The first F-35B development aircraft, BF-1, arrived at NAS Patuxent River near Washington DC on November 15 from Fort Worth to prepare for its vertical flight test program. The aircraft had been delayed in Fort Worth for several months after completing its hover pit testing in April. The tests will comprise a ‘step down’ approach
Perth based Quickstep Holdings has signed an MoU with Melbourne’s Marand Engineering to supply vertical tail skins for the F-35 JSF. The MoU has the potential to be converted into a Long Term Agreement (LTA) to supply up to $50 million worth of the composite skins to Marand, which has a deal with Lockheed Martin
At a busy Dubai Airshow, the UAE has ordered 25 Pilatus PC-21 advanced trainers, with deliveries expected to commence from 2011. The sale is the third for the PC-21, after Singapore and Switzerland. The deal will also include related ground-support equipment, training equipment and material, and logistics support. The UAE currently operates 31 PC-7s, and
EADS has seen a sharp fall in earnings for the first nine months of 2009 as foreign exchange losses weighed heavily on the European aeronautics and defence group. For the nine months, the company’s earnings before interest and tax declined by 46 per cent to €1.089bn (A$1.743bn), while revenue increased by one per cent to
The Italian navy will introduce its NFH90 helicopters in a phased approach in order to speed up their service introduction. The plan will see a small number of ‘Step A’ aircraft accepted in late 2010 giving a meaningful operational capability (MOC), allowing initial training to start soon and a syllabus to be finalised by the
The AgustaWestland AW149 multirole military variant of the AW139 medium twin helicopter completed its first flight on November 13, a day after the AW159 Lynx Wildcat updated Lynx for the British military flew. The AW149’s 20 minute flight, from AgustaWestland’s Vergiate plant in northern Italy, was captained by AgustaWestland chief test pilot Giuseppe Lo Coco,
