Spirit AeroSystems and Airbus officially opened a new 46,450m2 manufacturing plant on July 1 in Kinston, North Carolina, which is designing and will manufacture composite centre fuselage upper and lower shells and front wing spars for the Airbus A350 XWB. Design work for the components has been underway for approximately two years, with manufacturing set
The RAAF formally re-formed famed WW2 Bomber Command unit 460SQN during a ceremony held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on July 2. Under the command of WGCDR Pete Wooding, the re-formed 460SQN is a unit with the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation (DIGO), and has been established to provide the ADF with geospatial
Defence has signed a new three year, $136 million contract with Qantas Defence Services for maintenance and support of the RAAF’s 12 C-130H Hercules. “Qantas Defence Services has maintained Australia’s 12 strong C-130H Hercules fleet since 1999, demonstrating that local companies can deliver quality work and value for money,” Minister for Defence Materiel and Science,
Northrop Grumman has been awarded a contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to demonstrate an autonomous air-to-air refuelling capability from one Global Hawk to another. Dubbed KQ-X, the demonstration will see two Block 10 Global Hawks which are operated by NASA fly in close formation, with one feeding fuel to the
The Australia Aviation Associations Forum, which represents a number of local industry bodies, has condemned the move by the federal government to increase taxation on aviation fuel, which it says could cost the industry in excess of $20 million per year. “The surprise announcement of a 25 per cent increase in fuel tax in the
Boeing has confirmed that Air China has placed an order for 20 737-800s. The aircraft will be used to expand its domestic routes.
