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Boeing Airborne Laser ‘shoots down’ first missile
20:19 August 23, 2009 PDT
On August 10, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency were finally able to demonstrate that the US$1.1 billion Airborne Laser (ABL) program actually works. The ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400, took off from Edwards Air Force Base and located, tracked and fired on a target missile. Although a surrogate high-energy laser was used – rather than the megawatt-class laser that will ultimately arm it – instrumentation on the target verified the hit. Read More
Boeing to market S-100 Camcopter
By Jeff Salton
18:06 August 12, 2009 PDT
Expect to see more S-100 Camcopters taking to the skies following the announcement that Boeing and Austrian company Schiebel Industries (the S-100’s manufacturer) have joined forces to market and support the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The S-100 is an remote-controlled helicopter that can carry a wide variety of payloads, including a stabilized video system for surveillance and reconnaissance, and is well-suited to military and civilian applications. Read More
P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance plane officially unveiled
By Gizmag Team
05:40 August 5, 2009 PDT
The U.S. Navy's new long-range maritime surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft has been officially unveiled at the Boeing facility in Renton, Washington. The P-8A Poseidon will provide anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capabilities and offers greater payload capacity and advanced software and communications over the P-3C Orion which it is scheduled to replace from 2013. Read More
Marine War Fighting Lab to examine Unmanned Cargo Helicopter
By Mike Hanlon
21:19 June 7, 2009 PDT
The most successful military commanders in history have been master logisticians in addition to master tacticians – you can’t fight effectively if you don’t have all that you need. These days computers aid logistics immensely, but they’re just about to add a whole new dimension by flying the cargo aircraft too. Boeing is the first to submit a platform for the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory's Immediate Cargo Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Demonstration Program: the A160T Hummingbird autonomous unmanned helicopter with a healthy 2,500-pound payload. Read More
Boeing to develop airborne, non-lethal counter-electronics weapon
By David Greig
02:19 May 20, 2009 PDT
The term Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) evokes images of Star Wars-style ray guns blasting aircraft from the skies and laser toting creatures from the far reaches of outer space, but there are also non-lethal forms of these weapons under development for present day military or non-military applications. Boeing has just received a USD$38 million contract to develop a high powered microwave (HPM) airborne demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Counter-electronics High power microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP). Read More
Boeing Business Jet Convertible repurposes from 50-passenger to full cargo config in eight hours
By Mike Hanlon
21:10 May 11, 2009 PDT
Boeing has used EBACE to announce its Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) Convertible is now available to prospective customers with very special needs. The USD50 million plus airplane reconfigures from all-passenger to all-cargo configuration in less than eight hours, making it ideal for Governments, corporations and independently-wealthy citizens who forsee usefulness in being able to quickly repurpose the craft from mobile boardroom to transporting up to 50 VIPs, staff or troops to delivering disaster-relief supplies or configuring for medical evacuation. Thanks to a new Overhead Space Utilization kit, which adds 75 square metres of space, it could also be easily used for transporting race cars, race horses or the entourage of touring musical groups. Read More
Boeing to develop fighter-sized UAV based on X-45C
18:49 May 8, 2009 PDT
Boeing plans to have a new unmanned platform based on the X-45C in the air by December 2010. Dubbed Phantom Ray, the internally funded venture will build on the knowledge gained in the shelved X-45 project, which saw the X-45A unmanned aircraft complete 64 flights between 2002 and 2005, achieving a number of milestones including the first precision weapons demonstration by an unmanned combat system and the first autonomous multivehicle flight under the control of a single pilot. Phantom Ray will be based on the larger, fighter-sized, X-45C which appeared at airshows as a full-scale mock-up during 2004. Read More
Two-seater Hummel helicopter concept folds-up for easy storage
By Paul Evans
22:36 April 30, 2009 PDT
Looking something like a cross between the SoloTrek XFV backpack helicopter flown in the movie Agent Cody Banks and the Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, the Hummel is a two passenger lightweight helicopter concept that features a fully enclosed cabin and tandem ducted rotors which offer the same stability as a conventional helicopter with a tail rotor. The extra twist - when you're done flying it folds into a box shape for easy storage and transportation. Read More
Boeing P-8A Poseidon lifts-off
03:35 April 28, 2009 PDT
Boeing's P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine and long-range surveillance aircraft has completed its first flight. In the latest development milestone for the plane scheduled to replace the P-3 Orion, the T-1 test aircraft completed a series of systems checks during three hours and 31 minutes in the skies above Seattle on April 25. Read More
Boeing to develop Free Electron Laser for US Navy
By David Greig
05:42 April 21, 2009 PDT
Boeing has won a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $163 million to develop the Free Electron Laser (FEL), a weapon system that the company says "will transform naval warfare in the next decade by providing an ultra-precise, speed-of-light capability and unlimited magazine depth to defend ships against new, challenging threats, such as hyper-velocity cruise missiles." The envisioned level of precision would enable U.S. Navy ships to deliver nonlethal or lethal force to targets with power and minimal collateral damage. Read More
Boeing unveils F-15 Silent Eagle configuration
By David Greig
22:51 March 17, 2009 PDT
The Boeing Company has unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE), a new F-15 configuration designed with a range of improvements over the previous F-15 variants including improved stealth coatings, redesigned conformal fuel tanks, a canted vertical tail to improve aerodynamic efficiency and much more. The prototype will be ready for its first test flight in early 2010. Read More
Laser-equipped ground vehicle used to shoot down UAV
16:26 January 28, 2009 PST
January 29, 2009 Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now a well established tool in modern warfare, having proved their worth in both in reconnaissance and increasingly, combat roles. As with all weapons however, this success might not be viewed so glowingly if you happen to be on the receiving end. In developing ways to combat the threat of UAV platforms, Boeing has demonstrated for the first time that a laser equipped Avenger ground combat vehicle can shoot down a UAV. Read More
Revised 787 Dreamliner launch schedule announced
20:04 December 11, 2008 PST
Citing disruption caused by the recent Machinists' strike along with the need to replace certain fasteners in early production airplanes, Boeing has announced a set-back to the much anticipated first flight of its 787 Dreamliner. The new-generation composite commercial airliner is now scheduled for its first flight in the second quarter of 2009 with first deliveries in Q1 2010. Read More
Air New Zealand moves closer to biofuel flight
By Kyle Sherer
16:15 November 2, 2008 PST
Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and UOP aim to power one of four engines on a Boeing 747-400 on Jatropha-based fuel. The first test flight using the environmentally sustainable oil is scheduled to take place in Auckland in December after fuel testing is completed. Read More
Aircraft seat-bed design offers a comfortable journey for all travelers
By Jude Garvey
18:42 September 24, 2008 PDT
Another stand-out entry in the Create the Future Design Contest is the aircraft seat-bed design entered in the transportation section by Mario Martinez Celis from Mexico City. The concept design allows for 594 seats on the Airbus A380 which normally seats 555 but the real beauty of the configuration is that ALL passengers would be given the comfort of seat-beds with more space than ever before. Read More
JDAM Countermine System shoots 4000 darts
By Mike Hanlon
06:32 August 10, 2008 PDT
August 10, 2008 Amphibious assaults are a dangerous business, which is why the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center is assembling a comprehensive Assault Breaching System. A key part of the new system is a Countermine System (CMS) designed to minimize mine-related human losses and not surprisingly, the new design is innovative, very complex and pretty scarey. Basically, it’s a warhead that dispenses its payload of 4000 neutralizer "darts" at a predetermined altitude to clear a safe pathway for the Marines that follow. The new CMS warhead is delivered accurately above the designated area required for clearance by the equally innovative JDAM guidance platform. Read More
Short-Wave Infrared capability for the ScanEagle UAV
By Mike Hanlon
00:18 August 7, 2008 PDT
August 8, 2008 The ScanEagle is a low-cost, long-endurance autonomous unmanned aircraft that has been one of the most significant new battlefield technologies to emerge during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, performing more than 100,000 combat hours in both theatres and delivering invaluable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) on a daily basis. The only trouble is that conventional electro-optical and long-wave infrared cameras are severely limited in fog or rain. Now they’ve managed to miniaturize a short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera to fit inside the diminutive ScanEagle, enabling clear vision in any circumstance. Read More
Etihad buys up big at Farnborough Airshow
15:52 July 15, 2008 PDT
Soaring oil prices might be putting the squeeze on margins for airlines around the world, but that hasn't deterred United Arab Emirates national carrier Etihad from splurging more than $20 billion on orders for Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Read More
Skyhook and Boeing build the world's largest VTOL aircraft
By Loz Blain
04:17 July 9, 2008 PDT
One of the greatest hurdles for major construction in remote areas is moving heavy building materials to the worksite. Road-building is an environmental issue, as well as often being cost-prohibitive and impossible in many terrains. Some areas are unreachable by cargo ship, large cargo planes require good weather and long runways, and helicopters simply can't carry heavy enough loads - which is why Skyhook's Jess Heavy Lifter is so significant. It combines the neutral buoyancy and stability of an airship with the lifting power of four big rotors. Capable of lifting 40 tons (80,000lbs) vertically and transporting the load more than 200 miles without refuelling, the JHL-40 offers twice the load capacity of the world's current largest cargo helicopter. Read More
Boeing announces B-52 airborne electronic attack contract
19:54 June 30, 2008 PDT
July 1, 2008 Boeing has been awarded a $14.9 million contract by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to develop airborne electronic attack technologies that can be used over long distances. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Hummingbird achieves 18 hour flight milestone
By Emily Clark
00:04 May 23, 2008 PDT
Gizmag first reported on Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird Unmanned Rotorcraft back in 2005 and again in 2007 when the craft made its first flight. Now the craft has come very close to achieving the original 20 hour flight times envisioned (and unofficially broken a world record for unmanned aerial vehicles along the way) by remaining in the air for 18.7 hours. Read More
Boeing's 777 Freighter graduates from paint facility
By Kyle Sherer
18:17 May 21, 2008 PDT
The first Boeing 777 Freighter plane has left the paint facility in Everett, Washington, marking another step towards the scheduled launch of the plane into service late this year. The 777 Freighter is an all-cargo version of the 777-200LR Worldliner, which made Gizmag headlines in 2005 when it set the world long distance record. Read More
Airbus and Honeywell team up on alternative fuel
By Emily Clark
20:35 May 19, 2008 PDT
Virgin Atlantic and Boeing launched the world's first commercial airline flight on biofuel earlier this year, then Continental Airlines joined the push towards alternative fuels and now Airbus has announced that it will partner with Honeywell, IAE and JetBlue in order to develop a sustainable second-generation biofuel for use in commercial aircraft. Read More
Jonathan Cole
- November 6, 2009 @ 16:15 UTC
