- 鐵幣
- 26461 元
- 文章
- 11533 篇
- 聲望
- 11136 枚
- 上次登入
- 19-10-17
- 精華
- 175
- 註冊時間
- 05-12-25
- UID
- 215856
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Defender 500
This foreign military sales helicopter is offered with either a four- or five-blade main rotor, depending on the model, with a weapons platform mounted on the lower rear body. This light utility commercial helicopter could seat five passengers in comfort, and is used mainly by the military, being very flexible and offering good all round capabilities. Other missions include: direct air support, antitank, reconnaissance, observation, and light utility. A single engine is mounted inside the body with air intakes on top of the cabin and a blackhole exhaust. The fuselage is teardrop-shaped a features a round, glassed-in cockpit and landing skids. External stores are mounted on weapons racks on each side of the fuselage. Each rack has one hardpoint. The tail fin is boomerang-shaped, swept-back, and tapered. The tail flats are back-tapered with small fins attached to the tips, with the flats high-mounted on the fin forming a T. The rotor is moutned on the lower left of the tail boom.
On 12 February 1998 the Boeing Company announced its intention to sell its commercial helicopter business. Boeing built commercial helicopters -- the MD 500 Series, MD 600, and MD Explorer -- in Mesa, Ariz., where it also produces the AH-64D Apache Longbow. As of early 1998 the facility employed 5,300, of which 350 were dedicated to the production of commercial helicopters. On 25 February 1998 Bell Helicopter Textron announced a plan to acquire the Boeing MD 500 and MD 600 series product lines, However, the transaction was dis-approved by competition authorities at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June 1998. Subsequently, on 19 January 1999 McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., the indirect subsidiary of The Boeing Company, and MD Helicopters Holding, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of the Dutch company RDM Holding, Inc., signed an agreement on an asset purchase of Boeing's MD 500, MD 600N?and MD Explorer?series of light commercial helicopter product lines. Included in the product line are the MD 500E and MD 530F?single-engine helicopters with conventional tail rotors, the MD 520N?and MD 600N single-engine helicopters with Boeing's exclusive NOTAR?no tail rotor system for anti-torque and directional control, and the MD Explorer series of twin-engine, eight-place helicopters. RDM is a European-based industrial group with aerospace activities. The company designs and builds diesel-electric submarines and builds and repairs ships, manufactures and overhauls military vehicles, and produces defense and aerospace products, including landing gear and transmissions for aircraft and helicopters. It is a subcontractor to Boeing for landing gear and fuselage assemblies for Apache helicopters. |
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