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NG reaches flight milestones for KC-45 Boom |
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Tuesday, 01 July 2008 |
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The advanced aerial refuelling boom that Northrop Grumman will integrate into its KC-45 Tanker has successfully completed its 100th test flight.
Northrop Grumman (NG) has successfully completed 100 successful test flights for the advanced fly-by-wire aerial refueling boom that it is to integrate into the United States Air Force KC-45 Tanker currently being developed.
During the course of its test programme, the Advanced Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), which was developed by Airbus parent EADS, accumulated more than 300 flight hours and logged over 60 different contacts with an F-16 receiver aircraft.
It also executed proximity, pre-contact and contact flight trials with five different aircraft – the F-16, F-1, F/A-18, C101 and the Royal Australian Air Force's multi-role A330 tanker transport.
"The completion of these key milestones clearly demonstrates the capability of our boom and provides tangible evidence that the KC-45 is ready now to meet the U.S. Air Force's refueling needs," said Paul Meyer, vice president of NG.
"Unlike our competitor's offering that has yet to leave the drawing board, we have a mature, state-of-the-art boom that has logged over 100 flights, passed fuel in the air, completed over 60 individual contacts and been validated with multiple aircraft."
In related news, NG recently won a contract to develop battle command systems, training and simulations to the US Army Command General Staff College.
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