The Army’s two CH-47D Chinooks of the Rotary Wing Group detachment based at Kandahar, Afghanistan, returned home on board two RAAF C-17 transports earlier this month. Since deploying earlier this year, the two Chinooks flew 737 hours over 860 sorties, and carried 4700 troops and 691,000kg of supplies and equipment in support of the International
The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has advised Congress of a huge US$60bn (A$61.5bn) arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Top of the list is 84 new Boeing F-15SA fighters which will be of an advanced configuration similar to the Singaporean F-15SG and Korean F-15K. The aircraft will feature AN/APG-63(V)3 AESA radars and GE F110-129
The UK’s Cameron coalition government has announced plans to cut huge numbers of personnel and inventory under its Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR), with defence spending to fall eight per cent over four years. Capabilities to be cut include the entire Harrier force from 2011 and the carrier HMS Ark Royal immediately, which means
Eurocopter CEO Dr Lutz Bertling has said the company has no short term plans to replace or significantly upgrade its Squirrel range of helicopters. Speaking to Australian media at the company’s headquarters in Marignane near Marseille, Dr Bertling said the Squirrel, which was launched in the early 1980s, was still selling extremely well, and that
Eurocopter says delays in integrating new formation lighting on the Army’s fleet of ARH Tiger helicopters have been caused by the ADF wanting a type of lighting not specified in the original contract and not used by any other Tiger operator, but that the issue should be resolved by early 2011. Following on from reports
Sikorsky has completed rig testing of a hub mounted vibration suppression system (HMVS) for helicopters which it says could deliver a ‘jet-smooth’ ride for helicopters. The HMVS has been developed by Sikorsky and Lord Corporation in association with the US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate and works by controlling vibrations at the rotor hub and
