Flight: ATR 72-600 makes low-key show debut in Morocco

ATR’s new -600 series turboprop made its air show debut at the AeroExpo in Marrakech, Morocco, on 27 January.

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AFP: Senator Shelby blocks all Obama nominees amid tanker feud

A US Senator has taken the extraordinary step of blocking more than 70 of US President Barack Obama’s nominees amid a dispute over a lucrative US Air Force tanker deal, senate aides said Friday.
Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, placed a blanket “hold” in part because [...]

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The Times: BAE pays £285m to settle US and UK arms claims

BAE Systems, Europe’s largest defence company, has agreed to pay £285 million in fines to settle long-running investigations into its arms deals with Saudi Arabia and Tanzania.
The deal includes a $400 million (£255.7 million) payment to the US Department of Justice after the company admitted to conspiring to [...]

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Flight: Bombardier warns of falling deliveries in 2010

Canadian airframer Bombardier recorded a 13% drop in overall deliveries for fiscal 2009 ending 31 January, and warns the slide in deliveries will continue into the current year.
Deliveries fell to 302 compared with 349 the year prior. Bombardier delivered 121 commercial aircraft to customers versus 110 deliveries for fiscal 2008, which [...]

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Reuters: Brazil defense minister: no deal on French jets

Brazil’s Defense Minister Nelson Jobim denied that the country had reached an agreement to buy Rafale fighter jets from France’s Dassault (AVMD.PA).

A leading Brazilian newspaper had reported earlier on Thursday that Brazil agreed to buy and assemble 36 Rafale fighter jets after Dassault reduced the total price to $6.2 billion from $8.2 billion. Folha [...]

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Flight:Brazil poised to confirm Rafale’s victory in F-X2 battle

Brazil’s defence ministry is expected soon to make an announcement confirming the selection of the Dassault Rafale to meet its air force’s 36-aircraft F-X2 fighter requirement.
Sources in Brasilia indicate that a final decision was made by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and defence minister Nelson Jobim following meetings held with [...]

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Avweek: Light Airplanes Boost Close Air Support

As mechanized forces bog down in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan, low-tech solutions to problems become more attractive. One of these is the use of small, simple aircraft to replace jets for the close air support (CAS), armed reconnaissance and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that dominate air [...]

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AvWeek: Brazil Fighter Decision Imminent?

It is crunch time for Brazil and the fighter competition there, industry officials believe.
The Brazilian government will either make an announcement about who won - the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Dassault Rafale, and Saab Gripen NG are in the running - in the next few days, or the process will be delayed for a long time.

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King5: Boeing 747-8F completes first flight

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G2 Solutions @ February 8, 2010

747-8F First Flight Video

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G2 Solutions @ February 8, 2010

Bloomberg: Boeing’s Biggest 747 Begins Flight Testing Program

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Beautiful day for first flight here in Seattle:

Boeing Co.’s 747-8, the biggest jumbo jet it’s ever built, flew for the first time today, joining the composite-plastic 787 Dreamliner in delayed flight-test programs the company now aims to complete by the end of the year.

The 747-8’s first takeoff comes just a day short of the 41st anniversary of the original 747’s maiden flight. The jet lifted off at 12:39 p.m. local time from Paine Field in Everett, Washington, across from the factory Boeing built in 1967 specifically to house the aircraft and which is now home to the 787, 777 and 767 assembly lines as well.

KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

G2 Solutions @ February 8, 2010

Bloomberg: Murtha, Backer of Troops, Earmarks in Congress, Dies

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John Murtha, a former Marine drill instructor turned congressman who unapologetically wielded his power to benefit his Pennsylvania district, died today. He was 77. Murtha, a Democrat, died at a hospital in Arlington, Virginia, of complications after undergoing gallbladder surgery in late January at another hospital.

During 36 years in the House, the Vietnam veteran from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, rose to chairman of the subcommittee that approves defense spending. That perch gave him a platform to exert his knowledge and strong beliefs about the proper use of the U.S. military.

G2 Solutions @ February 8, 2010

Les Echos: France agrees to provide Mistral Class BPC to Russian Navy

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France’s DGA has authorized the export of at least one Mistral Class BPC to Russia. We certainly anticipate backlash on the Hill and may be some impact on the Tanker program.

AFP:

La France a accepté de vendre à la Russie un navire de guerre Mistral, capable de transporter une quinzaine d’hélicoptères et de chars, et envisage de lui en fournir trois autres, a annoncé lundi un responsable de la Direction générale de l’armement (DGA). Un accord qui inquiète plusieurs anciennes républiques soviétiques, comme la Géorgie.

G2 Solutions @ February 8, 2010

Flight: Nailing the Concorde “criminals”

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We could not agree more with David Learmount;  this court case is ridiculous and a waste of time and money.

Today in Pontoise, north of Paris, the French judiciary began to examine who, if anyone, was criminally guilty of causing the Air France Concorde crash.

There is no obligation under French law to launch a criminal prosecution following an aviation accident. An accident could be presumed to be just that: an unintended, unforseen occurrence.

This compulsion to prosecute following aviation accidents in France seems to be embedded in the way the establishment works in the country, but it’s about time somebody in authority questioned the procedure. The trouble is that it seems to be considered sacrilege to criticise or interfere with the French judicial system. The judiciary’s independence is sacred to the extent that they can write their own rules. So that’s what they do.

G2 Solutions @ February 7, 2010

AMI: Frecce Tricolori 2010 - 50th Anniversary

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G2 Solutions @ February 6, 2010

DoD Buzz: QDR Garners Poor Reviews

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We generally agree, despite some occasional bright spots, this QDR is a major disappointment.

DoD Buzz:

Reviews of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review are pouring in from Washington’s defense cognoscenti and so far they come with a strong tilt towards disappointed. On Tuesday, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where a group of defense experts weighed in, Maren Leed, a senior fellow there, said she’s not sure the congressionally-mandated strategic review is worth the effort. “It’s not clear that there is enough new or useful in this QDR.”

G2 Solutions @ February 6, 2010