German NATO air base lowers security level after ‘potential threat’

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  7 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  Airbus pulls out of Polish helo tender due to offset requirements

  By: Jarosław Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — Airbus Helicopters has decided to pull out of the Polish Defence Ministry's tender to acquire new copters for the country's Navy. The "offset requirements defined by the Polish MoD made it impossible for Airbus Helicopters to submit a competitive offer," the company said in a statement sent to the state-owned news agency PAP. “Airbus Helicopters continues to be interested in supporting the process of the modernization of the Polish Armed Forces in the field of helicopter fleet replacement,” the vendor said with respect to Poland's other helo procurement plans. Earlier this year, Airbus Helicopters and Leonardo placed their offers in the ministry's tender to purchase four helicopters. Leonardo, which is now the only active participant of the tender, owns Polish aircraft plant PZL Swidnik which makes the AW101 copter, among others. The new helos, enabled with anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and search-and-rescue (SAR) capabilities, are designed to replace the Polish Navy's Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite copters, according to First Deputy Defence Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz. Local observers have also said the new helos could replace the Navy's Soviet-designed Mil Mi-14 copters. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/12/04/airbus-pulls-out-of-polish-helo-tender-due-to-offset-requirements

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  14 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  B-21 Avionics Testbed Aircraft Now Operating, USAF Official Says

  Steve Trimble The U.S. Air Force has commissioned a flying testbed aircraft to test the avionics system and software for the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber, a senior official said on Aug. 13. The first B-21 test aircraft is still being assembled in Palmdale, California, but the flying testbed allows the stealth bomber program to “buydown risk,” said Randall Walden, director of the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office, which is managing the program. “We have a flight test aircraft that we've been hosting some of these subsystems on,” Walden said. “We're doing it kind of in a parallel approach, working out some of the bugs with the software as well as the subsystems.” Walden, speaking to the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute, did not identify the flying testbed, but his remarks come two months after the appearance of a green Boeing 737 owned by the Air Force with registration N712JM. The Lockheed Martin F-35 program also used a 737 to check out avionics and mission systems before test flights of the stealth fighter started in 2006. “When you can buydown risk with subsystems on even another platform, no matter what it is like you get into the air and use some of the software and work those bugs out it goes a long way,” Walden said. The Air Force expects to field the B-21 in the mid-2020s, about a decade after awarding the engineering and manufacturing development contract to Northrop in 2015. The development program remains on track, but Walden is eager to begin testing as soon as possible. “All of the tough critical designs, all of the hard engineering, is behind us,” Walden said. “I know we're not going to be immune from design flaws. We're going to have to work through those, and we're doing some of that today. I want to find out what those design deficiencies are as fast as I can to get on with the solution.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/b-21-avionics-testbed-aircraft-now-operating-usaf-official-says

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  11 décembre 2024 | International, Aérospatial

  Defense bill for 2025 would delay F-35 deliveries

  Key lawmakers grew frustrated with the F-35 program earlier this year, as critical upgrades stalled and jets piled up at Lockheed Martin's Texas factory.