Tuesday, November 30, 2010

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Saudi Arabia National Guard To Launch Air Wing With $25 Billion Helicopter Purchase

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Saudi Arabia National Guard To Launch Air Wing With $25 Billion Helicopter Purchase
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Arabian Aerospace
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - November 30, 2010: Saudi Arabia's National Guard (SANG) is to be a key beneficiary of the mega arms deal with the USA and will directly lead to the creation of a new air arm.
Arabian Aerospace has learned that Riyadh will spent $25.6bn on setting up the SANG Aviation Command through the purchase of 156 helicopters including Apache and Little Bird AH6 models..

Saudi has previously confirmed a requirement for 190 helicopters but it had previously been expected that these would be for the RSAF.

The National Guard heads the internal security within the Kingdom and is directly descended from King Abdul Aziz Al Saud’s Ikhwan (Brotherhood), or White Army as it was sometimes called. This was the King’s instrument for subduing and unifying the various disparate tribes of the Arabian Peninsula to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Once organized along tribal lines, and commanded by tribal sheiks today’s SANG continues to draw heavily for its members from select Bedouin tribes which have a record of unquestioning loyalty to the Crown. As a result of this history, the SANG has a long tradition of loyalty to both the nation and its ruling family.

SANG saw an Aviation Command added to its portfolio in 2006 but until now, had no aircraft to its name,

The 156 aircraft include 72 armed helicopters, which will be used for the defense of vital installations, including borders and oil infrastructure, and for supporting ground forces tasked with protecting such installations.

Unsurprisingly, the SANG aviation regiment will receive the 36 Boeing AH-6i Little Bird light attack helicopters included in the new arms deal. Unsurprisingly, as the light and simple AH-6i is a natural fit for a new air arm. These will carry Wescam MX-15Di (AN/AAQ-35) undernose turrets, containing EO targeting systems. The aircraft will be armed with GAU-19/A .50 caliber gun pods and will be supplied with launchers that will allow them to use the AGM-114R Hellfire II Anti-Tank Guided Missile.

More surprisingly, 36 of the 70 highly sophisticated Boeing AH-64D Block III Apaches likely to be supplied to Saudi Arabia will go to the Saudi Arabian National Guard (with 24 going to the Royal Saudi Land Forces and ten to the Royal Guard Regiment). Up to 20 of the Saudi Arabian National Guard Apaches will be equipped with the mast-mounted AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radar.

The US DoD has notified Congress of its intention to supply some 2,592 AGM-114R Hellfire II missile

*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News, contact: dtnnews@ymail.com
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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Final AW159 Lynx Wildcat Test Aircraft Makes Its Maiden Flight

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: Final AW159 Lynx Wildcat Test Aircraft Makes Its Maiden Flight
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources AgustaWestland
(NSI News Source Info) YEOVIL, UK /VERGIATE, Italy - November 30, 2010: AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the third and final AW159 test aircraft successfully completed its maiden flight on November 19th at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility in the UK. During its maiden flight a range of general handling checks were completed and it performed as expected.
The aircraft, designated TI3, is the third of three test aircraft that will complete a 600 hour integrated flight test programme. This first flight comes just a few weeks after the second AW159, designated TI2, first flew in mid October. All the three aircraft flew together for the first time on the same day.
Graham Cole, Managing Director, AgustaWestland, said after the flight “I am delighted that the final test aircraft has performed its maiden flight completing on time a critical part of the AW159 development. This programme will deliver unprecedented levels of capability and cost/effectiveness to the services once the operational readiness is achieved.” Aircraft TI1 continues to perform air vehicle and flight envelope testing while TI2 is undertaking the flight testing of the aircraft’s core and mission avionics systems, the systems and software having already been developed and tested on AgustaWestland’s Full Systems Integration Rig (FSIR). TI3’s main task includes undertaking load survey trials and naval development, including ship helicopter operating limit trials. AgustaWestland has now also established a new AW159 production facility at its Yeovil plant that introduces a pulse line production system to bring significant efficiencies to the final assembly process. The first production airframe was delivered to AgustaWestland by GKN Aerospace on schedule in July 2010.
The first flight of the third AW159, known as Lynx Wildcat in UK military service, marks another major milestone in the development of this new six-ton multi-role military helicopter, 62 of which have been ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence. The first aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2011 with the aircraft becoming fully operational with the Army in 2014 and the Royal Navy in 2015. The British Army’s AW159 Lynx Wildcat will perform a wide range of tasks on the battlefield including reconnaissance, command and control, transportation of troops and materiel, and the provision of force protection. The Royal Navy variant will provide an agile maritime capability providing anti-surface warfare capability and force protection and will operate in support of amphibious operations and be an important element in defending ships against surface threats. There will be a high degree of commonality between the Army and Royal Navy helicopters that will mean that an aircraft can switch roles easily, principally through the changing of role equipment. The AW159 programme for the UK MoD continues to be on time and on budget and was the first major project to be awarded under the Strategic Partnering Arrangement signed by the UK Ministry of Defence and AgustaWestland in June 2006. AgustaWestland has also signed partnering agreements with a number of key suppliers on the AW159 programme including Selex Galileo, a Finmeccanica company; GKN Aerospace, LHTEC – a partnership between Rolls-Royce and Honeywell, General Dynamics UK, Thales UK and GE Aviation.
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