Based in London, Tony covers European defense programs. Prior to joining Aviation Week in November 2012, Tony was at Shephard Media Group where he was deputy editor for Rotorhub and Defence Helicopter magazines. Tony has covered avionics, unmanned vehicles, the supply chain and cyberwarfare.
LONDON — BAE Systems is carrying out wind tunnel trials to assess the aerodynamics of mounting conformal fuel tanks (CFTs) onto the Eurofighter Typhoon. The testing, taking place in the company’s high-speed tunnel facility in the U.K., aims to accelerate the clearance process for the tanks to be integrated onto the combat aircraft. The two CFTs, which would be fitted on top of the rear fuselage of Tranche 3 aircraft only, can carry the same amount of fuel – 3,000 liters – as three external fuel tanks combined.
LONDON — HMS Daring, one of the U.K. Royal Navy’s six new Type 45 air defense destroyers, tracked a ballistic missile in the Pacific during trials with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Limited information about the trials has been released following the return of the ship into its homeport at Portsmouth, U.K. after a nine-month long cruise on Feb. 28.
