Category: Military & Defense

French helicopter operator HeliDax and Airbus Helicopters have signed the first-ever HCare Classics support contract to optimise the availability of HeliDax’s H120 fleet. HCare Classics is Airbus’ new support package entirely dedicated to meeting the support needs of the company’s out-of-production legacy helicopters. An H120 operator since 2008, HeliDax relies on its fleet of 36 H120s to provide basic and advanced training to the French and Belgian armed forces and the French Gendarmerie. Since the beginning of this partnership with the French government 14 years ago, HeliDax has maintained an availability level of 100% and has accumulated 246,000 hours of Read more

The U.S. Department of Defence has awarded two contracts, valued at over US$1.8 billion over the next five years, for Rolls-Royce to service engines for U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The contracts show continued confidence in Rolls-Royce and its defence services, which support multiple U.S. and allied military fleets around the world. One contract includes intermediate, depot-level maintenance and logistics support for over 200 Rolls-Royce F405 engines that power U.S. Navy T-45 flight trainer aircraft. The contract is based on availability metrics, providing engines as needed to facilitate training Naval and Marine aviators. The work will be performed primarily Read more

Embraer has successfully completed the flight test of the certification campaign for the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS II), which provides the C-390 Millennium with the required capability to perform firefighting missions. The tests, carried out at the Embraer facility in Gavião Peixoto, São Paulo State, in Brazil, represent an important advancement in the certification campaign of this capacity by the Brazilian Military Certification Authority (IFI). After certification, the firefighting capability will be available to aircraft operators. The MAFFS II is a firefighting system capable of deploying up to 3,000 gallons of water (approximately 11,300 litres), both with and Read more

Pratt & Whitney has announced that it has delivered the 1,000th F135 production engine for the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II fighter to the U.S. Department of Defense. The milestone was marked by a celebration with employees, company leaders, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) as well as representatives from the F-35 Joint Program Office. Since delivering the first production engine in 2009, P&W has invested more than half a billion dollars in capital, process improvements and cost reduction initiatives to support the production ramp and reduce the average unit cost of the F135 by more than 50%. Read more

Boeing has delivered four MH-139A Grey Wolf test aircraft to the U.S. Air Force as the service prepares to replace its aging fleet of UH-1N helicopters.  The Grey Wolf is a multi-mission aircraft – based on the proven commercial AW139 helicopter – designed to protect intercontinental ballistic missiles and transport U.S. government officials and security forces. Boeing was awarded a US$2.4 billion (£2 billion) contract in September 2018 for 80 helicopters, training systems and associated support equipment.  The delivery milestone follows receipt of the Federal Aviation Administration-issued supplemental type certificate, required to commence deliveries. With aircraft in hand, the Air Read more

Collins Aerospace has successfully completed the first flight test of its newest fast-jet reconnaissance pod, the MS-110 multispectral airborne reconnaissance system, on an F-16 jet for an undisclosed international customer. The test flight demonstrated aircraft integration, flightworthiness, and full-system performance within the demanding confines of tactical jet flight envelopes. The advanced MS-110 greatly enhances airborne reconnaissance mission capabilities by providing a longer range and wider area of surveillance in contested and peacetime scenarios against peer and near-peer adversaries. The system’s advanced imagery and multispectral capabilities detect targets with a higher degree of confidence, even through poor weather/atmospheric conditions and may Read more

The United States Marines will gain additional training opportunities preparing them to operate the Sikorsky CH-53K heavy lift helicopter. The aircraft is the most modern and powerful helicopter in the Department of Defence inventory capable of moving troops and equipment from ship to shore, and to higher altitude terrain, more quickly and effectively than ever before. Lockheed Martin will provide an additional containerised flight training device (CFTD) to the U.S. Navy with options for three more under the terms of a recent contract award. This follows up on the success of the first training device delivered in 2020 to Marine Read more

Iridium Communications has announced that Airbus Helicopters is providing the Joint Light Helicopter (Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger – HIL) French Armed Forces Programme with H160Ms that will be factory-equipped with Iridium partner SKYTRAC’s Iridium Certus Connected® SDL-700. A multifunctional system, the SDL-700 is a satellite communication terminal, data acquisition, and onboard server system that utilizes Iridium Certus broadband connectivity to provide up to 704 Kbps of bandwidth to enable mission-critical capabilities onboard the H160Ms. The SDL-700 is the latest iteration of SKYTRAC’s flagship broadband satcom terminal, the SDL-350™.