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November 29, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Sizing Up The U.S. Air Force’s Adversary Aircraft Fleet

The U.S. Air Force has awarded contracts to seven companies that will provide advanced adversary and close air support threat services. The contracts—worth up to $6.4 billion over the next five years—have gone to Air USA Inc., Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., Blue Air Training, Coastal Defense, Draken International, Tactical Air Support and Top Aces Corp. Here is a look at the private fleets of aircraft from around the world that these companies will use to help alleviate the U.S. Air Force's pilot shortage.

https://aviationweek.com/combat-aircraft/sizing-us-air-force-s-adversary-aircraft-fleet

On the same subject

  • Honeywell Secures Repair and Overhaul Contract for U.S Army Chinook Fleet

    October 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Honeywell Secures Repair and Overhaul Contract for U.S Army Chinook Fleet

    Honeywell Aerospace Phoenix, October 12, 2020 -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has won a five-year IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contract for the repair and overhaul of its T55-GA-714A engines that operate on the U.S. Army's CH-47 Chinook helicopters. This contract award will ensure that the U.S. Army's Chinook fleet has spare engines to sustain its future missions and overall readiness. The engines will be serviced at Honeywell's new maintenance facility at the company's Aerospace global headquarters in Phoenix. “Honeywell remains committed to supporting the T55 engine and the CH-47F Chinook program with improved maintenance practices, expanded repair capacities and engine modernization improvements that will meet the helicopter's needs for years to come,” said Dave Marinick, president, Engines & Power Systems. “Honeywell's unparalleled T55 repair and overhaul facility was designed to provide the highest level of support for the U.S. Army's needs today and in future missions. Every aspect of the layout and design of this new facility was carefully planned to ensure operational efficiency with U.S. Army mission readiness in mind.” Completion of the new facility means repair and overhaul work on the T55-GA-714A engine will now be in the same location as new engine production. This move allows the workforce to share resources between both engine lines, for a potential surge output of 20 engines per month that can be delivered to the U.S. Army, foreign military and commercial customers. “We've made substantial improvements to the shop layout and process flow of the T55-GA-714A maintenance lines,” said Lesley King, senior director, ISC Operations, Honeywell Aerospace. “So we can double our capacity in the shop and take advantage of our engineering resources on-site to ensure we are meeting our delivery commitments to the Army.” As a world leader in heavy lift, the CH-47F Chinook helicopter is used by the U.S. Army to support domestic and foreign operations by hauling troops and cargo all over the world. Since 1961, Honeywell has improved the horsepower of the T55 engine by 133%. Each improvement has decreased the engine's fuel consumption and lowered the maintenance burden to increase aircraft readiness. Honeywell is executing one such engine improvement program for the T55, which will increase shaft horsepower from today's 4,777 to 6,000. This engine enhancement will allow the CH-47F to increase its useful load at higher density altitudes and will further reduce maintenance hours with the introduction of a newly designed compressor and accessory drive gearbox. About Honeywell Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft. The Aerospace business unit builds aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity systems, mechanical components and more. Its hardware and software solutions create more fuel-efficient aircraft, more direct and on-time flights and safer skies and airports. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. https://www.epicos.com/article/635462/honeywell-secures-repair-and-overhaul-contract-us-army-chinook-fleet

  • US Air Force pauses flight ops for more than a hundred C-130s over ‘atypical’ cracking

    August 9, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    US Air Force pauses flight ops for more than a hundred C-130s over ‘atypical’ cracking

    By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — More than a quarter of Air Mobility Command's C-130 Hercules fleet are being temporarily removed from service after “atypical” cracking was found. During scheduled depot maintenance, the U.S. Air Force discovered cracking of the lower center wing joint — also known as the “rainbow fitting” — which led Air Mobility Command head Gen. Maryanne Miller to order an inspection of a portion of the fleet, according to an AMC statement released Wednesday evening. A total of 123 of 450 C-130H and C-130J aircraft will be temporarily grounded while inspections occur. “This temporary removal of service will not impact ongoing C-130 support to overseas contingency operations,” AMC said in its statement. The decision to pause operations and conduct inspections was made after a single C-130 was found with the lower center wing joint cracks, said AMC spokesman Maj. Jonathan Simmons. But the risk posed by the issue — that the wing could become dislodged from the aircraft — was so serious that the Air Force decided to move forward with inspections for all planes that could potentially be impacted. The 123 aircraft chosen to go through inspections have not been equipped with an “extended service life center wing box” and have flown more than 15,000 hours. Maintainers will look for cracking, and, if discovered, will replace the rainbow fitting. That repair takes “approximately one to two months” to do and is “dependent on depot level availability and capacity,” Simmons noted in an email. Currently, AMC believes it has an adequate supply of rainbow fittings and is not concerned about a potential shortfall. If no defects are found, the aircraft will return to service. So far, eight aircraft have gone through inspections and are now able to fly, Simmons said. Each inspection is set to take eight hours, but the command does not know how long it will take to move all 123 aircraft through the inspection and repair process. “The Air Force takes the safety of its airmen and aircraft very seriously and is working diligently to identify and repair affected aircraft as soon as possible,” AMC said in its statement. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/08/08/air-force-pauses-flight-ops-for-more-than-a-hundred-c-130s-after-atypical-cracking-found/

  • Retired general advised lobby firm while at the same time working for National Defence

    July 4, 2024 | International, Land

    Retired general advised lobby firm while at the same time working for National Defence

    National Defence reviewing situation where retired generals works for lobbying firm while advising DND

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