War Weaponry: Air force

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AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that HeliClub of Russia has placed an order for one AW139 medium twin helicopter becoming the first customer for the type in Russia. This aircraft, which adds to a Grand light twin helicopter already ordered by the company, will be used to perform corporate and passenger transport missions. Emilio Dalmasso, Senior Vice President Commercial Business Unit, AgustaWestland said "We are delighted to announce the first Russian customer for the AW139. This latest contract represents an important milestone in the long list of successes achieved by the best selling medium twin since it entered the global market only a few years ago. This accomplishment is further confirmation of the AW139's capability to meet the most stringent requirements from customers all over the world in terms of performance, technology and operational effectiveness. We are confindent that the success of the AW139 will follow that of the AW119Ke, the AW109 Power and the Grand in the Russian market."

Extensively tested in the most extreme conditions such as those encountered in Canada and in the Middle East, the AW139 meets Russian operational requirements whilst delivering the highest levels of technology, safety, flexibility and operational capability. The AW139, thanks to its outstanding features, has been identified and selected by Russian industry as the benchmark helicopter in the light medium weight category to meet various demanding civil requirements in the region. A final assembly line in Russia for the AW139 civil helicopter is to be set up and run by HeliVert, a Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland Joint Venture. The final assembly line is aimed at satisfying the requirements of the civil markets in Russia and CIS countries primarily and - through the AgustaWestland network - for the rest of the world. An AW139 will perform a three week demonstration tour in Russia soon, visiting various areas towards Siberia, before arriving in Tyumen and Surgut regions.

Air force

The RAF's Reaper programme has achieved the milestone of providing more than 10,000 hours of armed overwatch in support of UK and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

The UK Reaper Remotely Piloted Air System (RPAS) has been deployed to Afghanistan since October 2007 and provides a persistent, armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability.

Since November 2009, Reaper has been supporting operations 24-hours-a-day and more Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft are planned to be delivered later this year.

The RPAS is an integral part of the UK's air power capability. Procured to meet an urgent operational requirement, Reaper is the only RPAS currently in service with the RAF.

Air Vice-Marshal Baz North, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, said:

"10,000 hours in direct support of operations is a significant milestone.

"Our experience of operating RPAS has confirmed that they have unique capabilities that complement those of traditional combat and ISR platforms; maximum effect is achieved by employing them in a mixed grouping.

"This network-enabled force has delivered a comprehensive combat ISTAR [Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance] capability that provides assured intelligence and situational awareness across the full range of operating environments, through the employment and integration of air, space and cyber systems."

Reaper is flown by 39 Squadron via satellite from a UK operations facility at Creech Air Force Base in the Nevada desert, and provides a range of ISR products to troops on the ground and operational headquarters.

Its primary role is ISR but from May 2008 the system has been armed with Hellfire missiles and laser-guided bombs to enable it to better meet the requirements of ground commanders.

The rules of engagement used for Reaper weapon releases are no different to those used for manned combat aircraft; the weapons are all precision-guided, and every effort is made to ensure the risk of collateral damage and civilian casualties is minimised, including deciding not to release a weapon.

Wing Commander Jules Ball, Officer Commanding 39 Squadron, said:

"The squadron's personnel, from pilots to imagery analysts and support teams, are motivated and dedicated to supporting all our coalition forces and the people of Afghanistan; everyone has played a significant part in the delivery of this landmark achievement. It's absolutely clear that the Reaper plays a vital role in delivering Air's contribution to operations in Afghanistan.

Air force

Lufthansa has taken delivery of the first of 15 Airbus A380s ordered, with three more to join the fleet in 2010. Lufthansa will deploy its new flagship aircraft on routes to Tokyo, Beijing and Johannesburg.
During the handover ceremony in Hamburg, Lufthansa unveiled its new First Class cabin with eight generous seats on the upper deck. The upper deck is also equipped with 98 Business seats while the spacious main deck hosts 420 Economy Class seats offering a unique feeling of comfort and space. Lufthansa's A380s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines.

"With the A380 Lufthansa today receives its new flagship. The A380 is the most modern and environmentally friendly airliner today. It's also exceptionally quiet, and that will make the A380 the preferred aircraft at metropolises such as London, New York, Tokyo and of course Frankfurt airport. While Lufthansa passengers will enjoy more space in all classes and the unique cabin comfort, the airline will profit from the unprecedented efficiency of the A380," said Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders. "I thank Lufthansa for the excellent co-operation during the design and certification process of the A380."

From the beginning of the A380 programme, Lufthansa and Airbus have worked closely on the aircraft design through to certification. Between 2005 and 2010 the A380 underwent several airport compatibility tests at Lufthansa's home base in Frankfurt. In cabin safety evacuation tests, Lufthansa cabin crews successfully evacuated 873 people in just 78 seconds. Lufthansa was also a major partner during initial ground based 'virtual' flights and on the first real long-range route proving flights.

"Passengers can look forward to a very special flight experience on board the A380," Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Chairman and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa said at the handover. "In cooperation with Airbus, we have developed many technical solutions regarding the cabin design and furnishings which are being given a world premiere in this aircraft. Our innovations in terms of cabin air, light systems, sound insulation and inflight entertainment make our A380 unique. Our pilots, technicians and service professionals have undergone intensive training and are thoroughly prepared for this new dimension in flying. They are all as excited about this aircraft as our passengers, who are now booking flights specifically with the A380."

Lufthansa and Airbus have a long history of partnership. In 1976 Lufthansa took over the first Airbus A300B4. With 274 orders Lufthansa is today Airbus' biggest airline customer. Nearly all Airbus family models are represented in the airline's current Airbus fleet of over 180 aircraft.

The A380 has unmatched fuel efficiency, consuming less than three litres per 100 kilometres per passenger. Thanks to excellent aerodynamic performance, the A380 complies with today's strictest noise limits, which makes it the quietest large aircraft flying today. The all new double deck aircraft generates only half as much noise on take-off and landing as the previous largest passenger aircraft. The A380 also provides vital extra passenger capacity without increasing the number of flights, and is therefore part of the solution for sustainable growth at congested airports.

The aircraft's efficient performance and industry leading technology result in higher operational flexibility and outstanding operational economics. With a range of more than 15,000 km/ 8,300 nm and seat-mile costs 24 per cent lower than its closest competitor.

Lufthansa becomes the fifth airline to introduce the A380 into service. Today's delivery marks the 28th Airbus A380 to be operating with the global route network of leading airlines. The current A380 fleet already connects 21 important international routes on five continents. 17 major international airports are already regular A380 destinations.

All in all, the A380 fleet has today achieved a total of more than 130,000 flight hours on over 14,000 commercial flights. More than 5 million passengers have had an opportunity to enjoy flying in an A380.

Air force

1.Welcome to the Su-33 aircraft carrier launch and recovery training lesson. 2.Press "ESC" at any time to take control or exit the lesson. 3.Please do not touch any input devices during the training lesson. Press "PAUSE" to pause the lesson. 4.Press "LShift F" to extend the flaps all the way down. 5.Increase engine power. 6.Full afterbuner! 7.Take-off! Maintain 20-degrees of pitch. Retract the landing gear by pressing "G". 8.Press "LCtrl F" to retract the flaps. 9.Level out at 500 m and 500 km/h. Begin an 180-degree turn with 30-degrees of bank to the left. 10.To maintain airspeed around 500 km/h at this low altitude, the engine RPM will need to be around 80%. 11.Finishing our turn to a course opposite of the final approach or upwind. 12.At a range of 12 km., press "B" to extend the airbrake. Turn 90-degrees with a 30-degree bank angle to fly perpendicular to the final approach course or base leg. 13.When turning on base, reduce airspeed to 350 km/h. 14.Once we reach 350 km/h, increase engine power between 85 and 90% to maintain airspeed. 15.Press "G" to extend the landing gear.

This will also lower the flaps automatically. 16.Press "LAlt G" to lower the arrestor hook. 17.When the carrier is about 80-degrees of the nose, begin the turn to final approach. 18.Select Landing mode by pressing "1". 19.Completing our turn on final and lining up on the approach course by following the director bars. When the horizontal glideslope bar lowers, descend and reduce airspeed to 245 km

Air force

Pratt & Whitney has completed more than 100 hours of testing on its full-scale PurePower engine core, successfully validating performance goals of its new generation of commercial jet engines and demonstrating excellent starting and operability characteristics. The PurePower family of engines is designed to power the next generation of passenger aircraft, including narrow-body jets, regional aircraft and large business jets. Pratt & Whitney is a United Technologies Corp. company.

The results of the PurePower core testing further confirm that the first PW1000G engine to test is on target for later this summer for the Bombardier CSeries single-aisle aircraft, followed by the first engine to test for the Mitsubishi Regional Jet. The results also validate the performance of the PurePower PW800 engine for the next generation of large business jets.

"We are extremely pleased with the core test results indicating that the overall engine performance is well aligned with expectations," said Paul Adams, Pratt & Whitney senior vice president, Engineering. "These results position us to execute the development of our Next Generation Product Family flawlessly."

The PurePower family of engines shares a common, advanced core across the models and feature flight proven, next-generation technology. The engine core consists of an ultra-efficient high-pressure compressor, a low-emissions combustor, and an all-new high-pressure turbine. The testing program is evaluating engine performance, operability and structural design characteristics of these key modules.

"The PurePower core, when combined with our lightweight, low-speed propulsor technologies, enables Pratt & Whitney to deliver world class levels of fuel burn, noise, and emissions at lower turbine temperatures and pressures with fewer compressor and turbine stages," said Bob Saia, Pratt & Whitney vice president, Next Generation Product Family. "These characteristics ultimately result in significant operating cost advantages to our customers."

The PurePower PW1000G engine features an advanced gear system that allows the engine's fan to operate at a slower speed than the low-pressure compressor and turbine. The combination of the gear system and all-new advanced core delivers double-digit improvements in fuel efficiency and emissions with a 50-percent reduction in noise over today's engines.

The PurePower PW800 engine, which is targeted to power the next generation of large business jets, is a 10,000- to 20,000-pound thrust turbofan that has double-digit improvements in fuel burn, environmental emissions, engine noise and operating costs. The PW800 incorporates an advanced technology fan, optimized for performance and noise; a next generation low-emissions combustor and an advanced digital engine control with integrated health monitoring.

In addition to the core testing, Pratt & Whitney has performed critical module-level testing for the PurePower engine program, including: fan drive gear system testing with simulations of more than 40,000 takeoffs and landings; hundreds of hours of testing on the high-pressure compressor with the advanced design meeting or exceeding efficiency and operability goals; nearly 200 hours of testing on the low-pressure compressor verifying low-spool high-speed performance; and extensive fan module testing with 300 pieces of instrumentation that verified performance, operability and acoustics of the low speed fan.

The PurePower PW1000G engine has been selected as exclusive power for the Bombardier CSeries aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2013 and the Mitsubishi Regional Jet scheduled to enter service in 2014. The PW1000G was also recently selected to power the proposed new Irkut MC-21 narrow-body jet scheduled to enter service in 2016. The PurePower PW800 engine is targeted to power the next generation of large business jets.

Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.

Air force

The K-MAX helicopter that Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace have successfully transformed into an unmanned aircraft system can now resupply troops by parachute.

During recent tests in Bloomfield, Conn., Kaman conducted 11 cargo airdrops from 300 ft. to 400 ft. above ground level using the Army’s low cost low altitude cross parachute, a one-time-use expendable aerodynamic decelerator that costs about $375.

“Airdropping cargo as an option to placing a sling load on the ground can enhance an unmanned aircraft’s survivability while delivering critical supplies in combat environments,” said Terry Fogarty, general manager of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Product Group at Kaman Helicopters.

Kaman performed the airdrops in partnership with the U.S. Army’s Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC).

“The demonstration exceeded our expectations” said Richard Benney, division leader, Aerial Delivery Equipment and Systems Division. “This capability will save lives, allowing us to deliver supplies to our troops using unmanned helicopters, while also avoiding the threat to the delivery platform in high-threat areas.”

Kaman designed the K-MAX helicopter to deliver sling loads up to 6,000 pounds at sea level, and 4,300 pounds at 15,000 ft. Lockheed Martin’s mission management and control systems enable autonomous flight in remote environments over large distances.