Des nouvelles de la Royal Air Force

[Invité Rob]

Le RAF va acheter peut-etre encore une fois deux C17s pour avoir un flotte de 8 C17s.

Link.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/02/21/221747/singapore-2008-boeing-predicts-good-year-for-at-risk-c-17.html

[Will]

On doit recevoir le numero 5 plus tard aujourd'hui  =)

[pascal]

Heureux anglais =)

[Philippe Top-Force]

Heureux anglais =)

Tout dépendra du résultat de ce soir.  :lol: Plus sérieusement, Tonton Pascal, on peut dire que les Britanniques sont pragmatiques et que la France devrait s'en inspirer pour les futures dotations d'équipements militaires.

La maintenance des équipements Transall et Hercules apparaît de plus en plus difficile et coûteuse, compte tenu notamment de leur âge, les premiers Transall ayant été construits en 1968. Ces appareils ne parviennent pas à assurer l’ensemble des besoins d’affrètement. Les armées ont ainsi recours à des affrètements privés, soit pour le transport de troupes, soit pour des matériels particulièrement volumineux, comme des hélicoptères.

Londres a su rapidement anticiper en se dotant de 4 puis 5 et 6 voire plus tard de 8 C-17 pour leur transport stratégique lourd, de 25 C-130-30 J et de 25 A400M, plus grace aux PFI, d'une quinzaine de A330-200 MRTT. On peut aussi souligner que leur 50 Chinook et 42 Merlin RN et 28 Merlin RAF sont un "plus", sans équivalent en Europe.

Malheureux Français, on ne peut que réagir si l'on veut combler ses déficits capacitaires.

Philippe, militant assidu et acharné pour le PA2/Chinook/C-17  :lol: en plus de nos 50 A400M/17 MRTT/133 TTH90/Ro&Ro à prévoir

[pascal]

rien à redire camarade quadra

[Philippe Top-Force]

rien à redire camarade quadra

Et dire qu'on est de la génération des Transall, des Super Frelon, de la Jeanne d'Arc, des KC135fr.

Putaing con, fan de chichoune cela fout mal en point.  :lol:

On en parle sur ce fil de discussion.

http://www.air-defense.net/Forum_AD/index.php?topic=3350.0

Car nos amis anglais ne vont pas comprendre nos langues et expressions sudistes

[Invité Rob]

Tout dépendra du résultat de ce soir.

:lol:

[Invité Rob]

Les Tucanos du RAF vont peut-etre moderniser et pas un achat de nouveaux avions, je suis pour ca, c'est une reduit en cout de des millions et l'argent va directer aux entreprises britanniques.

Tucano upgrade on offer as UK nears Military Flying Training System contract award

By Craig Hoyle

With a partnering contract for the UK Military Flying Training System (MFTS) within weeks of being signed amid a deepening defence budget crisis, the manufacturers of two of the UK's in-service types have outlined upgrade proposals which, they claim, would significantly reduce short-term programme costs.

Industry sources expect the Ministry of Defence to sign a deal with the Lockheed Martin UK-led Ascent consortium in early April, with this to combine almost 120 subcontracts.

This will enable the partners to advance efforts to select a simulator provider for the BAE Systems Hawk 128 advanced jet trainer, acquire new aircraft to support Royal Navy observer training, and seek a replacement basic trainer fleet.

The latter requirement could draw offers based on new types, including the Alenia Aermacchi M-311, Hawker Beechcraft T-6B and Pilatus PC-21.

But with cost a major consideration, a team comprising Marshall Aerospace and airframe manufacturer Shorts says it will offer an extensive upgrade to the Royal Air Force's current Tucano T1 fleet, which the companies claim could enable operations to continue for more than 20 years.

A CMC-sourced glass cockpit and mission computers would provide the core element of the proposed modernisation project, which would also provide 10% more engine power and aerodynamic improvements, says Richard Howman, Marshall's senior business development manager.

Revealing details of the proposal at IQPC's 27-28 February Military Flight Training conference in London, Howman said upgraded Tucanos could be provided for 10-15% of the cost of fielding a new aircraft type, with remaining development and test work requiring about 18 months from the contract award.

The current UK aircraft have an average of 60% of their planned airframe lives to use, he says, which represents about 8,000 flight hours each.

As well as offering the Tucano upgrade as a bridging measure for the UK, the Marshall/Shorts team could also be interested in acquiring surplus examples for potential international buyers.

Fifteen aircraft are currently being offered for sale via the UK Disposal Services Agency, with 40 more held in long-term storage.

Meanwhile, Grob Aerospace is eyeing a potential glass cockpit and propulsion system upgrade to the UK's G115E screening aircraft. VT Aerospace-managed operations of the type are currently set to conclude in 2012.

Link.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/03/03/221924/tucano-upgrade-on-offer-as-uk-nears-military-flying-training-system-contract-award.html

Un image d'un RAF Tucano.

[Invité Rob]

Le RAF a 90 ans.  =)

[pascal]

ROBERT

Key Publishing (Air FORCE Monthly) annonce qq soucis pour les Typhoon anglais dans son last issue qu'est ce que c'est vraiment ?

Tu as des informations d'une autre source?

[Invité Rob]

ROBERT

Key Publishing (Air FORCE Monthly) annonce qq soucis pour les Typhoon anglais dans son last issue qu'est ce que c'est vraiment ?

Tu as des informations d'une autre source?

Je n'ai pas lu les derniers AFM's, ce Mars ou Avril? Je vais acheter un copie demain et peut-etre puis je peux dire plus.  =)

[Invité Rob]

Le RAF a conforme qu'ils veulent 8 C17s.

A sixth example is scheduled for accepatance on 3 June, while Air Vice Marshal Andrew Pulford, Air Officer Commanding the RAF's 2 Group, confirms that "there is a stated departmental requirement for eight."

Link.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/07/222815/pictures-uk-receives-fifth-c-17-as-raf-fleet-passes-40000-flight.html

[Will]

XXV(F) Squadron, le dernier squadron de Tornado F3 de RAF Leeming est "disbanded"

-----------------------

le passe et l'avenir  =)

Le RAF a conforme qu'ils veulent 8 C17s.

Link.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/07/222815/pictures-uk-receives-fifth-c-17-as-raf-fleet-passes-40000-flight.html

excellent  :|

[Invité Rob]

Il y a encore 3 escadrons du Tornado F3 a RAF Leuchars.  =) J'aime le look du Tornado F3.  =)

[Will]

Il y a encore 3 escadrons du Tornado F3 a RAF Leuchars.  =) J'aime le look du Tornado F3.  =)

Oui, je pense ils ont bien prepare leurs "bebes" pour leur dernier jour  ;)

Plus le Typhoon arrive et moins on va voir les F3, mais j avais entendu un rumeur que la RAF pensait mettre un AESA sur des F3 (et autres adaptations)? Je ne sais pas si ceci est tres "likely".

[TMor]

Je n'ai pas lu les derniers AFM's, ce Mars ou Avril? Je vais acheter un copie demain et peut-etre puis je peux dire plus.  =)

=)

Alors, quels étaient les soucis ?

[Will]

Bienvenue a ZZ175, le 5eme C-17 a Brize Norton  =|

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/RafsFifthC17AircraftArrivesInTheUk.htm

[Darkjmfr]

Plus le Typhoon arrive et moins on va voir les F3, mais j avais entendu un rumeur que la RAF pensait mettre un AESA sur des F3 (et autres adaptations)? Je ne sais pas si ceci est tres "likely".

@ will: likely = probable ;)

[Will]

qu est ce qui est probable? :rolleyes:

EDIT: *apres que je me suis bien reveille, pris mon cafe, et relus le message*

ok merci, je vais noter ca  =D

[Invité Rob]

Alors, quels étaient les soucis ?

AFM dit qu'il y a petits problemes avec le "landing gear" et le "parachute", mais je n'ecoute pas une choose d'une autre source.  :O =)

[TMor]

AFM dit qu'il y a petits problemes avec le "landing gear" et le "parachute"

Ok merci.  ;)

[Invité Rob]

J'ai trouve des "statistics" tres recent (Mars 2008) pour le RAF.

- 853 avions dont 332 avions de combat

- 137 Tornado GR4

- 78 Harriers

- 68 Tornado F3

- 49 Eurofighter Typhoon

- 43 Hercules

- 16 VC10s

- 9 Tristars

- 5 C17s

- 40 Chinooks --> 48 depuis 2009

- 28 EH101s

- 38 Pumas

- 25 Sea Kings

- 4 Bell 212s

- 41440 personnes

Link.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/currentoperations/newstructure.cfm

http://www.raf.mod.uk/currentoperations/transportandtankers.cfm

http://www.raf.mod.uk/currentoperations/helicopters.cfm

[Will]

bientot des armes sur les Reapers UAV du RAF?

http://www.janes.com/news/defence/air/jdw/jdw080421_1_n.shtml

RAF Reaper may be armed 'within weeks'

By Robert Hewson

21 April 2008

Armed combat operations by the UK Royal Air Force's newly acquired General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are imminent, Jane's has learned.

Jonathan Barratt, team leader for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) strategic unmanned air vehicles experiment integrated project team, told Jane's: "The aircraft will be armed within a matter of weeks, with AGM-114P Hellfire missiles and GBU-12 Paveway bombs that we have acquired under a separate United States Foreign Military Sales [FMS] contract."

Barratt was a speaker at a briefing on the wider UK Reaper procurement and operations programme hosted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology in London on 9 April.

In response to Jane's queries the MoD later stated: "Subject to ongoing negotiations, UK Reaper will be equipped in the near future to carry 500 lb laser-guided bombs and Hellfire P laser-guided missiles... standard US weapons already being employed in theatre.

"These weapons will provide commanders [with] a proven and well-understood capability, which is similar to that provided by UK weapons already in service," the MoD said.

Barratt noted that there "has been an 'ethical' issue over the employment of US weapons on a UK platform that is active in a foreign theatre but flown by UK crews from the US.

"The US authorities wanted to make sure there were no legal obstacles to doing any of this, and there are not," he said.

"We already included weapons provision in our original release to service [RtS] request and safety case. Now we will be ready in a few weeks."

The AGM-114P is a version of the Lockheed Martin Hellfire specially developed for UAV operations. It is not in the UK's existing Hellfire inventory. Neither is the Raytheon GBU-12 - which would be a wholly new weapon type for UK service. There has never been a published FMS contract award that explicitly included either new Hellfires or Paveway IIs for the UK. Neither has a formal UK request for such weapons, which must be lodged with and published by the US Defence Security Co-operation Agency, ever appeared. The acquisition of weapons from existing US stocks under an urgent operational requirement (UOR) might allow these public processes to be avoided.

EDIT: si il en restera  :O

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3487241&c=MID&s=AIR

[Invité Rob]

Le transformation du RAF par "through life management".

Boeing support helps RAF C-17s deliver the goods

By Craig Hoyle

With the UK's airborne supply activities inside Afghanistan and Iraq being largely provided by Lockheed Martin C-130J/K transports and Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters, the Royal Air Force's ability to maintain an air bridge with both theatres is a critical factor in enabling operations.

In its first fleet expansion since 2001, the RAF's 99 Sqn in early April received its fifth Boeing C-17 strategic transport, joining four aircraft leased from Boeing in 2000 under the UK Ministry of Defence's short-term strategic airlift project.

These were originally intended to fill a capability gap caused by the delayed launch of Europe's Airbus Military A400M project, but world events post-9/11 have led to them typically being flown at 130% of their planned utilisation rates, amassing a combined 41,000h since 2001. The aircraft routinely serve both operational theatres several times a week, with three transports often away simultaneously and a turnaround time of 6h not unusual.

Although the C-17 can carry a 75t payload, the RAF says its aircraft typically transport around 45t of supplies to theatre. The fleet also moved almost 57,000 passengers in the five years up to March. "These aircraft have delivered, and are totally fit for purpose as strategic freighters," says Air Vice Marshal Andrew Pulford, air officer commanding the RAF's 2 Grp.

A key contributor to the UK's success has been its membership of the US Air Force's C-17 Globemaster Sustainment Program, under which it contracts Boeing to provide performance-based logistics support services for the fleet at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

Fourteen Boeing personnel and a Pratt & Whitney representative are assigned to a field service team at the base. Their services include making judgements on the need for minor repairs, which saves having to wait several hours to contact engineers in the USA. "That's one way that we can keep aircraft availability so high we don't have that time lag," says Trevor Kirby, the company's on-site manager at Brize Norton.

UK C-17s receive day-to-day flightline maintenance from an engineering team of 140 RAF personnel, while a home station check is conducted every 120 days. Lasting roughly 10 days, this process includes work such as integrating minor system upgrades, plus performing engine filter checks, lubrication and airframe washing.

Along with fellow C-17 operators Australia and Canada, the UK also buys access to global fleet data on issues such as structural and reliability factors, and can leverage off investment in block upgrades to the USAF's eventual fleet of at least 190 of the aircraft under its Global Reach Improvement Program. The UK's first four C-17s are to be upgraded to the Block 16 standard at Boeing's San Antonio plant in Texas before this decade is over, receiving equipment including a new weather radar.

"Without the global support arrangement, things would have been much more difficult," says James Evans, C-17 integrated project team leader for the UK's Defence Equipment & Support organisation. The UK's lease, purchase and support costs for the type have been projected at around £2 billion ($3.96 billion), with this including a sixth aircraft to be accepted in early June and the completion of a purchase of the original leased fleet by September. Meanwhile, the RAF hopes to acquire a further two aircraft "as soon as possible", says Pulford.

Hailing the success of the UK's use of the airlifter, Boeing international C-17 programme manager Tommy Dunehew says: "This is our model programme when we go elsewhere."

RAF gets more hours from Chinook fleet

By Craig Hoyle

Almost two years after its Boeing Chinook HC2/2A transport helicopters began operating in Afghanistan's Helmand province, the Royal Air Force is delivering more flying hours with the type than ever.

Achieved in part due to a new engineering infrastructure that is also delivering improved training services in the UK, the advance is the centrepiece of a plan that will see annual utilisation rates rise by more than a third by next year.

Eleven of the RAF's Chinooks are deployed on operations, with 10 flying in Afghanistan (pictured below) and one in Iraq. A further 15 are assigned to its 7, 18 and 27 squadrons at Odiham, Hampshire, with the remainder involved in maintenance and upgrade activities.

The service early this decade launched a project to boost the operational efficiency of the fleet, with support enhancements sought to increase availability and reduce the amount of scheduled maintenance time for aircraft.

"When we started this process the maximum the Chinook force had ever delivered was about 12,000h [per year]," says Gp Capt Andy Turner, station commander at RAF Odiham. "We are today on a sure path to deliver 16,000h by next year, and potentially greater than 18,000h from 2010."

One element of the reform has been delivered through improvements in the provision of so-called "depth" maintenance at the now Vector Aerospace-run Fleetlands site in Hampshire. Boeing was in May 2006 awarded a 34-year through-life customer support contract that required an annual 12,500 flight hours from a frontline fleet of 27 aircraft.

"They have turned themselves inside out, and we have really seen the direct benefits of incentivisation," says Turner, who adds: "Without their effort we wouldn't be able to deliver the 16,000h." Boeing also has on-site representatives at Odiham under the TLCS deal, which has already contributed to an increase in utilisation to 13,500h.

But the RAF has not relied solely on the efforts of industry to transform its Chinook operations, having also taken the difficult decision to dismantle and reform its own maintenance activities as part of the process.

Support to 18 and 27 squadrons was historically provided by the units' own engineering personnel, but these have now been amalgamated into a single unit of around 300 people, including three maintenance flights of 70 staff each.

"We have been through a lot of pain to lose the squadron identity, but we've created a new one and we're working really well," says Sqn Ldr Paul Kelly, the outgoing officer commanding of the Odiham-based Expeditionary Chinook Engineering Squadron (ExCES).

Creating a combined engineering unit has removed duplication in trades, and freed resources for more "spanner turners" at a time of high operational tempo, he adds.

The ExCES unit also last year established a pulse line at Odiham to conduct primary and primary star maintenance work on the Chinook at 150h intervals, with minor and major services performed at Fleetlands after every 600 and 2,400 flight hours, respectively. Two aircraft are on the pulse line at any one time, with each receiving 1,200 man hours of work.

"In order to deliver the additional hours, we need to generate an aircraft out of there with 150h clear every 13 days," says Kelly, with this to be reduced to 11 days in order to meet the 16,000h objective.

"When the aircraft arrives we are ready to run," he says, adding: "Morale is sky high among the guys - they are delivering."

Pulse line operations started last year in June, and between August and March this year only three aircraft were completed late.

Further improvements to pre-arrival planning, lean initiatives and the choreography of the line are now being investigated, along with a possible increase in manpower to move towards the goal of 18,000 flight hours.

The RAF and Boeing are also looking at the possibility of extending some service intervals.

Part of the resultant increase in flying operations will in addition be achieved by expanding the Chinook fleet through the availability of eight currently stored, longer-range HC3 airframes (pictured below) that are to undergo a "fix-to-field" programme worth more than £60 million ($119 million), including funds for more air crew and support personnel.

"I see the aeroplanes being absorbed into the whole fleet so that they will be almost seamless," says Turner. "They will be slightly different visually, but they will be operated by everybody." The modified HC3s will arrive at Odiham in ones and twos from mid-2009, with all the necessary equipment for deployment to Afghanistan from late the same year, or during 2010, he adds.

Another vital element of the current engineering transformation process has been the creation of a combined flying programme, which Kelly describes as a contract between the engineering wing and squadron aircrews.

Typically, seven aircraft are on the flightline at Odiham each day: four to support squadron training requirements, plus two spares and one held at readiness to support national emergency commitments if required.

The new system has at times proved contentious, but Kelly says: "If you have tasking lines and spares you achieve much more than: 'let's fly everything that's serviceable'. The spares are available to make sure that those sorties happen."

The benefit, he adds, comes when the spares are not required. "Then I'm engineering for tomorrow's flying programme and we're on the front foot, not trying to recover aircraft for the second wave. We've ceased to be a reactive organisation and have become proactive."

Other initiatives, such as changing crews with the rotors still turning, have also contributed to the success of the new model, according to Kelly, and only two sorties totalling around 4h were lost during February due to line aircraft and spares both being unserviceable.

"Essentially, we achieved 99.5% of the task asked of us," he says. "Availability and serviceability are dead statistics in this construct: flying hours achieved is the statistic that's worth looking at."

Aircraft tasking is also now the responsibility of an engineering programme manager, with the non-commissioned officer "maintaining the beat of the squadron" by assigning Chinooks to the flying programme, while overseeing those that are due for the pulse line or heavy rectification work. The manager also liaises with the depth organisation on long-term fleet management issues.

Turner expects Odiham's squadrons to sustain operations in Afghanistan for the next five years "and maybe substantially longer". He notes: "We bought the aircraft in 1981, they were deployed in 1982 and they haven't come home since. The Chinook force is well configured, both for air crew and support staff to endure."

Noting that the recent improvement in utilisation rates has been achieved under a climate of reduced resources, Turner concludes: "This hasn't been about investment to get more. This is about Helmand, and the people who are clearing trenches by night. It's about getting them on and off the ground quickly. That's why we are working so hard."

Hercules support deal transforms RAF operations

By Craig Hoyle

The UK Ministry of Defence’s ongoing logistics transformation process has led to its signature of through-life partnering deals with industry to support operations of multiple aircraft types, ranging from fighters and transports to battlefield helicopters.

One of the newest examples of such co-operation is the Hercules Integrated Operational Support (HIOS) programme, which will maintain the Royal Air Force’s Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transports until their planned retirement in 2030.

Awarded to prime contractor Marshall Aerospace in May 2006, the £1.5 billion ($2.98 billion) deal is already reaping benefits, according to its industry partners, which began delivering services under an accelerated availability-based model last October.

Also involving airframe manufacturer Lockheed and engine supplier Rolls-Royce, the HIOS framework currently covers the RAF’s 20 C-130Ks, operations of which started in 1966, and its 24 new-generation C-130Js, in use since the late 1990s.

Forced to fly on because of the delayed launch of the replacement Airbus Military A400M programme, the C-130K fleet will this year be slimmed down to 15 airframes, with five stretched-fuselage aircraft to be retired after being deemed uneconomic to remain in service. However, with demand to keep the remainder available to the frontline as long as possible, the Ks are now receiving fresh modifications that will enable them to soldier on until at least 2010, and for around 10 airframes, possibly until 2013.

Extending what was already a 40-year relationship with Lockheed and the UK Ministry of Defence, HIOS replaces a previous multitude of small-value and short-length contracts on the C-130K, says John Sneller, head of maintenance, repair and overhaul specialist Marshall’s RAF C-130 business unit.

Originally providing incentives for meeting operational requirements at the RAF’s Hercules main operating base at Lyneham in Wiltshire, the HIOS project “was a sea-change in how we behaved to each other, and in terms of how we looked after the aircraft”, says Sneller. However, the greatly increased use of the C-130J in Afghanistan and Iraq since the deal was signed has seen the emphasis shift to delivering operationally fit aircraft to provide the backbone for the RAF’s intra-theatre transport activities in both countries.

With the UK’s C-130s logging around 35,000 flight hours every year, around one million maintenance hours will be required to reach the 2030 milestone, according to Marshall.

So-called depth maintenance of the Hercules represents the largest activity at the company’s Cambridge airport site, with HIOS activities accounting for around 75% of its work on the UK fleet. Much of the remainder of the work is conducted in support of urgent operational requirements, which currently include refurbishing outer wings for short-fuselage C-130Ks, integrating defensive aids equipment and explosion suppressant foam, and adding fuselage tape protection to guard against damage caused by debris on rough landing strips (C-130J pictured below landing at Camp Bastion).

Work under the HIOS deal is split into four streams: aircraft maintenance, technical support, supply chain management and propulsion system management. “HIOS is very inclusive; there are virtually no dependencies on third parties,” says Sneller, who adds: “Simplicity is a real boon here.”

Marshall and Lockheed respectively serve as design authorities for the K and J models, while engine maintenance and overhaul is managed by R-R, which directly supports the newer aircraft’s AE2100s, but subcontracts work on the K’s T56 engines to Sigma Aerospace in Croydon, Surrey.

Sneller says the HIOS deal has created a “musketeer’s mantra” between the industry and MoD partners, and has accelerated the sharing of intellectual property on the C-130J. Lockheed has six personnel based at the Cambridge site, with these working alongside R-R employees and over 30 staff from the UK Defence Equipment & Support organisation’s Hercules integrated project team. “That co-location helps day-to-day,” says Sneller, who notes: “Previously, some of these relationships were fairly adversarial.”

The programme’s key metric is delivering fit for purpose (FFP) aircraft to the frontline, with a so-called “sentencing” process performed at Lyneham every other day. Aircraft are declared green if they are fit for use, blue if in they are maintenance or red if unavailable for technical reasons, with negative sentencing placed on one of the partners. “Bearing down on non-FFP days is critical to the programme,” says Sneller.

“In financial terms, it is about collective support. If Rolls-Royce, or Lockheed, or Marshall are not succeeding, it’s in the interests of the other two partners to say: ‘what’s going on here, how can we help’? Otherwise all partners will be dragged down.”

Managing the supply chain is one of the toughest challenges facing the HIOS team, according to Sneller. But while some companies have had their previously direct access to the IPT complicated by the new team structure, he says: “Because we have a long-term contract, incentives that we have can be flowed down,” empowering lower-tier companies to meet performance goals.

Around 500 people work on the HIOS scheme in the UK, with this total including a forward maintenance team of around 30 technicians at Lyneham. “Collectively, that’s a very visible part of HIOS being on the station working with the forward-support folk all the time,” says Sneller.

The contract was intended to have an 18-month transition phase, but went to an availability-based model three months early. “We were confident in terms of the structure, personalities and framework to get on with this, and we are going well,” says Sneller. “The contract is occasionally pulled out, but it’s very much about the relationship and how we work together. It’s much more practical than it used to be.”

Around 10 UOR programmes are conducted each year, with this work increasingly being performed under a combined maintenance and upgrade process at the Cambridge site, which provides hangar space for up to 12 Hercules. “As a maintenance-based contract there are opportunities to roll a lot of these UOR-type activities into the framework of HIOS,” says Sneller.

Marshall also works on C-130s for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, and Sneller says: “We are looking at what we can bring from HIOS to our overseas customers.” The company – which also currently holds an integrated operational support contract on the RAF’s fleet of nine Lockheed Tri-Star tankers and transports – is also interested in gaining work to support the UK’s 25 A400Ms from early next decade.

“We are delivering a successful integrated availability model on the Hercules, and making genuine improvements. Instead of having spikes of drama and sudden in-year funding issues, there is a much more stable financial climate: not only for the MoD, but the industry arena as well,” says Sneller. “We have undoubtedly made and shared savings. Before partnering, that level of change just couldn’t have been imagined, and those benefits couldn’t have been realised.”

www.flightglobal.com

[Will]

plus d'heures de vol des chinooks et 10 dans le 'ghan, bonne nouvelles, ceci fait quoi comme helicopteres la?

x8 apaches

x10 chinook

x10 seaking (au moins 6 avec carson blades)

x4 lynx

est ce que les 6 merlins sont la est la question?

Sinon, -5 C130K cette an  :'( mais plus 25 A400M apres 2010 et 2 C17 cette an ci (+2 peut etre encore dans le futur)  =)

EDIT: je n'avais pas vu ceci, une impression artiste de un A400M de la RAF sur le site du MoD  =|