Newsdesk – Military

 Jetstream 31 Order Cancelled:

The order for 14 BAe Jetstream 31s to replace Devons and Hunting Pembrokes in the RAF liaison and training role has fallen through. A victim of the current expenditure cuts enforced by the British Government, it will now mean that the existing aircraft will soldier on for another decade in RAF service. BAe is now hoping for commercial support for the Garrett-powered Jetstream but faces strong competition from the Bandeirante in the commuter role and aircraft such as the Beech Super King Air 200 in the corporate role.

 Strike Eagle Flies Atlantic Solo:

When McDonnell Douglas named their F-15 the Eagle they certainly chose an apt name for such a capable aircraft. This editor was rather impressed when eight F-15s flew non-stop from their home base at Kadena, Okinawa, to RAAF base Williamtown in August to participate with our Mirages in the Pacific Consort exercises. In this instance, the Eagles did make several top-ups from KC-135 tankers en route but it still represents a formidable achievement in anyone’s language. As if this wasn’t enough McDonnell Douglas showed the world what independent long-range deployment really means. On its own, with no tankers or navigational escorts, MDC’s sole demonstrator model of its promising Strike Eagle made the 3000 nm journey from Loring AFB, Maine to RAF Mildenhall in 5hr 20min, then loitered for 20 minutes awaiting its turn to participate in an airshow being held at the base. What makes this particular Eagle unique is that it is configured as a strike version of the already successful air superiority fighter, a contract that MDC requires to keep the F-15 in large-scale production after 1986. The two-seat Strike Eagle departed Loring AFB carrying 33,000 lb of fuel – 13,000 lb internally, 10,000 lb in the two conformal FAST packs and an additional 10,000 lb in three external drop tanks. Despite headwinds en route and participation in the air show the aircraft landed with more than 2500 lb of fuel remaining.

Us and Europe Team on Asraam

PROJECT: In what will be a significant boost to the NATO “family of weapons” concept, Britain and West Germany are to team up to produce an advanced short-range air-to-air missile (Asraam). France is considering joining the team and will make a decision as to its involvement in the project during 1981. Asraam will form the infra-red close-range component of the AsraamAmraam missile team and will be specifically designed to replace the Sidewinder AIM-9 in both NATO and US inventories. Amraam will be an AIM-7 Sparrow replacement and will be produced and developed in the USA. Both missiles will provide the air-to-air teeth of such aircraft as the F-16 and F-18 in addition to the bulk of Western fighters to be produced in the next quarter century.

Israel Earns Defence Dollars:

Even more so than Sweden, Israel now earns a worthwhile portion of its foreign exchange from the sale of domestically produced military equipment. Latest Israeli Dept. of Trade figures indicate the total value of military exports for 1980 will be a staggering $US1 billion, up no less than 40 per cent on the 1979 record. Israel manufactures everything from Kfir jet fighters, RPVs, Arava and Westwind transports, patrol boats, missile systems, tanks and personnel carriers and a wide range of infantry arms and support equipment. In addition to earning much-needed foreign exchange the promotion of a local defence equipment industry provides a viable measure of long-term survival to such a small nation.

 Middle East Backing for Mirage 4000?:

Reports that Saudi Arabia has been instrumental in supplying R&D funding for the multi-role Mirage 4000 continues to firm. The Saudis already have on order 60 McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles, although these aircraft are being supplied purely as interceptors and will not include any true ground attack capability that the Saudis are currently requesting. In the prolonged absence of US approval to provide a designated strike capability for the F-15, Saudi Arabia has apparently turned to France who are more than willing to supply that nation with whatever arms it requires. The French has recently signed a multi-billion dollar arms agreement with Saudi Arabia largely revolving around naval equipment. The Mirage 4000 is a private venture from Dassault and although the French Government has gone to great lengths to disassociate itself from the project, it is difficult to believe that Dassault could afford the huge development expenditure that would be required to proceed with the test program of an aircraft of the complexity of the 4000 which to all intents and purposes are as capable as the F-15 in air superiority capability. The “informed sources” that therefore suggests that upwards of a billion Saudi dollars have been fed into the development of the 4000 may well be very close to reality.

757 Tankers?:

The British Ministry of Defence has shown interest in equipping British Airways Boeing 757 jet transports with a probe-and-drogue in-flight refuelling capability. The purpose of the exercise would be to use the 757 as part of the RAF auxiliary fleet in a crisis. Britain currently operates a number of converted Victor bombers as tankers and is in the process of modifying VC-10 airliners for the role. By the mid-eighties though there could exist, in an emergency, a need for many more tanker aircraft to provide long-range mission capability for the Tornado F-2 interceptors which would largely be tasked with nullifying Backfire and Fencer raids against British and North Atlantic North Sea maritime targets. Boeing has completed a study for internal plumbing requirements to equip the 757 as a tanker and if the deal goes ahead it could open up numerous international opportunities not previously anticipated.

 Lockheed Shelve Twin Hercules:

Lockheed Georgia have announced that they have shelved plans to produce a development aircraft for their L-400 program. The L-400 was a twin-engined version of the basic C-130 and was to fly in early 1982. Following the official launch of the program early in 1980 Lockheed failed to attract firm orders for the new aircraft which is optimised to operate over shorter stages than the current four-engined C-130. Cost comparisons at the time indicated that the L-400 would still cost in the region of 80 per cent of the value of a new C-130H and that many current Hercules operators would simply prefer the four-engined standard Hercules which offered a far more flexible airlifter in the long term.

USAF Looking at Deep-Strike Eagle:

USAF is actively investigating the possibilities of adapting the F-15 Eagle for the deep strike penetration role. The F-15, in its two-seat version, would require synthetic aper-aperture radar for improved air-to-ground function. infrared sensors for the night and all-weather capability and would cost around one million dollars more per aircraft. USAF is currently flying tests to evaluate the weapons delivery characteristics of the aircraft. Other deep strike contenders are the two-seat night adverse weather A-10. the F-18L (an aircraft that truly refuses to die!) and the Panavia Tornado IDS.

Jaguars Win NATO Meet:

Royal Air Force Jaguars of No 31 Squadron, based at Bruggen in West Germany, has won both the Broadhurst Trophy, awarded for conventional bombing, and the Canberra Trophy, for low-level retarded bombing, in this year’s NATO Tactical Air Meet.

This biennial meet was hosted this year by the United States Air Force at Ramstein, West Germany. Aircraft from Belgium, Canada. West Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and France (as guests of NATO) took part in the 14-day exercise. Multi-national, mixed aircraft formations were tasked to attack targets defended in depth by F-4 Phantoms, F-15 Eagles and F-16s. Surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites and antiaircraft artillery (AAA) sites also had to be evaded or jammed.

The Jaguar was popular to have in a mixed formation. Allied aircrews like them around “because they always know exactly where they are”, as one NATO pilot put it.

In the actual bombing competition, using live weapons on the Baumholder range, the Jaguars were in their element. Attacking at heights of down to 250 feet (76 m) and at between 480 and 540 knots (limited to avoid undue noise for the surrounding population). the Jaguars consistently and accurately laid their weapons on target within the 4-second time-on-target window. One 31 Squadron Pilot, Flt. Lt. Ian Kenvyn scored a maximum possible 400 points, followed by five other Jaguar pilots each scoring 380 points.

Group Captain Ord, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Offensive Operations, 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force, summed it up: “If war starts tomorrow and this is all we have, I’m happy. ”

History Revisited:

A quarter of a century ago in the mid-nineteen fifties the firm of Aeronautica Macchi revealed plans for a two-seat jet trainer. That aircraft was the immensely successful MB-326 which later grew into the single-seat attack version of the same basic design. In all, a total of more than 800 examples of this aircraft were sold to the air arms of 15 nations, most of which still use the type as their primary jet trainer. With the advent of the MB-339 two-seat trainer it was only a matter of time before a single-seat attack derivative was released. And so history has turned full circle with the release of the MB-339K, named Veltre 2. The name applies to an Italian hunting dog and finds its origins in a WW2 attack aircraft. The basic armament of the 339K comprises two Dela 30 mm cannons with 500 rounds and 4000 1::i of underwing stores on six pylons. Apart from the cannons, this weapon’s capacity is a little different from the standard MB-339 trainer. However, the primary operational differences come in a greatly increased fuel capacity, up from 2400 lb to 3450 lb, allowing the 339K to strike at targets in support of ground troops while maintaining a protective orbit awaiting the strike clearance. Admittedly a tactical radius of 250 nautical miles isn’t in the Tornado range but neither is the cost, and an aircraft like the 339K will certainly find its place in the inventories of many Third World air arms which could be just the shot in the arm that Aermacchi requires to market the so far un-exported MB-339 trainer

Air Intercept Capability for Backfire:

The Soviet Union is in the process of equipping the TU-26 Backfire bomber with air-to-air missiles. The primary function would be for se! I defend with offensive targets identified at long range or for active pursuit of subsonic B-52 aircraft engaging the Soviet Navy targets with cruise missiles and SAAM. The Backfire could also present a real threat to trans-Atlantic wide-bodied commercial air lifters attempting to re-supply NATO forces engaged in a European ground war with Warpac forces. With in-flight refuelling, the Backfires could penetrate deep into the Atlantic air corridors with their only enemy being carrier-based air power or Harriers operating from merchant ships, etc.

Return of the Enforcer:

USAF is planning to flight test the Piper Enforcer (see page 28, Sept AADR) in April of 1982 despite the fact that they have no basic requirement for the type. Congress has allocated six million dollars in funds for further evaluation of the aircraft which failed to win a USAF Coin study in 1971. One function of the Enforcer could be that of a low-cost anti-armour anti-Hind aircraft carrying laser-guided bombs or missiles.

DSTO Develops Airborne Sensors:

Weapons Systems Research Laboratory, Salisbury, South Australia, has carried out a successful flight trial of an airborne sensor test facility. This has been designed for the flight testing of airborne equipment including TV and IA surveillance sensors, laser target designators and weapon homing heads. The facility provides for the control and monitoring of the operation of the device under test and for recording its operation and It’s video data. The laboratory has also developed TV link equipment for use in a small, remotely-piloted aircraft carrying a TV camera. This link has been used to transmit, to a manned site, pictures of the target used in RAAF trials of the Paveway laser-guided bomb system.

 Stealth Revealed:

Roy Braybrook, in his article entitled “Fighter Concepts for the The nineties”, which appeared in our June 1979 edition of AADR highlighted the fact that Lockheed was hard at work on a stealth aircraft and aircraft that virtually was invisible to current generation radar. Indeed, when AADR editor Jim Thorn visited Lockheed, Burbank, in August this year he found it difficult getting anybody to even mention the super secret Advanced Aircraft Projects Division (better known as the famous Kelly Johnson Skunk Works) let alone gain access to the windowless building in question. Little wonder when a few weeks later news broke regarding the existence of a Defence Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored, Lockheed built stealth test vehicle which from all reports was achieving considerable success in its chosen mission of foiling radar surveillance.

The secret of reducing radar signature is firstly to reduce aircraft size as much as possible. This is why a cruise missile has such a low signature as compared to say, the F-16, or for that matter, the F-16 has such a low comparable radar signature compared to say, the F-111, and so on. The second criterion is to reduce the number of sharp corners in the overall airframe profile. Flowing lines produce less radar reflectivity compared with large slab surfaces (wings or tail), large square intakes and a bulky fuselage. The MiG-25 may be fast, but for its size it is the opposite to what a true stealth should look like. Thirdly, ablative coatings, that absorb rather than reflect radar energy, can be used in place of polished metal surfaces or conventional camouflage paint. It is certain that some levels of stealth technology have been employed and tested over the years with aircraft such as the SR-71 and the U-2 successor, the Lockheed TR-1. All three aircraft are products of the Lockheed Advanced Aircraft Projects Division.

The McDonnell Douglas Missile:

The McDonnell Douglas Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile, in service with the Australian Armed Forces, scored six target hits in seven launches in recent US Navy Fleet exercises, bringing its success rate to 58 target hits in 61 launches.

This gives the versatile missile, which can be launched from aircraft, surface ships and submarines, a reliability rate of 95 per cent in fleet launches since the conclusion of operational evaluation tests by the Navy in March 1977.

In the Atlantic Fleet, Harpoons were launched from the guided missile cruiser “USS Turner”, the guided missile destroyer “USS Farragut”, and the nuclear attack submarine “Hammerhead”. All launches resulted in direct hits on a decommissioned destroyer target. A Harpoon fired from a P-3C Orion patrol plane missed due to inaccurate targeting, but the missile performed without flaw.

Meanwhile, two additional airborne launches were made from the Navy’s Pacific missile test range at Pt Mugu, California. Both were from A-6E attack aircraft and both scored direct hits on a destroyer target.