Eurofighter Typhoon achieves 200,000 flying hours

by BA Staff

The Eurofighter Typhoon, once a contender in the Indian Air Force Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMCRA) tender, has now achieved more than 200,000 flying hours since the entry-into-service of its worldwide fleet. Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH confirmed the milestone today adding that, with 719 aircraft on contract, 571 aircraft ordered and 378 aircraft delivered, the programme has “never looked stronger”.

Alberto Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH, said

“This impressive milestone underlines the outstanding track-record of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Today, our congratulations go to all the air forces who have achieved this target, to more than 100,000 employees in Europe who are involved in the development manufacturing and supply chain as well as to all the 400 companies who support us on a daily basis with their know-how and competences. This is indeed a proud day for all of them and a landmark day for Europe’s largest defence programme.” “Every day our aircraft are protecting the skies in Europe, the Middle East and even in the Southern hemisphere. They are on Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Eurofighter Typhoon is combat proven since the Libya operations and is now gaining considerable momentum – indeed the programme has never looked stronger. It has become the backbone of the Air Forces in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria. When the chips are down, air chiefs want an aircraft that is versatile, reliable, resilient and cost-effective. Eurofighter Typhoon fulfills all of these requirements and the operational experiences gained during these flying hours have proven it.”

The first 5,000 flying hours were achieved in November 2005. 10,000 hours came in August 2006 and 20,000 in May 2007. By August 2008, the Eurofighter Typhoon fleet had surpassed 50,000 hours and 100,000 flying hours was reached in January 2011. In the course of these flying hours, Eurofighter has demonstrated 100 per cent availability in numerous international deployments including: Alaska; Malaysia; the United Arab Emirates; the USA; and India.

The global Eurofighter fleet now comprises 20 operating units with locations in Europe, the South Atlantic and the Middle East. Specifically there are, 7 units in the UK (4 in Coningsby, 2 in Leuchars and 1 in Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands); 5 in Italy (2 in Grosseto, 2 in Gioia del Colle, 1 in Trapani); 3 in Germany (Laage, Neuburg and Nörvenich), as well as 3 in Spain (2 in Morón, 1 in Albacete) and one each in Austria (Zeltweg) and in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia - all of them have contributed to the 200,000 flying hour total.

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Airbus achieves 8,000 aircraft delivered milestone

Photo courtesy Airbus S.A.S. Used under fair use.

Earlier this month, Airbus achieved a historic milestone when it delivered its 8,000th aircraft – an A320 for the Indonesian wing of AirAsia.

Over the years, Airbus S.A.S. has grown from a single aircraft model company to an aircraft manufacturer, offering aircraft covering every segment of the market from 100 to 500+ seats.

Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia said

“AirAsia has a long-standing, special relationship with Airbus. This is a very special moment for all of us. The people behind Airbus and their commitment in delivering the best product are key to our fruitful relationship, and we are extremely proud to have the 8,000th Airbus as a member of our fleet. It’s the same pioneering, forward-looking mindset and a lot of hard work that have brought both AirAsia and Airbus to their respective leading positions today,” “The excellent fuel efficiency and economics of Airbus aircraft are key contributors to AirAsia’s success – we are confident that these modern aircraft will enable us to continue our ambitious growth plans.”

Fabrice Brégier, Airbus President and CEO said

“It’s particularly fitting that our 8,000th delivery goes to AirAsia - one of the world’s fastest growing airlines,” “In an increasingly challenging and diverse worldwide economic context, we are more than ever focused on delivering real value to our customers. We will achieve this by continuing to innovate, together with our customers, in all fields of the business to stay ahead of the game and offer the most efficient products and services.”

AirAsia Group is the largest low-cost airline in Asia is the largest customer for the A320 Family, having ordered a total of 475 aircraft, comprising 264 A320neo and 211 A320ceo. Meanwhile, Airbus widebody aircraft are the choice of the group’s long haul affiliate AirAsia X, which has ordered a total of 26 A330-300s and ten A350 XWBs. A total of 141 Airbus aircraft are flying today in AirAsia’s colours out of its 16 bases in the region, which include Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.

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Boeing Reaches 250,000-Kit Milestone for JDAM Weapon Program

Boeing's defense arm today reached a major milestone with the production of its 250,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit. Find the details in the press release below.

20th August 2013

ST. CHARLES, Mo., Aug. 20, 2013 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] today marked its recent production of the 250,000th Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit, a major milestone for a program that, since 1998, has reliably and affordably converted unguided munitions into near-precision weapons.

The company facility in St. Charles produces more than 40 JDAM kits every day, on time and on budget.

“The JDAM remains a valuable asset to warfighters around the world,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott W. Jansson, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. “From the onset of the program, we saw the worth JDAM added to our mission portfolio, and we are still seeing the dividends through its advanced technologies.”

With a range of more than 15 nautical miles, JDAM can defeat high-value targets in any weather, day or night, with minimal risk to air crews. New variants such as Laser JDAM and JDAM Extended Range allow warfighters to prosecute moving targets and deploy the weapon from greater distances, capabilities that come with little to no development risk since they are based on proven technology.

“It’s been an honor to produce JDAM for the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and America’s allies these past 15 years,” said Debbie Rub, Boeing vice president & general manager, Global Strike. “The JDAM continues to protect warfighters with its precision accuracy and unmatched mission reliability.”

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 59,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

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CFM LEAP-1B engine for Boeing 737 MAX completes design freeze.

by Devesh Agarwal

Image courtesy Wikipedia

CFM International announced that it has completed design freeze, i.e. freezing the design and engine configuration, for the LEAP-1B, the exclusive engine for the Boeing 737 MAX. LEAP is an acronym for "Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion". The company expects the first full engine to test by mid 2014. CFM International, is a 50/50 joint company between Snecma (Safran) and General Electric.

Over the next six months, CFM will finalize and release detailed engine design drawings, leading in to parts manufacturing which will build-up towards end 2013. The current schedule calls for the LEAP-1B engine to undergo CFM flight testing in 2015 and engine certification in 2016, which is keeping in view the 2017 Entry Into Service (EIS) of the 737 MAX.

Unlike Airbus which offers its customers a choice of engines including CFM, Boeing has an exclusive relation with CFM, whose engines have been the sole powerplant for all 737 aircraft sold since 1981.

CFM has been conducting component and rig tests on LEAP hardware for more than five years; the program is now moving into an exhaustive engine ground test phase. The first full LEAP-1A egine, which is an option for the Airbus A320neo is currently being built and is on schedule to begin ground testing this fall. There are twelve LEAP-1B certification engine builds schedule over the next three years.

Overall, CFM will have a total of 28 certification engine builds and 30 flight test engines across the three LEAP engine models.

The LEAP engine will use advanced aerodynamic design techniques, lighter, more durable materials, and leading-edge environmental technologies to provide a 15% reduction in specific fuel consumption (SFC) compared to today’s CFM56 engines which power the current Boeing 737NG.

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Video: Airbus A380 - Historic events timeline and highlights - from first flight to 100th delivery

This video clip highlights key events leading up to the "century mark" A380 delivery -- including footage from the first flight, its certification campaign, customer deliveries and more.



Read more about the 100th delivery here.

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