Newsdesk – Military

Flying Officer Tracey James McCormick, 26, of Fairlight, NSW, won the prize for flying ability.

The RAF test pilots’ school is one of the most prestigious flying schools in the world. Only above-average pilots are selected to attend the school and they graduate as qualified test pilots.

1980 Military Aircraft Attrition:

The Australian Defence Forces had a relatively light year in 1980 for aircraft accidents. Figures released by Canberra show the loss of one Macchi trainer, two Mirage fighters, two Army Kiowas and one Porter. The Navy really had the blues with three Skyhawks biting the dust, two of them in one week while embarked aboard HMAS Melbourne on Indian Ocean patrol. Overseas, the US forces lost 82 aircraft, including 17 F-4s, four F-14s, three F-15s and four F-111s. The United Kingdom suffered high proportionate losses with 40 aircraft down, including five F-4s and 14 helicopters.

Combat Plus for the J79:

General Electric has developed an extra power mode for the long-lived J79 turbojet that will keep the famous engine in production for several years to come. Termed Combat Plus, the latest version of the J79, and the type to equip the F-16/79 and current production IAI Kfirs, increases maximum thrust in the afterburner from 17,820 lb to 18,730 lb. With Combat Plus and the overall difference in operating characteristics between a turbofan and a turbojet, GE officials are confident that under certain combat conditions, the J79-powered F-16 will accelerate faster than the F-100-powered model. Overall thrust differences in most cases is in the region of 1O to 15 per cent. At cruise the F-100 turbofan consumes substantially less fuel than the J79, while at full reheat both engines consume nearly equal amounts of fuel. Empty weight of an F-16/79A is 16,844 lb compared with 15,200 lb for the standard F-100-powered F·16A. GE claim the F-16/79, built under the guidelines of the FX program, is around one million dollars cheaper per unit than the standard USAF F-16A.

What They Cost:

The US 1981 defence budget of $US161,000m provides some interesting per unit costings of aircraft relevant to Australia. Some of the newer programs, though, are misleading due to the “hidden” cost of various items of R&D funding, which are directly attributed to the specific aircraft rather than shown separately. A case of this is the F-18A, where a per unit cost of $US28. 4m exists, reflecting the early days of this program and the high degree of development costs mixed in with 1981 funding. Two aircraft well down the learning curve, but suffering from incredibly small production runs, thereby pushing up per unit costs, are the Grumman F-14A at $US28. 2m and the E-2C Hawkeye at $US38. 8m. The Grumman A-6E Intruder, the US Navy’s only true all-weather attack aircraft, came in at $US19. 6m each, while its wild weasel brother, the EA-6B Prowler, costs $US34. 3m per unit. Other Navy aircraft include the P·3C Orion at $US25m and the new CH-53E Sea Stallion helo at $US12. 4m. The Army Blackhawk costs $US4. 4m each for what is a relatively austere airframe in comparison to the Sikorsky LAMPS Ill proposed to Australia, accurate funding details for which were not available for publication. For the USAF an A-10 Thunderbolt II costs $US7. 9m in current production single-seat form, while the limited attrition run of the subsonic Vought A-7 Corsair II costs $US18. 6m each, reflecting the dollar waste through a 1981 run of only six aircraft. The F-15 Eagle costs $US22. 3m, a figure MDC claim could be reduced by as much as 50 per cent if the aircraft was substituted for the F-16 and monthly production trebled. On that subject, the F-16 came in at $US10. 5m per unit. The Netherlands has also signed for an additional 22 F-16 aircraft at a per unit cost of just on $US10m each. This was only a little less than the C·130H at $US11. 6m, which is also beginning to wind down production.

USN Shortages Begin to Tell:

Parts, actual aircraft and an acute lack of trained technicians are beginning to operationally affect the US Navy’s air operations. Because of attrition and a year-in-year-out lack of procurement funding, only one of the USN A-6 attack squadrons is currently deploying a full complement of 12 aircraft. All other squadrons are down to 1O aircraft or less. It is worth noting that the versatile A-6 is the only all-weather night attack aircraft the Navy operates, and in time of hostilities would be the major strike arm of the carrier groups. The administration of President Carter actually tried to stop A-6 production in 1979, but a more responsible Congress reinstated funding for six aircraft in 1980 and a further 12 for 1981 – still barely enough to cope with attrition and an ever-increasing number of aircraft grounded due to lack of spares.

 Two-Seat A-10s on Way:

USAF is to get 30 two-seat A-10 attack trainers at a cost of $9m each, about $2m more per aircraft than the single-seat version. The total number of A-1O aircraft on order is 825, while USAF estimates that a considerable fuel saving will be had through the trainer being able to operate independently of a chase aircraft. Up to now, A-10 training had taken place in two-ship elements, with an instructor in one aircraft and the student in the other, a highly uneconomic way of performing conversion training.

Continuing Improvements for F- 16 Announced:

A modified US Air Force/General Dynamics F-16 has become the first aircraft to flight test the new F101 Derivative Fighter Engine (DFE).

This flight launched a five-month test program at the Air Force Flight Test Centre.

During the flight, the single-seat, red, white, and blue fighter reached a top speed of mach0. 5 and a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet. A series of throttle movements was executed at 15,000 feet to determine how the fighter responds with the new engine, which is derived from the engine which powers the 8-1 bomber and produces approximately 26,000- 28,000 pounds of thrust.

General Electric is developing the F101 DFE turbofan engine as a potential joint service alternative engine for advanced military aircraft under a contract sponsored by the Air Force and Navy. Following flight evaluation in the F-16/101, the engine also will be flown in a Navy F-14 fighter.

The F-16/101 fighter is the first of eight production model F-16s built for the F-16 developmental flight test program. Minor structural changes to the aircraft, engine installation and engine ground tests were completed recently at General Dynamics’ Fort Worth, Texas, plant.

“Our task simply is to determine how well the F101 DFE works in our aeroplane,” said General Dynamics’ F-16/101 program manager, James Vaughan. “The contract calls for approximately 100 hours of flying, to examine such things as engine controls and response, emergency controls, air start capability, acceleration, after-burner operation and performance during simulated combat. ”

F-16/101 flight testing is scheduled to conclude in May and General Dynamics will submit a final report to the F-16 system program office at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in September.

Laser Beams Speed up Australia’s Shoreline Mapping:

Australian scientists in the Department of Defence have come up with an invention that places this country ahead of the rest of the world in hydrographic survey technique.

The Royal Australian Navy’s Hydrographer, Captain Michael Calder, says the device will “have as profound an effect on hydrography and charting as the introduction of the echo sounder had in the days of the lead line”.

Laser Airborne Depth Sounding-“LADS” to the Defence Research Centre in South Australia, where it is being developed-uses aircraft instead of ships to sound out the shallow coastal waters far more quickly than any other method.

LADS is designed for operation in clear waters with a depth ranging from one to 50 metres. About one-third of the waters on Australia’s continental shelf are within this depth.

Captain Calder emphasises that hydrography by echo sounding is still essential for charting in deeper or turbid waters, which laser beams cannot penetrate effectively. But for charting nearshore waters and coastal hazards LADS is a potential world-beater, which has already attracted the attention of British, American, Canadian and French hydrographers.

Camouflage for Army Aircraft:

Light aircraft and helicopters of Army Aviation soon will have a new look.

The drab olive semi-gloss colour is to be replaced with a camouflage pattern of matt black, light green and tan.

The entire fleet of 47 Bell 206B helicopters, 17 Pilatus Porter and 11 Nomad fixed-wing aircraft will be camouflaged progressively, beginning with the helicopters.

Research and trials to find a suitable camouflage pattern for Army aircraft began in 1974.

Independent research rather than the adoption of any existing overseas colour scheme was necessary to allow for vegetation and terrain unique to Australia.

The Materials Research Laboratories of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation provided a set of principles for pattern painting and the 171st Command and Liaison Squadron, Oakey, conducted a series of trials of various colour combinations in matt finish.

Army testing of disruptive patterns on M113 armoured personnel carriers showed that badly chosen patterns could be more conspicuous than plain colours in the Australian environment.

In the aviation trial against aerial observation, only camouflage netting draped over the whole aircraft was more effective than the colour pattern selected.

NTF Woes:

And so the never-ending New Tactical Fighter saga rolls on, and on, and on Certainly, there is a wealth of reasons in going for more time, particularly in view of the state of flux both the F-16 and F-18 programs are in but it must now be accepted that the earliest we will see an operational squadron of NTF deployed in RAAF markings will be 1987. The doubts surrounding the General Dynamics F-16 involve the real-life capability of its proposed radar update coupled with its ability to achieve an ail-weather attack capability. This includes achieving success with the AIM-7F Sparrow and later with the proposed AMRAAM which will become available at the end of this decade. The second problem revolves around the powerplant. In its current form the F-16 is powered by the Pratt & Whitney F-100 turbofan of around 25,000 lb thrust. To say that this engine has received good press in recent times would indeed be kind. In all fairness though there have been no engine fires or stall stagnation problems (at time of writing} associated with the F100 in either F-16 or F-15 aircraft for many months. The fixes instituted by Pratts are obviously working. On top of this though is the possibility that the F-16 may be re-engined with the General Electric F101 DFE turbofan which has had an extensive development period dating from the early seventies through to the 8-1 bomber. The DFE provides around 28,000 lb thrust and equates roughly to the P&W F100 in size, weight and specific fuel consumption. At present, an F-16 is under test using the DFE and is achieving encouraging (for GE) results. The problem here lies in what will USAF do after the 650th F-16 is delivered? Will they go for the GE-powered model or the Pratt powered standard aircraft? Indeed will they even continue with current F-16 technology in View of the possibilities of racing ahead with the promising F-16XL Scamp program or perhaps even looking towards the twin-engined Northrop F-18L which is still being sold hard in West Germany, Greece and Spain. F-16 DFE testing will be completed by this September, at about that time USAF will have hopefully made a decision on whether to proceed with stage one development of the F-16XL Scamp aircraft. If Australia chose the current, or even currently proposed RAAF F-16A then we could, in six short months be left with a very dated aeroplane.

On the other hand, the McDonnell Douglas F-18A has not been having the smoothest of flights. Control problems of the aircraft itself coupled with a spate of engine problems has marred an otherwise dream development program. Here again though we point out that a development program is exactly that, and the fact that aircraft attrition will occur is inevitable. However, at time of writing, or more importantly at the end of 1980 when a decision was to be made, a lot of F-18 and GE F404 engine problems were looking for answers. Another blow to the F-18A was the landslide win by the Reagan administration. While a very positive thing in itself for the American defence community it is no secret that the US Marine Corps will now stand a very good chance of trading off their F-18As for the VTOL AV-88. The Marines have always preferred the VTOL capability rather than the supersonic F-18A. If they get their way, and it looks odds that they will, the planned F-18A acquisition by both USN and USMC will drop from 1366 to only 1044 units as the USMC opts for 336 AV-8Bs. This will undoubtedly have a sledgehammer effect upon the Spanish, who like us are in the throes of an important fighter decision and have also decided to sit on the fence and watch the dog-fighting from afar.

Supersonic V/STOL Draws Nearer:

McDonnell Douglas and Rolls-Royce have combined to promote a flight development program using a modified AV-8A with Plenum Chamber Burning (PCB) modified Pegasus turbofan to demonstrate supersonic V/STOL capabilities. The program is envisaged to bring together the US Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, NASA, the Royal Navy and RAF. The four to five-year development schedule would require funding in the order of $400m and would ultimately provide a Harrier fuselage stretch of 6 ft coupled with a redesigned inlet for the 30,000 lb-plus thrust PCB Pegasus. The AV-8SX, as the aircraft will be designated, would be a Mach 1. 6 capable aircraft carrying double the weapons payload of the proposed AV-88. This equates to an attack aircraft fully capable of operating from runways of no more than 300 metres, while performing close support missions with a similar payload/radius as the F-16, according to Pentagon sources. One development of the SX would be the modification of the nose to accommodate the Hughes APG-65 radar as used so effectively in the F-18A. This would then provide an all-weather aircraft capable of being armed with a wide variety of weaponry for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.

Finland Takes Delivery of First British Aerospace Hawk Trainer:

The first two of the Hawk Trainer aircraft on order for the Finnish Air Force were handed over in a ceremony at British Aerospace’s Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in December.

There are 50 Hawks on order for the Finnish Air Force – making the FAF the largest export customer to date for any of the world’s competitor training aircraft.

Forty-six Hawks will be manufactured under a collaborative program between British Aerospace and Finland’s Aerospace Industry.

The first co-production Hawk is already at the Valmet Company factories in Kuorevesi. Delivery of the second co-produced aircraft from BAe is planned for later this month.

Valmet are undertaking the manufacture of the fin, tailplane, airbrake and flaps for the 46 co-produced Hawks being assembled in Finland.

Finland is the third export customer to take delivery of Hawks this year, following earlier deliveries to Indonesia and an un-named African country.

There are 70 Hawks on order for export and 193 ordered for the Royal Air Force in the advanced flying and weapons training roles. Total sales to date: 263.

Almost 150 Hawks have now been delivered to the Royal Air Force. In service, the aircraft has accumulated more than 70,000 flying hours and demonstrated a safety record “that is the best ever for the introduction into service of a new jet type”, says the RAF.

Ford Fields Autonomous Missile:

Ford Aerospace has demonstrated what is thought to be the world’s first autonomous missile. Launched from a vertically mounted tube, the small tactical surface-to-air missile requires no pre-launch guidance information or ground-based radar support. In the test firing, the missile spun vertically to 500 ft while conducting a hemispherical target search. At this point, the missile identified its target, a QH-50 helicopter drone, two miles distant and at an altitude of 1500 ft, and proceeded to intercept the helo. In the final stages of interception, guidance switches from radar to infrared. The drone would have been destroyed if a live proximity-fused warhead had been used. The Self-Initiated Anti-aircraft Missile Program (SIAM) has been under research since 1977 with the backing of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DAR- PA) and heralds the dawn of an entirely new generation of small tactical missiles that require no real ground support.

 New Weapons Systems for RAAF F-111s:

The RAAF’s F-111C strike force is to be fitted with a new weapons system.

The Acting Minister for Defence, Mr Kevin Newman, announced that Cabinet had approved the acquisition of the Pave Tack target acquisition, designation and tracking system for the F-111C aircraft.

This equipment would be integrated into the F-111C and would increase significantly the weapon’s effectiveness. The installation would allow for the delivery of precision-guided munitions.

The equipment would begin to enter service in 1984.

Pave Tack employs an infrared system that is capable of accurately acquiring targets by day or night and in adverse weather conditions. In addition, the target designation system enables weapons to be released with extreme accuracy.

Mr Newman said the equipment would significantly add to the Australian Defence Force’s capability.

He said that as part of the procurement, the US contractor, Ford Aerospace, had proposed to place a range of offset contracts with the Australian defence industry.

Improved Blowpipe:

Probably NATO’s most capable man-portable SAM, the Short Brothers Blowpipe is now being tested in an improved form, using an extended-range booster and a low-light-level optical guidance system for positive tracking of hostile aircraft at night and in marginal weather. The British Shorts Blowpipe and the American General Dynamics Stinger will provide the major competition in the Australian Army requirement for a Redeye replacement.

Canada Orders More Hornets:

The total number of CF-18A Hornets ordered for the Canadian Defence Forces has been increased from 129 to a minimum of 137. This follows successful lobbying for the per aircraft R&D cost to be dropped in favour of an increase in unit numbers. Canada also now has the option, at a later date, to acquire up to an extra 20 Hornets as attrition aircraft without incurring R&D charges. Research and development charges per CF-18A amounted to $US877,690 in 1980 dollars.

Enforcer Funds Approved:

P-51 Mustang enthusiasts will be enthused, perhaps a little more than the USAF, at the news that funding has been approved in the 1981 US Defence Budget for the flight testing of two prototype Piper Enforcer COIN aircraft. The first flight of the new Enforcer will take place early in 1962 and will involve a 21-month development program before handing over to the USAF for a five-month combat evaluation period. This is the second time that this aircraft has been investigated by the Pentagon for the COIN role, while the USAF has been plainly non-enthused at the thought of funding being allocated for a revamped Enforcer program.

F-16XL Project Underway:

The F-16XL team recently moved to the Hangar Building at the Fort Worth plant and work is currently underway on engineering drawings, design analyses and manufacturing planning that will lead to the building of two flight demonstration aircraft.

The US Air Force is supporting the project by supplying the two F-16 full-scale development aircraft, which will be modified to the F-16XL configuration, the F100 engines, a new two-place cockpit and flight test support at Edwards AFB, Calif.

“The F-16XL design capitalises on what we have learned from seven years of F-16 operations and takes advantage of important new aerodynamic and systems technological advances made since the F-16 was designed in the early 1970s,” said Kent. “As a result, we believe with the F-16XL we can provide substantially improved operational capability. both in the air-to-air and the air-to-surface roles. ”

“Fundamentally, with the F-16XL we are increasing range and payload capability by reducing drag when carrying external stores. ” “With the new wing and the 56-inch stretch of the fuselage, we are able to increase internal fuel capacity by 82 per cent and gain an additional 40 cubic feet of space for avionics and sensor growth. ”

The F-16’s modular construction and fly-by-wire flight control system will simplify the F-16XL modification process. The first of the full-scale development aircraft is scheduled to be received at Fort Worth in March, and structural modification will begin immediately. The second aircraft is scheduled to be received during the summer.

The new arrow-shaped wing will have an area of 646 square feet, more than double that of the standard F-16. Graphite polyamide composite wing skins will provide the strength and stiffness necessary for maximum wing performance.

One of the demonstration aircraft will be a single-seater, the other a two-seat version.

Computer and wind tunnel analyses show that the F-16XL clearly will extend the F-16’s already remarkable capabilities. The analyses indicate that the aircraft will take off and land in only two-thirds of the distance required by the F-16, will have double the payload capacity for air-to-surface missions and will have 45 per cent greater combat radius in both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.

Soviets Develop New Air-To-Air Missile:

The long-awaited complement to the MiG-25 Foxbat and later models of the SU-17 Flagon long-range interceptor of an advanced look-down air-to-air missile capable of destroying low-flying cruise missiles and bombers Is said to be in the final development stages by the Soviet Union. This would provide the Soviets with a weapon of similar potential to the Hughes Phoenix as deployed aboard Grumman F-14 Tomcats of the US Navy.

 F-16s to South Korea:

The USAF is to replace 36 F-4D Phantoms based in South Korea with 48 F-16s this coming June. Despite the increase in aircraft numbers, the greater efficiency of the new aircraft will allow support personnel to be reduced by 300 men. Fuel usage is also expected to halve on a per flight hours basis while tactically the F-16s equate to more than 70 of the older F-4O which themselves will be transferred to the Air National Guard.