWestland brand, which was retired before the company changed its name from Finmeccanica to Leonardo in 2016. “Within the Helicopter Division of Leonardo, Kopter will act as an autonomous legal entity and competence centre working in coordination with us,” Leonardo said. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/01/29/leonardo-buys-swiss-helicopter-firm/

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  November 21, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Can data be shared among US, Chinese and Russian aircraft? Sudan did it.

  By: Agnes Helou BEIRUT — Sudan has been flying military aircraft of Russian and Chinese origin alongside American fighter jets — and sharing data among them, according to the chief of staff of the Sudanese Air Force. “Sudanese engineers have been able to make an adaptation between Eastern and Western platforms," Lt. Gen. Pilot Salah Eldin Abdelkhaliq Saeed said at the second Manama Airpower Symposium this month. "They have even entered American, Russian and Chinese radars in one command-and-control center. We have provided all our platforms with a unified Sudanese surveillance system and Sudanese communication devices.” Russian fighters operating in Sudan include the Mig-29, Mig-23, Su-24 and Su-25, as well as the AN-26, AN-30, AN-32, AN-12 and Ilyushin Il-76 Russian military transport aircraft. Sudan is also operating the Chinese A-5, PT-6, FTC-2000 and K-8 aircraft, in addition to American C-130s, French Puma helicopters and German Bo 105 helicopters. Saeed noted that many of the European and American military aircraft cannot be operated by the Sudanese Air Force because there are no spare parts for the platforms, and Sudan lacks the maintenance capabilities to update them. This is especially caused by U.S. sanctions on Sudan that prevent the African country from cooperating with some American and European companies. The U.S. lifted some sanctions on Sudan in October 2017, but Sudan remains on a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The restrictions on that list “include restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance" and "a ban on defense exports and sales,” according to the U.S. State Department. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2018/11/20/can-data-be-shared-among-us-chinese-and-russian-aircraft-sudan-did-it

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  December 14, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  KNDS and LEONARDO form strategic alliance

  Such a strategic alliance will enable the implementation of programs in cooperation among European nations