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AIRCRAFT

Pilatus seals training aircraft deal with Jordan

The Jordanian airforce will buy nine Pilatus training aircraft for fighter jet pilots, the Swiss company said on Monday, without divulging the price tag on the deal.

Pilatus seals training aircraft deal with Jordan
Photo: Pilatus Aircraft

The deal for the nine PC-9 M two-seater planes also includes a simulator, training equipment and logistics support, Pilatus Aircraft said in a statement.

The Swiss company said it had landed the deal amid strong international competition “after several years of hard negotiations, from which the PC-9 M finally emerged as the winner.”

“We are truly delighted to have a new customer and are confident that this purchase will encourage other air forces to consider our efficient Pilatus training aircraft for their own pilot training needs in the future,” company chief Markus Bucher said in the statement.

The company said the planes would be delivered to Jordan starting in January 2017, and would “form the future backbone for training the pilots tasked with flying the latest generation of military jets.”

Pilatus has already sold 260 of its PC-9 trainer aircraft to 15 air forces worldwide, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Thailand and Australia, it said.

In 2012, the company sold 75 of its less powerful PC-7 trainers to the Indian airforce for a reported $1 billion.

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AIRCRAFT

Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?

A World War 2 aircraft may have been found at the bottom of the sea near the Danish island of Langeland.

Has a Lancaster bomber been discovered under Denmark’s seas?
Photo: Foto-VDW/Depositphotos

The aircraft, discovered in waters off the southern tip of the island, could be a Lancaster, a British bomber used during the 1939-45 war.

Denmark’s Navy has issued a temporary ban on diving, fishing, sailing or anchoring in the area due to the possibility of live ammunition being amongst the wreckage, vice commander of the Royal Danish Navy’s diving unit Bo Petersen told Ritzau.

“We received a civilian report that a diver had seen what looked like the wreckage of an old aircraft. It is probably a Lancaster bomber down there. The diver said there were also objects that could be bombs. We are responding to that,” Petersen said.

The vice commander stressed that the identity of the airplane was yet to be confirmed.

“We can’t go out and check what we’ve been told because there is too much wind and high waves,” he said on Sunday.

But a Navy diving team would be despatched at the earliest possible juncture, he added.

In a tweet, the Danish military confirmed investigation would take place “in the coming days”.

“We’ll dive down to the wreckage and conduct a thorough investigation of the surrounding area for ammunition. We will thereby be able to state whether the area can be re-opened or whether we need to remove the ammunition to make the area secure,” Petersen said.

The Lancaster, a four-engine British bomber, was first produced in 1941.

According to British Royal Air Force figures, 7,377 Lancasters in total were made. After the war, they were used as reconnaissance aircraft until 1956.

There are now only two airworthy examples of the aircraft in the world – one in Canada and one in the UK.

Although the discovery in Danish waters is highly unusual, Petersen noted that a bomber aircraft was also found in the area during the construction of the Great Belt Bridge in the late 1990s.

READ ALSO: Danish schoolboy finds buried German WW2 aircraft and pilot

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