TOP NEWS Military U.S. Navy's Fire Scout Unmanned Helicopter Is Now Operational The U.S. Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter on June 28, the service said on Monday. The Fire Scout is built by Northrop Grumman using the Bell 407 airframe and is built at Bell's Mirabel, Quebec, plant with final assembly and kitting conducted in the U.S. The MQ-8C is a…
Commercial Russian Helicopters Looks for Early Stage Urban Air Mobility Projects Russian Helicopters wants to get in on the urban air mobility game by inviting entrepreneurs to submit projects to a competition later this summer. The…
Commercial Erickson Upgrades Defense Fleet With Airbus H225 Super Pumas Erickson recently completed the first flight of its Airbus H225 Super Puma, which will provide the operator’s customers with new advanced avionics, increased payload and…
Commercial Airbus Acquires Aersud Elicotteri, Expanding Presence and Customer Service in Italy Airbus Helicopters has acquired longtime Italian partner Aersud Elicotteri, strengthening its presence in Italy with a dedicated customer service center. Airbus credits Aersud, headquartered in…
Safety Making Connections Most aircraft, if you boil the concept very far down, are essentially very complex connectors. Increasingly, as they transport people from one place to another,…
Commercial UPDATED: Connectivity Essential for Safety Catching a potential failure of a single bearing inside the transmission of an S-70 Firehawk before it breaks could mean the difference between an $8,000…
Military The UN’s Helo Fleet The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a pivotal moment in history with many positive and negative effects, but one clear good has…
Commercial Hybrid Electric Helicopters Say “electric” or “hybrid-electric” engines, and what comes to mind for many is urban air mobility, on-demand air taxis and the 160 companies salivating for…
Military Opportunity in Europe Faced with existing geopolitical threats and the ongoing militarization of Russia, some European Union countries have announced plans to renew and significantly expand their military…
Public Service ‘It’s a Responsibility’ The U.S. Virgin Islands — Flying five hundred feet over the harbor at the foot of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Maria Rodriguez points out the…
Commercial UK Helicopter Market Vs. Brexit The U.K. helicopter charter market is overwhelmingly — up to 90 percent — an export industry, according to Simon Mitchell of Starspeed, part of Luxaviation…
Safety Keeping a Safety MINDSPACE Helicopter operators often use safety management systems (SMSs) to identify and control safety risks, with the word "system" implying a complex arrangement of integral parts…
Uncategorized Coming Up: July/August 2019 Coming up in the July/August 2019 issue of Rotor & Wing International: Pilot Training: There are too many helicopters and too few trained, certified pilots to fly…
Military Northrop Grumman Looking To Offer Laser Weapon Capability For Army’s Short-Range Air Defense