LOCATIONS
LAND
21 Aug 14. Columbia Helicopters, Inc., a member of the American Helicopter Services And Aerial Firefighting Association (AHSAFA), has opened a new facility which will be totally focused on the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of military helicopters. The 16,000 square foot building, located at the company’s headquarters and maintenance complex at Aurora (Oregon) State Airport, will be capable of handling up to three maintenance lines of CH 47 Chinook helicopters simultaneously. The twin-rotor, CH 47 is a popular military workhorse, used by the US Army and military organizations worldwide. Columbia Helicopters is a specialist in CH 47 maintenance. Operational since August 1, the building, which houses the new Military Maintenance Facility, was built in 1996 to maintain the company’s ground support equipment. According to Paul Leach, Columbia Helicopters’ Director, Military Maintenance, the planning began last year to repurpose the structure in anticipation of growing contract maintenance business from international CH 47 operators, through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. As an example, a complete interior and exterior refurbishment, airframe and engine overhaul for three Royal Moroccan Air Force CH 47-Ds is currently in progress at the facility, under a $6m contract. (Source: Yahoo!/PRNewswire)
23 Aug 14. Dubai satellite manufacturing facility ‘on track’, says EIAST. The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) has announced that construction work on a facility to build satellites is on schedule and expected to be completed in the next few months. The facility comprises a clean room for the manufacture of satellites, an electrical laboratory, as well as a mechanical lab, EIAST said in a statement published by news agency WAM. The facility is the first phase of a bigger development dedicated to the manufacture of satellites at the institution, it added. “The construction works of facilities dedicated to manufacture satellites at EIAST are on schedule. Therefore, we will move as soon as possible from South Korea to Dubai to complete the development of Khalifa Sat,” said Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, director general of EIAST. “Within a very short period of time, we have made a lot of achievements such as the successful launch of DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2 into space in addition to the launch of KhalifaSat project.”
He added: “Today, we are building facilities for the manufacture of satellites in the country, which is a real experiment for us and a big challenge for our ability to develop high level infrastructure for space sciences, to develop local human resources and enhance their technical innovation.” EIAST was established by the Dubai Government in 2006 with the goal of promoting a culture of advanced scientific research and technology innovation in Dubai and the UAE, and enhancing technology innovation and scientific skills among UAE nationals. It is mainly involved in outer space research and development, satellite manufacturing and systems development, space imaging, and ground station services and support for other satellites. (Source: ArabianBusiness.com)
MARITIME
20 Aug 14. Tunisia’s patrol boat programme makes steady progress. The Italian government is helping the Tunisian Navy and the National Guard bolster their maritime patrolling capabilities by donating 12 patrol boats as part of a security assistance package signed in April 2011. The 12 patrol boats include six P270TNs for the Tunisian Navy and six P350TNs for the National Guard, all of them built by Cantiere Naval Vittoria (CNV) in Adria. CNV chairman Luigi Duò told IHS Jane’s that his company had delivered five of the P350TNs and three of the P270TNs since December 2012. The next two P270TNs will be delivered by October. The last P350TN and P270TN were originally options and are expected to be delivered by February 2015, Duò said. The first P270TN, Joumhouria (P 202), was handed over to the T