An F-35A Lightning II took to the skies on July 17 marking the first flight by an aircraft with two vertical tails manufactured by Australian company Marand. Lockheed Martin stated that chief test pilot Alan Norman flew the sortie, which lasted 84 minutes, in the aircraft known as AF-73. The flight is an important milestone
Lockheed Martin has emerged as the successful bidder for Sikorsky in a US$9.0 billion deal that will see the world’s biggest military helicopter manufacturer join the fold of the world’s biggest defence contractor. “Sikorsky is a natural fit for Lockheed Martin and complements our broad portfolio of world-class aerospace and defence products and technologies,” Marillyn Hewson,
The Department of the Environment has approved the final environmental impact statement for F-35 flying operations from RAAF bases Williamtown and Tindal and over the Salt Ash air weapons range. The EIS approval, published on July 10, is subject to the RAAF meeting 15 conditions, “to minimise impacts to listed threatned species and communities…, wetlands of
A proposal to operate the STOVL F-35B variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter off the RAN’s new LHD amphibious assault ships has been dropped, according to a report in the Australian Financial Review. Prime Minister Tony Abbott had asked Defence to evaluate operating F-35Bs from the LHDs as part of the Defence White Paper deliberations, but
CAE has been awarded a contract to develop an MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’ composite maintenance trainer, and to procure a rear crew trainer for the combat helicopter, for the Royal Australian Navy under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. The composite maintenance trainer will be a modified Romeo helicopter specifically designed to provide mechanical, electrical and
Defence has confirmed that the MRH 90 troop transport helicopter encountered an issue relating to the starting and stopping of its rotors during recent first-of-class flight trials from HMAS Canberra. A spokesperson for Defence told sister publication Australian Defence Business Review that the aircraft had been undertaking first-of-class trials aboard HMAS Canberra, the Navy’s first of two
