Newsdesk – Military

 Advanced Aircraft for Third World:

The US State Department has confirmed that Egypt will receive upwards of 80 General Dynamics F-16A fighters. This will bolster the recently delivered quantity of F-4E Phantom jets, President Sadat had been angling for F-16s since the initial Camp David talks in September 1978. Other regional air arms taking delivery of advanced weaponry were Algeria and Syria both with MiG-25 Foxbat interceptors. Syria also operates the latest swing-wing Sukhoi SU-20 Fitter and the MIL Ml-24 Hind D helicopter gunship in addition to a large number of MiG-23 and -27 aircraft.

Kc-135 Re-Engine Race to CFM:

In what will amount to one of the most industrially important decisions of the 1980s for aviation, the USAF has funded development for a CFM56-powered KC-135 tanker. USAF currently operates more than 600 of the Boeing Stratotankers which are currently powered by the P&W J57 (JT3) turboJet. The late 40s technology J57 has been described as the noisiest, dirtiest most fuel-inefficient Jet engine in operation.

As most KC-135s have less than 8000hrs on the airframes they represent prime candidates for refurbishment to allow them to operate into the next century. The 22,000lb thrust CFM56 turbofan has already been test-flown on a Boeing 707-320C and is scheduled for fitment on a number of commercial DC-8 Series 60/63 airllners. USAF plans to commence refit in 1982 with the program is completed by 1991, cost per aircraft will be under $9m and will influence re-skinning of wings, updated avionics and possibly NASA-developed winglets. Retrofit of the new engines will greatly increase the aircraft’s payload it’s operating range and allow it to operate out of airfields not currently available for KC-135 deployment.

Canadians Go for the Hornet:

The Royal Canadian Air Force has selected the McDonnell Douglas F-18A as its new fighter Canada will acquire in the long term up to 150 F-18A aircraft. The official contract calls for 137 aircraft if the US absorbs R&D costs or 130 aircraft if the Canadians are forced to add this figure to the per unit costs of each aircraft over the entire delivery program. Cost of the CF-18A program will be $234 million 1977 Canadian dollars, this is roughly $1800m in Australian dollars and represents a per unit cost of between 14 and 15 million Australian dollars an aircraft.

This is substantially below the $21m per aircraft that was slated for the USN in recent US DoD budget estimates. All CF-18s will be wholly assembled and flight-tested at St. louts (Canadian industry, thanks to a forward-looking government is too busy building Canadian Challengers and Dash 7s to get heavily involved in fighter assembly while McDonnell Douglas is committed to provide $C2. 9 billion in offset benefits, 60 per cent of which will go to aerospace and electronics. The contract will provide Canada with between 60,000 and 70,000 man-hours of work through to 1995. McDonnell Douglas estimates that the offset program will provide 22,000 Jobs in Canada over the 15-year fife of the program. Northrop, as a major US sub-contractor will receive around $US450m in work.

Canadian Defence Minister, Gilles LaMontagne stated that the greater size of the F-18 compared to the CF-16 makes it more adaptable to modifications in later years. He went on to say “The Defence Ministry believes that the F-18 will have a lower attrition rate than the F-16, making up for the lower numbers of aircraft which can be afforded. By the year 2000. both aircraft would have cost the same to buy”. To date, the RAAF has lost 29 Mirage fighters, more than half of which were due solely to engine failure. With Australia making its TFF decision this coming October, Roy Braybrook will be presenting a special last-minute in-depth comparison report on both the F-16 and F-18 for our September issue don’t miss it.

Starlifter Modification Program Begins Paying Dividends:

A newly modified Military Airlift Command C-141B transport recently completed a flight from the United States to Europe carrying equipment that last year would have required the use of two Starlifter aircraft plus refueling stops.

The aircraft, stretched 23 feet by Lockheed-Georgia Company, flew support equipment non-stop from Beale Air ForceBase in California to Mildenhall Air Base in England.

The stretching of the aircraft enabled the aircraft to fly the 11 hour 12 minute route non-stop.

This was the first operational refueling of a C-1418.

Not only did the flight save 11 hours and 12 minutes of fuel needed for a second aircraft, but the previously required time and cost involved for landing, ground refuelling and takeoff.

The stretch amounts to buying the capacity of 90 additional aeroplanes at 1963 prices. a real bargain in defence.

Harpoon Spot On:

The US Navy Atlantic Fleet scored three hits in three launches of Harpoon anti-ship missiles recently.

The hits, from aircraft and surface ships, give the versatile Harpoon a perfect record of 28 successes in its last 28 test firings at targets.

The missiles were launched from a P-3C patrol aircraft, the USS Dahlgren, a guided missile destroyer, and the USS Pegasus Hydrofoil patrol ship. All the launches were made at long ranges in realistic operational scenarios involving multiple targets.

Harpoon has an over-the-horizon range of more than 50 miles Other recent Harpoon test firings include the launch of six missiles from the British Royal Navy Submarine, HMS Churchill. All resulted in direct hits on targets.

In test launches that began in 1972, more than 100 Harpoon missiles have been fired. with a target hit rate of about 90 per cent McDonnell Douglas has delivered more than 1000 Harpoons to date.

Boeing Win Cruise Missile Competition

The first casualty of a Boeing AGM-868 was General Dynamic’s Tomahawk cruise missile. Boeing have won the fly-off and have walked away with the first big defence contract of the 80s worth in the region of four billion dollars of which about _65 per cent will go directly to Boeing. The first SAC B-52G wing will become operational with the ALCM in December 1982 with the veteran Boeing bomber carrying six under each wing A rotary launcher will be fitted at a later date to more than triple total missile carrying capability.

General Dynamics have not taken the loss lying down though and will forge ahead with various Tomahawk versions particularly suited to land and ship-based usage A shortened version of the basic Tomahawk defined as MRASM is also suitable for carrier-based aircraft and could have long-term interest for the RAAF it the F-18As selected as a Mirage replacement MRASM would have similar performance parameters to the standard Tomawhawk only it would be limited to a range of around 5001800km which would make it an ideal maritime strike stand-off missile for use by a large number of existing aircraft types.

US Military Aircraft for Farn Borough?

In what will be a welcome change from the ecclesiastical attitudes of the 1978 Carter administration (perhaps they have seen the light?) it now looks certain that US military aircraft will be able to participate in flying demonstrations at this year’s Farnborough Air Show. Quite a few US front line types are now thankfully stationed in Europe and participation could include the F-15 Eagle, A-10 Thunderbolt 11 F-5E Tiger II and perhaps one of the NATO F-16s. Farnborough will open with Press Day on August 31 and run through to September 7 and promises to be the biggest Farnborough yet hosted.

 Black Holes:

At the time of writing, there were some 30 F-15s stored owing to what the US Air Force euphemistically terms “holes” This denotes an aircraft minus a power plant, in the F-15’s case the term is quite apt owing to the large proportion of rear fuselage section previously occupied with Pratt & Whitney motive power! Primary cause for the lack of F100 turbofans is a prolonged sub-contractors strike last year which slowed P&W F100 engine output by half. Pratts are currently delivering 33 engines a month and hope to have this up to 50 by October at which time engine output will begin to exceed aircraft requirements F100 stagnation stalls are now down to acceptable levels while lessons learnt on the F-15 have been carried over to the smaller F-16 which has had virtually none of the problems of the earlier-built F-15.

Aircraft Hulks Galore in Victorian Bush:

The RAAF estimates that there are still upwards of 40 aircraft hulks dating back to WWII which have still not been found. Most aircraft are believed to be in dense undergrowth in the Victorian mountain regions Among the missing aircraft are 18 Beauforts, two B-25 Mitchells, three Wirraways, one C-47 Dakota, two P-40 Kittyhawks, two Tiger Moths, four Hudsons, six Ansons, one lancer, two Vultee Vengence, two Oxfords and a Spitfire. Many aircraft have been uncovered recently years. particularly in the North of Australia where hundreds of aircraft disappeared during the war years.

Good Year for Defence:

The Defence Minister Statement to Parliament in late March was welcome news to all those in the defence community. Mr Killen committed the government to a budget of $3063m for 1980/81 based on August 1979 prices Mr Killen also made a commitment to spending $17,600m over the next five years again based on August ’79 prices, this will ensure that Defence gains at least 3 per cent of the GDP at budget time.

The minister also verified the status of several projects of great importance to Australia. The TFF program was confirmed at 75 aircraft, not the initial buy of 25 that was so often mooted in 1979. There will also be a major refurbishment of the 10 P-38 Orions to bring them up to “C” capabilities while the RAAF will thoroughly investigate the operation of Airborne Early Warning and tankers in support of the proposed TFF force. This would most probably see the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye in the AEW role with refurbished ex-USAF CFM-56 powered KC-135s in the tanker role as part of an American TFF buy. The F-111C is to receive a digital computed PGM capability for launching of stand-off weapons which will be particularly effective in the maritime role while the Navy will acquire two Sea King helos as attrition spares.

Ground facilities at Learmonth will be upgraded while Derby will be the subject of a $47m expansion program which will make it is capable of accepting a multi-type deployment for extended periods. Other items of good news was the order for a fourth FFG destroyer, Harpoon missiles for the DOG destroyers, commitment to build a second underway-replenishment ship at Vickers Cockatoo and the long-term purchase of an additional 10 Fremantle patrol boats bringing the total buy to 25 vessels let us hope that this statement carries a little more water than Prime Minister Fraser’s 1976 White Paper which eventually sported more holes than the Titanic.

 Big Spenders:

William J Perry, under secretary tor Defence recently told the US Congress that the Soviet Union budgeted 85 per cent more tor defence in 1979 than did the USA Perry also went on to claim that since 1970 the Soviets have spent $240 billion more on defence than the US Meanwhile reports continue to firm on a 60,000 tonne catapult equipped carrier that the Soviets are building at Severodvinsk on the White Sea The aircraft will be equipped with ASW helos, Forger VTOL strike aircraft and a modified version of the MiG-27 Flogger D.

Mirage 2000 Delays:

Plans to introduce the Mirage 2000 into French Air Force service have been put back one year owing to delays in development of the M53- P2 power plant. Scheduled introduction to service will now be made In early 1983 with the first export aircraft being available in 1984.

Malaysia to Upgrade With Surplus Skyhawks:

Malaysia is to acquire up to 88 A-4C and L fighter bombers in an effort to upgrade its defence capability. The aircraft are currently in storage at Davis Monthan and will be refurbished in the US prior to being delivered to the MAF. Addition of 88 Skyhawks to Malaysia’s small airforce will greatly increase its strike capacity Malaysia currently operates a handful of F-SE/F and CL-41 jet trainers.

Hawkeye Influence Increasing:

Israel is so pleased with its four Grumman E-2C Hawkeye AEW aircraft that an additional two are to be purchased. Israel of the course has had the benefit of actually using the E-2C system in a combat situation ably demonstrating the benefits of AEW last year during several air battles over Lebanon. France is now showing great interest in the Hawkeye and could have a potential requirement for upwards of dozen aircraft. France of course is not a member of the NATO Awacs (Boeing E-3) team and now realises that there are significant gaps in her ground-based air defence radar network that can only be overcome with airborne AEW Meanwhile, the RAAF looks like 11 will eventually, be given the mode in between tour and six aircraft to work in company with the TFF and Jindalee project later this decade.

B-52s Set New World Record:

Back in 1957 the USAF demonstrated its strategic nuclear supremacy by flying a formation of three 8-52 bombers around the world in the then record of 45hr 19min. That the momentous record has recently been broken when two B-52H’s recently completed a similar Journey in 43hr 30 mins. The two eight-engined jets departed their SAC based in Michigan on what was to be a routine flight carrying a normal crew of six plus an additional pilot. During the flight the B-52s actually tracked and flew to visual range a number of Soviet vessels in the Indian Ocean Each aircraft was air refuelled five times by SAC KC-135 tankers operating out of England. Spain, Diego Garcia, Guam and Hawaii.

Amst in Storage:

Boeing has recently flown their two YC-14 AMST prototypes to Davis Monthan AFB to Join McDonnell Douglas’s two YC-15 aircraft for long-term storage. This is well and truly signals the end of the AMST program which essentially set out to select a C-130 replacement but was dropped when it was found that both AMST jets cost twice as much to acquire and three times as much to operate than the present Hercules airlifter.

 RAF to Evaluate Av-88

A team of Royal Air Force pilots has restarted evaluation of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B. The evaluation program is expected to be completed by August at which time the The British government will make a decision on whether or not to acquire American AV-8Bs or the new big-wing Harrier GR. 5. To date the RAF team have found that maximum speed and turn performance are not up to expected GR. 5 parameters. The AV-8Bs the supercritical wing is primarily designed tor cruise efficiency thereby offering a better payload/range capability than the larger GR 5 wing, which is primary to the US Marine Corps requirement.

If Britain does go for a straight purchase of American AV-8Bs it could open up a whole new avenue for “two-way street” trade with perhaps a Tornado (with GE404s) and a Hawk trainer buy is on the cards for us.

Cost of Training:

A recent British government report cited that it now costs over $A3m to train a pilot for a supersonic fighter squadron while training to wings standard for a Jaguar/Buccaneer squadron costs a cool $A700,000.

Big Bickies:

If you ever wondered just how big aerospace was in North America then reflect on the fact that in 1979 US aerospace industry sales topped $44 billion with sales of more than $52 billion tipped for 1980 Military aircraft accounted for $12 billion in 1979 and are projected as $14 billion in 1980 and $16 billion for 1981. Commercial transport sales notched $8. 2 billion in 1979 and are thought to exceed $10 billion tor 1980. General aviation increases are largely reflected in the vastly increased sales of high-value turbine/turbofan corporate and commuter aircraft as against the sale of large numbers of four-seat avgas burning singles Sales of avionics is forecast at $16 billion alone for 1980 as against $13 billion for 1979. The cost of avionics now represents 50 per cent of the total value of missiles and close to 60% of the total value for spacecraft. On an international basis free-world aerospace sales for 1979 topped $60 billion and are forecast at $70/80 billion for 1980 and ’81.

 Another Boost for Embraer

In yet another coup for Brazil’s booming aircraft industry (take note Australia!) Embraer has joined with Italy Aeritalia/Aermacch, for Joint production of the AMX ground attack aircraft. Brazil has a requirement for between 160 and 180 AMX aircraft which will in effect be medium-level ground attack aircraft military performance concept to later model Skyhawks. Italy will also acquire upwards of 200 aircraft to replace its current fleet of Fiat G-91 and Lockheed F-104G/S types. The AMX is powered by a Rolls-Royce Spey and is scheduled to undertake its first flight in mid-1982

General Dynamics Has Best Year Yet:

April may have been a bad month for General Dynamics with the loss to McD of the Canadian fighter project and to Boeing on the cruise program but 1979 as a trading year was Go’s best yet. Overall sales for 1979 were US$4060m, up almost a billion dollars on 1978! GD currently employs 82,000 people and is the largest defence contractor in the US, current order back-logs $11,5 billion. Apart from the F-16 multi-role fighter, future possible GD sales to Australia revolve around the Vulcan Phalanx gun for the RAN, the shortened Medium Range Air to Surface missile (MRASM) version of the current Tomahawk cruise missile and finally the Stinger man-portable SAM as an Army Redeye replacement. MRASM offers great potential for GD as this 300-mile range tactical cruise missile will be compatible for use on such aircraft as the F-18A, P-3 Orion, and F-111 in addition to possible later versions being fired from coffin-type launchers aboard small navy ships.

 VIP Flight Costs Soar:

Due to the rapid escalation of fuel prices coupled with a 20 per cent increase in utilisation No 34 Squadron’s budgets expected to top $2. 6m this year according to recently released DOD figures.

No. 34 Squadron operates three Mystere Falcon Jets, two BAC-111s and two HS-748 prop-Jets. The BAC-111 is by modern standards a highly uneconomic aircraft due to the high rate of fuel burn from its old technology Spey turboJets For 1979/80 11 is expected that No 34 Squadron will run more than half a m1ll1on dollars over initial budget estimates and with an election approaching and further increases in fuel costs a certainty then it won’t be long before the VIP squadron requires an annual budget of $4m just to support seven aircraft The RAAF Boeing 707s are operated by Richmond based No 37 Squadron

This poses the possibility of re-engining the Mystere Falcons with advanced technology Garrett TFE-731 turbofans which would use upwards of 30 per cent less fuel per hour while allowing a substantial increase in range for this small aircraft. A possible replacement for the noisy, thirsty BAC-111 would be the Canadair Challenger E, a 40-seat Jet with an intercontinental range that could replace the 707 on some regional overseas jaunts The extended (E) version of the Challenger will be available from 1985 onwards, just when a BAC-111 replacement would be becoming necessary.

A Dutch Treat of F-16s:

The F-16 has found another convert in the Dutch Air Force and has just revealed a firm interest in acquiring an additional 111 F-16 aircraft to bring their total buy to 213 aircraft. It is highly likely that other NATO countries will also increase the long-term purchasers of the fighter as WARPAC strength continues to grow and the number of advanced Soviet designed strike fighters continue to replace older types such as the SU-7 and early MiG-21s.

Two Way Trade:

The French Air Force is to take delivery of 35 Brazilian Embraer Zingu twin-turboprop aircraft to replace the DC-3 In return Brazil will purchase an additional quantity, said to be 50, Mirage 50s The deal represents a major breakthrough to the European market where Embraer have already enjoyed much success with their Banderante commuter airliner.

GE’s CT7 on Tour as Bell 214st Powerplant:

General Electric The company’s new CT7 turboshaft engine is off and running – literally – in Europe, powering a Bell 214ST Super Transport Helicopter on an introductory tour.

The CT7 is a direct descendant of the durable T7CO. General Electric’s gas turbine, more than 400 of which will power the US Army’s new Black Hawk helicopter, the Army’s A AH Advanced Attack helicopter, the US Navy’s new Seahawk helicopter and the British Royal Navy’s prototype WG 34A helicopter

Bell has announced a commitment to build 100 of its new 214ST Super Transport helicopters, powered by the CT7 A primary application of the high-performance helicopter, with an operating range of 400 nautical miles, will be for Jong-range crew changes to offshore oil rigs.

Israel Goes It Alone

Israel has decided to build its own primary fighter plane to replace its large inventory of F-4, A-4 and Kfir aircraft. The new fighter, named Aryeh (lion) will be built by IAI and will involve an the expense of upwards of $2000m and be operational by 1991. Though providing a measure of self-sufficiency in procurement terms the new fighter will still be dependent on an overseas engine – probably American Israel has been studying for some time the feasibility of licence assembly of Northrops’s F-18l, McD’s F-18A and an enhanced version of the F-16. The decision to go it alone on a locally built-fighter largely reflects the bitter lessons learnt when France vetoed sales of the Mirage back on 1967 and a later British arms embargo in 1973.