Boeing’s Phantom Ray UCAV demonstrator was taken aloft on NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft modified Boeing 747-100 for a 50 minute test flight from St Louis’s Lambert Field on December 13. The compatibility flight was undertaken as a prelude to the SCA’s planned carriage of the Phantom Ray to the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards
Boeing has announced it has commenced fabrication of the first 737 based P-8I for the Indian Navy. The work, conducted at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas, comprised the fabrication of an aluminium panel which will be installed on the aircraft’s upper fuselage. All 737 fuselages are built at Spirit before being shipped to Renton in
Raytheon’s Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) has completed flight trials aboard a USAF F-16 at Edwards AFB in California. The RACR is a company funded advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar leveraging technology from the successful AN/APG-79, and has been designed for retrofit to F-16s, F/A-18s and other tactical fighters. “Raytheon’s AESA technology brings unparalleled capability
EADS North America has conducted the first flight of its second of three AAS-72X demonstrators at its Grand Prairie facility in Texas. The machine, a derivative of the EC145, is being prepared for the US Army’s Armed Aerial Scout program, and is equipped with a mission equipment package integrated by Lockheed Martin, EADS NA’s partner
The RAAF’s first squadron of F/A-18F Super Hornets, or Rhinos, has been declared operational after successfully completing its airworthiness boards late last month. The Amberley based 1SQN, led by WGCDR Glen Braz, achieved the IOC milestone at a ceremony at Amberley on December 8, and is now combat ready if required for operations. Parent unit
Lockheed Martin has announced that South Korea has ordered four C-130J Hercules transports for delivery from 2014. The aircraft are the stretched fuselage variant, and add to a fleet of C-130Hs already in service in Korea. The deal also includes two years of support and an aircrew and maintenance crew training program.
