The Trainer Choice

Let’s have a look at them one by one.

Probably the most advanced trainer of the three (the Franco/German Alpha Jet is in the same class but too costly and too complex for Australian needs), the HS Hawk is not only a fully operational trainer but could provide a true GA back-up in secured airspace. The Hawk has been flown beyond Mach 1 in tests, though normal maximum speed is in the region of Mach 0. 9. while Farnborough demonstrators even displayed air to air missiles. Certainly for many less developed countries aircraft like the Hawk could provide an economical means of providing their air arms with modern jet aircraft without having to mortgage the treasury to do so. In fact it would be interesting to see how the Hawk would com­ pare to, say, the F86 in a mock dogfight! The Hawk will !Je the standard jet trainer for the RAF and has recently been purchased by Finland. No doubt any air force envisaging using the Jaguar would find the Adour com­ monality worthwhile. Perhaps Australia fits this category also, the Adour Dash 58 Jaguar is indeed a fine all round aircraft Page 30and the Adour powered Hawk could also provide not only excellent pilot transition from CT4 to Hawk to Jaguar but could_ also provide worthwhile GA capabilities while greatly simplifying the on site maintenance requirements of forward bases. Industry would benefit also from such a one engine workload as around 300+ Adour units would be used in a Hawk/Jaguar purchase without taking into account other SE Asian purchasers and the Enzedders.

The Adour 151 turbofan of the Hawk produces a maxi­ mum thrust of 5340Ib whil theHawk weighs in at 745016 empty, 10,250 normal take-off and 16,500Ib for maximum take-off. Hawk can carry a full 5000Ib of underwing stores in the GA role including miniguns, cannon pods, rockets and no doubt, used in numbers, could provide a good ground sup­ port cover in secure airspace.

The Macchi MB339 is around 40 per cent cheaper to purchase and operate than the Hawk, similarly its perfor­ mance is not as sparkling while it returns to being more the true jet trainer with secondary light GA ability whereas the Hawk provides the opposite to some extent.

Powered by the 4000Ib Viper 632-43 the Macchi offers good commonality with experience gained in the years of producing the RAAF 326H; indeed it has been quoted that around 80 per cent of 326H tooling could be used for the 339 assembly. The Viper is, however, far removed from its smaller brother and would be another story. Macchi representatives quote a 339 purchase as providing local industry with around 10 years’ work for 1000 people, a similar figure was quoted by Hawker DeHavilland for the Hawk.

The 339 essentially was derived from the 326K which was developed for both the South African and Italian air forces as a true COIN ground attack aircraft. Wing carry through boxes are strengthened and this technology of operational 326K ex­ perience has been carried through to the designing of the 339to have a fatigue life of some 10,000 hours, twice that of the current trainer. The 10,000 hours includes operational deployment in the GA mode for which the 339 can tote a full 4000Ib of underwing stores in similar fashion to the Hawk.

Both the Hawk and Macchi benefit from two decades of electronic development in comparison to the avionics used in the 326H aircraft. This of course increases reliability and reduces need for maintenance thereby prodocing an aircraft with greater role flexibility that is cheaper to operate long term. Current procurement calls for around 75 for the RAAF and another dozen to the RAN. If the government allows ad­ ditional flying time to the services this figure could increase by around 20 per cent overall and would assist us in selling the New Zealanders on the idea of purchasing two dozen or sofor themselves. The prospects of all this would auger well tor local industry and provide a really worthwhile workload for our struggling aerospace factories.

The RAAF is playing its cards close to the chest as always (at time of writing) and will notactually state whether or not it is seeking the training capacity or training/GA capability as a primary consideration in its purchase. General feeling is that to opt for either would then limit the ultimate TFF choice/s somewhat. Most parties tend to agree. however, that the RAAF is placing pure jet training before GA and this must surely assist the Macchi, and for that matter the CASA 101.

In this scenario, the Hawk, costing around 40 per cent more to own and operate, becomes a little over enajneered for RAAF requirements if the truly excellent cost efficiency Page 31of its GA ability is not properly exercised. Also a Hawk deci­ sion prior to the TFF selection would add too much weight to the Jaguar/Hawk combo. Certainly every time we writers engage in anything mildly aJ:>proachin_g the TFF purchase a nightmare approaches m the form of 100 different scenarios and aircraft/engine combinations. From this angle Hawker DeHavilland is working behind the eight ball in relation to the cheaper Macchi.

The third contender is Spain’s CASA 101.

Truly an eleventh-hour contender. Of similar design specifications to the MB339, the CASA is the cheapest of the three ringing in at around $A1m a unit as against $A1. 3m for the Macchi and $A1. 7m for the Hawk in 1976 dollars. Poweredby a Garret 731 turbofan developing 3500Ib thrust and carry­ ing similar GA ordnance to that of the MB339 the CASA offers Australian industry the best deal at this stage in that we could participate in actual construction and design due to the fact that the first prototype does not fly till mid-1977. The draw­ back of course is that the Defence Department would have to make a fairly hasty decision and, in doing so, order what is currently a paper aeroplane. After the TFX dilemma I can hardly see Defence doing that in a hurry, even on such a basic design function as a light jet trainer.

So there it is. Macchi MB339, HS Hawk, CASA 101. Three similar but very different jet trainers of exceptional quality – the outcome will be interesting!