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2000-06-30, Serge Pod: [29 Jun 2000] Russia`s MiG aircraft corporation held on June 28, 2000 a presentation of its latest MiG-29 version at Vienna, Austria. The MiG-29SMT fighter was offered for upgrade of Austria Air Force`s ageing fighter fleet, in the framework of the recently released tender. The MiG Corp. also proposed Austrian Defense Ministry to set up a joint venture in Austria for completing development, certification and serial production of 48-seater MiG-110 pax/cargo plane. /Nezavismaya Gazeta/

2000-06-30, Serge Pod: [29 Jun 2000] One of the three supersonic Tu-114 jets, belonging to ANTK Tupolev will be put on a stand at Sinheim`s Polytechnic Museum in southern Germany. ANTK Tupolev sold this plane to improve its poor financial state. /Aerospace News/

2000-06-28, Zed: The reason they are bringing it is to show to the Indians and other SE Asian nations (Malaysia?) to try and get sales off those nations with a coastline to guard. Russian is going well...just expanding my vocabulary! Z

2000-06-26, Serge Pod: 26 June 2000 Lockheed Martin's second X-35 concept demonstrator aircraft for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme has successfully completed structural loads testing at company facilities in Palmdale in California. A test fixture with 90 hydraulic actuators applied stresses to different parts of the aircraft to simulate in-flight aerodynamic pressure loads on the aircraft. The aircraft tested is the X-35C, which is configured as the US Navy carrier variant and is the second demonstrator aircraft assembled. Because the different variants are structurally very similar, the load-test results apply to all three concept demonstrator variants. The aircraft was tested to 100 percent of design limit load, minus 3 gs and plus 8 gs. This means the wings were stressed to carry about 180,000 pounds, or the weight of 50 mid-size cars. Test conditions also included wing torsional testing that represents aircraft rolling manoeuvres. Proof-of-operations tests confirmed the control surfaces would not bind against…

2000-06-25, Serge Pod: Fighter-jet maker Sukhoi is moving ahead to strike its first international civil aircraft deal with U.S.-based Alliance Aircraft Corp. on a new regional jet to market abroad and domestically. However, even before the first jet leaves the factory, industry analysts said there is little room for a new regional liner on the crowded world market and several local designs already in the air. Earlier this month, the Sukhoi aviation complex announced it planned to join Alliance to make a family of regional 50 to 110-seat airliners under the name of StarLiner. The plane, using the latest technology, is to enter the world market in 2003. Alliance already has ``letters of intent for 30 aircraft`` and is in ``discussion with five airlines,`` Reuters quoted Alliance president and CEO Earl Robinson as saying. He did not name the airlines. Robinson is a former executive of U.S. plane maker Fairchild Dornier. The contract with Sukhoi is being finalized, but is expected to be signed in July or August of this year, said…

2000-06-25, Serge Pod: Russia and Ukraine will build the new-generation Antonov 70 transport aircraft, not with Germany, but with China as had been planned, Interfax quoted Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev as saying Monday. He said that negotiations with Berlin had resulted in the Germans saying they would not support the joint Ukrainian-Russian An-70 project, Interfax reported. ``We won`t try to win over the Germans, but will complete the project with China,`` Sergeyev said. /MOSCOW TIMES/ www.avia.ru

2000-06-25, Serge Pod: Yak-53 racing plane belonging to Russian army`s sport club crashed today at 11.15 a.m. (Moscow time) nearby a dairy plant at Shushenskoe in Russia`s republic of Khakasiya. According to the Siberian regional center of Emergency Ministry, both pilots were killed in the crash. Specialists of local search & rescue authorities currently inspect the crash site. No cause of the accident was found yet. The authorities have formed a special commission aimed at investigating the reasons behind today`s crash. /RBC/ www.avia.ru

2000-06-25, Serge Pod: The British military advisers in Sierra Leone have set up an HQ for coordinating U.N. military operations against the rebels, says a report published in London on Tuesday. Mainly Russian Mi-24 helicopters were selected to provide air coverage to the U.N. troops in that country. Some of them have already been delivered to Sierra Leone through the United Nations. The helicopter fleet now consists there of five Russian-made combat helicopters of the Mi-24 type. The British military have found Mi-24 choppers to be the best combat machines due to their very powerful armaments. They are being used to track down rebels and to strike at their bases. /ITAR-TASS/ www.avia.ru

2000-06-20, Dron: A board of USAF officers is investigating the crash last Friday of a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter from Luke AFB, Ariz., the service says. The plane crashed during an air-to-air combat training mission near the town of Sells, Ariz., in the military operations area east of the Barry M. Goldwater Range. The pilot, 1 st Lt. Doyle Pompa, safely ejected from the plane and was transported by helicopter to Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., for medical evaluation and treatment. Pompa is a student pilot assigned to the 309 th Fighter Squadron. Copyright Aviationnow.com Remarks: Surprisingly enough, this crash was without fatalities. It's only fourth F-16 that crashed this year. It total, F-16s killed only one American (march 19), two Turkish (april 5), and one Israeli (march 28) pilot this year. Safety record continues to decline with a straight downward line.

2000-06-20, Dron: WILLOW GROVE, Pa. (AP) – A military pilot and radar intercept officer aboard a F-14 Tomcat died Sunday when their jet crashed as horrified air show spectators watched from their porches and pools. The jet was taking part in the second-to-last performance at the Willow Grove 2000 Sounds of Freedom air show when it banked steeply, wavered and plunged into a wooded area about 100 yards from the air base here about 4:43 p.m., authorities said. The fighter was based at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., said Mike Maus, a spokesman for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, in Norfolk, Va. The Navy today identified the pilot as Lt. William Joseph Dey, 30, of Hightstown, N. J., and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. David Erick Bergstrom, 31, of Annandale, Va. Both men had more than 1,000 hours in the F-14; Dey was an instructor pilot in the VF 101 fighter squadron. Though the plane sent flames and smoke billowing from a wooded area at the end of the runway, no civilian injuries were reported and no structures were hit,…

2000-06-20, Dron: [June 9, 2000] Brand new Mi-24PN night-operational assault helicopter developed at Krasnogorsk city Zverev Production Plant made its maiden flight today at “Rostvertol Inc.” test center as a part of its brief 10 test-flight program. This became known today from the words of acting director of the Mil Design Bureau Vitaliy Sherbin. According to him, test-program of the modernized Mi-24 helicopter is done using three prototypes. First Mi-24 powered by a pair of new VK-2500 engines rated at over 2500hp each, took off earlier this month. Second prototype Mi-24PN will be used for testing new radar and avionics suite. Third prototype Mi-24VM is fitted with new lifting system (main rotor, gear etc.). Last one is currently stored in the test-center hangars and being actively prepared for the first flight. By the end of this year, designers are hoping to test all of the new technologies and integrate them into a single modernized Mi-24 helicopter with superior results. Experts claim that combat effectiveness of the…

2000-06-19, Serge Pod: Report: Israel test fired nuclear capable, sub-launched cruise missiles By Douglas Davis LONDON (June 19) - Israel secretly test-fired cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons off the coast of Sri Lanka last month, the Sunday Times of London reported yesterday. Quoting Israeli defense sources, the paper reported that the tests were conducted from two German-built, Dolphin-class submarines and involved Israeli-made missiles equipped with conventional warheads hitting targets at sea at a range of about 1,500 kilometers. The sources were quoted as saying the launches were intended to simulate swift retaliation against a preemptive nuclear attack from Iran. Israel is only the third country - after America and Russia - to acquire the ability to fire nuclear-capable cruise missiles from submarines. The navy dismissed the report. "The report is baseless. This kind of test firing did not take place," said a statement by the IDF Spokesman. Nevertheless, reports of the Dolphin's cruise-missile capability…

2000-06-16, Dron: Boeing company signed a contract today with US government worth of 8.96 million dollars for production of 222 supersonic F/A-18E/F naval jets in the next 5 years. It's only first batch out of a total of 548 aircraft to be ordered by Navy. Boeing representatives announced back in February that new model passed all tests with outstanding results. Back in April, USA Minister of Defence William Cohen demanded congress to approve this multiyear contract instead of annual contracts, claiming that this would allow US to save over 600 million dollars. Aircraft will be produced in St.Louis and Los Angeles. Copyright RBK

2000-06-15, Dron: Today,a tri-color flag was raised over a new patrol boat for Russian Navy symbolizing official service entry with Russian Pacific Fleet. This is the first out of seven similar "guardians" to enter service this year. The ship was made at the OAO "Vostochnaya Verf'" in Vladivostok city. Displacement - 400 tones Speed - 30kts Armament - two 30mm six-barrel artillery guns and torpedoes. "Guardian" will patrol National waters in Kuril Islands region (near Pacific Ocean) Copyright Nikolai Litkovets

2000-06-09, Jag_22: F-22 Raptor Flight Tests Resume by Ted Gogoll 06/06/00 06:57:42 PM U.S. EDT Flight testing of one of the U.S. Air Force’s two F-22 Raptors resumed after a four-week delay because of tiny cracks found in the jets’ canopies. An F-22 tiger team had found hairline surface cracks, less than an inch long, under a lower area where 140 bolts attach a 190-lb. transparency to the canopy frame. But the team determined the existing canopy had enough residual strength for continued flight testing, which is being staged at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The team suspects the cracking on the next-generation fighter, which replaces the F-15, is from higher-than-expected stresses during manufacturing, assembly, and installation operations. Sierracin Sylmar Corp. built the aircraft’s canopy transparency. Copyright AviationNow

2000-06-09, Jag_22: DASA Plans Upgrade For Canadair Drone 06/07/00 08:26:15 AM U.S. EDT BERLIN – DASA subsidiary Dornier is planning a substantial upgrade to the CL-289 tactical reconnaissance drone it developed with Bombardier/Canadair and delivered to the German armed forces in 1992. The low-level fast-flying drone has been successfully used in Bosnia (pictured) and Kosovo, and by the end of last year had notched more than 200 missions in Kosovo. Core of the upgrade kit, unveiled here at the ILA 2000 air show, will be a totally new fully electronic digital sensor system. This consists of a high resolution camera, and special infrared sensors for day and night missions. All-weather capability will be provided by a synthetic aperture radar. Courtesy Aviation Week’s ShowNews p.s. If you don't believe, then you can take a look at it at Yugoslavian Aviation Museum along other successfully used NATO hardware.

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Sikorsky's S-92 To Undergo Design Changes by Paul Richfield 06/07/00 05:31:20 PM U.S. EDT Sikorsky plans to incorporate a number of significant design changes into its new S-92 helicopter, in a bid to improve the aircraft’s handling characteristics and utility. Tommy Thomason, Sikorsky’s civil programs chief, said search and rescue operators’ need for a larger door drove the redesign, which will delay FAA certification from its original December 2001 timeframe until the spring of 2002. To accommodate a 50-in. door (an 8-in. extension), the S-92 will receive a 16-in. fuselage plug aft of the cockpit that will move the helicopter’s center of gravity forward, allowing a flatter hover attitude. The extension also provides room for another row of seats, “but then you come up with a cabin attendant situation,” Thomason says. The additional weight will be offset somewhat by shortening the S-92’s vertical stabilizer by 41 in., and repositioning the horizontal stabilizer from the upper left side of the tail to the…

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Pegasus Launches TSX-5 Successfully by Dee Ann Divis 06/07/00 05:55:37 PM U.S. EDT A Pegasus rocket successfully launched the Tri-Service Experiments Mission 5 (TSX-5) satellite into orbit today. The satellite carries two experiments, the Space Technology Research Vehicle-2 (STRV-2) and the Compact Environmental Anomaly Sensor (CEASE). STRV-2 will provide data on space-based imaging technology, satellite vibration suppression and material science while CEASE will scan the environment near the spacecraft. An L-1011 aircraft carried the air-launched Pegasus from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. to a point approximately 80 miles off the coast. At that point the Pegasus was released and then, after a planned five-second free fall, ignited its first-stage rocket motor to boost the satellite into orbit. Both the Pegasus and the TSX-5 satellite were built by Orbital for the Air Force. Copyright AviationNow

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Taiwan To Buy $350M Of U.S. Weapons Equipment by Ted Gogoll 06/07/00 07:19:17 PM U.S. EDT The Pentagon said Taiwan is buying about $350 million worth of weapons equipment, including Pathfinder/Sharpshooter and electronic countermeasure pods to improve defensive and navigation capabilities on its F-16s (pictured). Along with the equipment, the sale includes flight testing, spare and repair parts and personnel training. Raytheon Co.’s Electronic Systems Division, Goleta, Calif., is the prime contractor for 48 An/ALQ-184 electronic countermeasure pods, which includes three years of technical support. The pods, in total worth about $122 million, will jam enemy anti-aircraft radar signals. Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Fla., is providing 39 sets of Pathfinder/Sharpshooter pods, which include a laser-designator feature. Taiwan is paying about $234 million for the pods to enhance low-altitude navigation on F-16s. The Pentagon said there will be no adverse affect on U.S. defense readiness as a result of the sale. And…

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Sick Nuclear Weapons Workers To Be Compensated 06/08/00 09:08:01 PM U.S. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Nuclear weapons plant workers made ill by on-the-job exposure to radiation, silica or beryllium would receive medical benefits and at least $200,000 apiece under a program the Senate agreed upon Thursday. An amendment calling for the program was added without a vote to the defense authorization bill. The House version of the bill does not include the program, whose fate congressional negotiators would have to decide. Also, lawmakers have not set aside any money for the program, which could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. ``It's not going to be real easy, simply because of the money involved,'' said Sen. Fred Thompson, chief sponsor of the amendment. Still, the Senate's action is a big step toward helping people suffering from cancer, silicosis or beryllium disease because of their Cold War-era employment. ``This is something the government should have addressed a long time ago. These people have…

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Germans Taking First EC 135 For Tiger Training Show News 06/09/00 10:01:42 AM U.S. EDT BERLIN--Heeresflieger, the German Army air arm, is preparing to take delivery of its first Eurocopter EC 135s light twin helicopters, to begin pilot training for the Tiger multirole combat helicopter (left). The Heeresflieger has 15 EC 135s on order, with deliveries due to begin within the next two months. The EC 135 (pictured at right) has a full ‘glass’ cockpit by Sextant Avionique, essential for preparing combat pilots to fly and fight in the advanced Eurocopter Tiger. The EC 135 is becoming popular with governments and agencies--the Kuwait Interior Ministry recently bought two, and Portugal is the first to order the military version, the EC 635. Copyright AviationNow

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Raytheon Unveils Improved AIM-120 AMRAAM Aviation Week's Show News 06/09/00 10:33:33 AM U.S. EDT BERLIN--Raytheon has unveiled an improved version of the AIM-120C (pictured) medium-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-120C5, which has been cleared for export to all “U.S. allies and security partners.” The C5 features an extended ‘Plus 5’ rocket motor, an improved blast/fragmentation warhead and the clipped fins adopted for internal carriage on the F-22 and future JSF. The new motor is faster than existing rockets, thus extending the launch aircraft’s survivability and effective reach. The improved, 5-in.-longer rocket has been accommodated through a redesign and reduction of the fin actuator unit so the C5 version retains the same external dimensions and weight and balance, as all other AMRAAMs. Copyright AviationNow

2000-06-09, Jag_22: China Challenges Any Missile-Treaty Changes 06/09/00 12:14:31 PM U.S. EDT BEIJING (AP)--China accused the United States of “selfishness” Friday for seeking to revise a key arms control treaty, saying Washington’s bid to allow an anti-missile defense system would undermine global security. Joining forces on the issue, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed their shared opposition to revisions of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty in a telephone conversation Thursday. Lead arms negotiator Sha Zukang said that any revision to the ABM treaty would “seriously hinder nuclear disarmament” and would trigger a global arms race in space, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. Sha contended that revising the treaty out of “selfishness” would endanger world security and undermine U.S. interests. The United States should “think carefully before taking any action” so as to not “lift a rock only to drop it on its toes,” Xinhua cited Sha as saying in an exclusive…

2000-06-09, Jag_22: Europe, U.S. Eye Joint F-16 Precision Weapons Buy by Jim Mathews 06/09/00 02:12:07 PM U.S. EDT The group of European nations that works with the U.S. on F-16 fighter program upgrades is studying a large, cooperative buy of precision-guided munitions, an initiative led by The Netherlands. “The objective…is to decrease costs to participants while significantly increasing their precision strike air-to-ground capabilities,” the U.S. Defense Dept. said today. Those participants will now include Portugal, which today joined the F-16 Multi-National Fighter Program (MNFP) organization started by Belgium, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands and the U.S. in 1975. The group came together when F-16 exports began to pick up steam, in effect creating a working “users group” to share data, work on common upgrades and help each other support the planes and their infrastructure. Now with the possibility of a multi-lateral PGM buy, “the U.S. sees this consortium of nations as an excellent opportunity to showcase the…

2000-06-09, Jag_22: New Radar Would Meld AWACS, J-STARS Roles by David A. Fulghum/Washington 06/09/00 03:36:20 PM U.S. EDT Radar improvement programs such as the E-8 Joint-STARS upgrade and Discoverer 2 radar-carrying satellite are being slashed because new technology is now being developed that combines long-range, air-to-air and air-to-ground radar in a single system with a single aperture. The new concept also incorporates active electronically scanned array technology that is cheap, lightweight, small and can virtually be "sold by the foot" for a wide range of airborne applications. Finally, the new radar system being envisioned by the Air Force would include a classified capability developed as an upgrade to the E-8 Joint-STARS ground surveillance radar aircraft that allows the tracking of fast, stealthy, cruise-missile-size flying targets at hundreds of miles distance. Supports say the new systems would cost $100 million each compared to $800 million for a JSTARS upgrade. Copyright AviationNow