Archive For July, 2013
European airplane manufacturer Airbus has announced plans to fly the A350 XWB aircraft for the first time. The extra wide body (XWB) aircraft is Airbus’ response to arch rival Boeing’s long‐haul 777 and 787 (Dreamliner) planes. Journalists attending the Airbus Innovation Days 2013 event at its Toulouse headquarters were given a preview of the A350 […]
India’s long‐range ballistic missile Agni‐V is warming up for a canister‐style development trial launch in the next one month. The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) newly‐appointed Chief Controller R&D (Missiles & Strategic Systems) Dr V G Sekaran confirmed to Express that all preparations for the second trial Of the 5,000 ‐km‐plus missile are in […]
How will man tackle quakes when he colonises moon in the not‐so‐distant future? India will be joining some nations in the quest for a better understanding of moonquakes as plans are afoot to send a seismometer on board the landing instrument of Chandrayaan‐2 scheduled to be launched in 2014/15. Sensors of the seismometer built by […]
The home‐grown PSLV rocket has nosed its way a wee bit more in the global market: it will launch France’s 712 ‐kg SPOT‐7 earth observation satellite and separately, at least half‐a‐dozen small foreign spacecraft for a fee this year and the next. They are still mini nibbles at the multi‐billion dollar space transportation pie but […]
An IN spokesman told IHS Jane’s that the P‐8, which has an antisubmarine warfare capability and an operational range of 1,200 n miles, will be formally inducted into service by the end of the year after two more P‐81s are delivered to INS Rajali in September and November. Delivery of all eight P‐Bls, acquired in […]
The Solar Impulse, a single‐person solar‐powered aircraft piloted by a Swiss adventurer, landed in St.Louis, Missouri on its transcontinental flight after more than 21 hours in the air. The organiser’s ground crew rushed out on the tarmac of the Lambert‐St Louis International Airport when the aircraft, which has four electric engines and a 63‐metre wingspan, […]
Three Indian aerospace‐engineering students’ ambitious plan to help create an aircraft of the future has taken them to the finals of a global competition floated by aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Unesco. The team from SRM University, Chennai ‐ consisting of Mr Balakrishnan Solaraju Murali, Mr Michael Thomas and Mrs Anita Mohil ‐ is among the […]
Swiss aircraft maker Pilatus is planning to set up a manufacturing facility in India. The firm, which is supplying 75 basic training aircraft PC‐7 to the Indian Air Force, intends to set up a facility that will initially manufacture airframes for its single‐engine turboprop PC‐12 aircraft. “This will be our third support facility for PC‐12 […]
Defence minister Mr A K Antony last week expressed the hope that the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft would finally get the final operational clearance (FOC) next year. But a hard‐nosed “internal assessment” shows Antony’s dream will be shattered. The single‐engine Tejas, already 30 years in the making, will not become combat‐worthy anytime before end‐2015. […]