Newsdesk – Military

Larger Man-Portable Sam:

Matra of France are developing a two-man short-range Infrared SAM. The benefit of going for a two-crew concept is that the missile can be larger thus allowing fitment of a more effective warhead in addition to the missile having a longer range and an IFF system, so important in any future European war. The new SAM, designated provisionally SATCP has a range of five kilometres and may later be produced in light vehicle mounted form in addition to shipboard use.

To Spin a Hornet:

The McDonnell Douglas F-18AHornet can now spin, but only if grossly mishandled. Since the loss of an F-18A last November MDC has conducted more than 120 spins with various underwing configurations. Basically, the knowledge from this stage of flight development has now been programmed into the aircraft’s flight control computer which governs the excess attitude situations that a pilot may encounter in air combat manoeuvring. This ensures that no matter how hard a pilot may fly the aircraft the flight control. com- puter does not allow the aircraft to depart its control envelope.

 General Dynamics Earns $195 Million in 1980:

General Dynamics announced recently that its earnings for 1980 were $195 million, up 5. 3% over the record 1979 earnings of $185 million.

Sales in 1980 were $4. 7 billion, 16. 8% greater than the $4. 1 billion reported in 1979, the previous record year.

The funded backlog at the end of 1980 was $10. 4 billion, with the total funded and unfunded backlog at $11. 2 billion.

Winter Slows Persian Gulf Conflict:

During our southern autumn, the Iran/Iraq conflict had largely subsided due to the rainy season affecting lines of communication in the region. Iran did launch a counter-offensive in February but was reported to have received massive losses which have further weakened its position against Iraq. Intelligence reports from the US indicate that Iran has lost in the region of 125 combat aircraft, split fairly evenly between F-4 and F-5 aircraft. A measure of the loss of momentum within Iran’s air force is the fact that daily sorte rates have dropped from a peak of 140 down to as low as forty indicating an ever-tightening spare and maintenance situation.

The Advanced F-16 Fighting Falcon: A New Generation Fighter for Australia:

General Dynamics has proposed an advanced version of its F-16 Fighting Falcon multirole fighter for service with the Royal Australian Air Force.

The advanced F-16 incorporates dramatic advances in electronics, weapons systems and sensors and has been described as “a new-generation fighter. ” The aircraft would provide the RAAF with state-of-the-art all-weather capability.

Following the F-16’s recent transition to combat-ready status with the U. S. Air Force, the U. S. Defense Department proposed nearly $1. 5 billion to equip USAF’s newest fighter with advanced cockpit, navigation, acquisition and weapons systems.

The F-16 will be able to accept podded sensors and weapons systems currently in design and development on a quick reaction “plug-in” basis as they become available. This capability will provide the RAAF with extraordinary flexibility and the ability to update its F-16s routinely to contend with the changing threat.

In his recent posture statement commenting on Air Force plans for enhanced F-16 capabilities, Gen. David Jones, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted that “improvements planned for future production aircraft include beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface acquisition systems for night and under-the-weather capability, and an advanced programmable radar. ”

Included in the update program is $25 million to increase the F-16 fire control radar’s detection range by 45 percent with a newly developed transmitter, and to add new features for both air-to-air and air-to-surface attack. For example, the new radar will permit the F-16 pilot to distinguish the number of enemy aircraft in close formation where formerly only one “target” appeared. It will provide track-while-scan capability as well.

The enhanced radar also will enable F-16sto more fully utilize the new beyond-visual-range AMRAAM missile An F-16 successfully launched its first AMRAAM on February 20 over the White Sands Missile Range.

AMRAAM development has been given top priority by the US Department of Defense. The missile offers greater range, speed, accuracy and improved ECM performance than current missiles, plus new look-down, shoot-down capability. The first production AMRAAMs will be installed on F-16s in 1985, USAF announced recently.

The first new radars are scheduled to be installed in F-16s in 1984.

More than $60 million is proposed for new electronic provisions and modification of the F-16 inlet and avionics bay to accommodate advanced sensor and weapons pods and associated electronic equipment.

The computational capacity of the Fighting Falcon’s onboard weapon and fire control computers will be increased fivefold. Although the computers will occupy exactly the same space, they will provide the advanced F-16 with 600,000 words of programmable memory storage, which exceeds the capacity of the proposed B-1 bomber. The fighter’s new fire control computer will offer double the memory capacity with 64,000 words and double the processing speed with over 500,000 operations a second.

The F-16 pilot can program mission data before takeoff simply by inserting a small cartridge into a read/write unit much like one inserts a cassette tape into a tape deck. Mission performance data and aircraft maintenance data can be recorded on the same cartridge during flight and retrieved on landing.

The F-16’s new wide-angle head-up display will provide the pilot with flight and weapon aiming information on a large screen with four times the instantaneous viewing area of the current HUD, and a television-quality image of the surface combat arena.

The new LANTIRN navigation and targeting system will provide the F-16 with autonomous under-the-weather day/night navigation and precision weapon delivery capability against tactical ground targets,

LANTIRN with enable single-seat F-16s to acquire, track and destroy ground targets with both guided and unguided weapons. A laser designator pod guides ‘smart’ weapons to a target with deadly accuracy. A companion terrain-following radar pod will enable the advanced F-16 to penetrate to the target area at tree-top level under all weather and terrain conditions.

In addition to the AMRAAM, advanced F-16s will be qualified to carry a 30-millimeter antitank gun and infrared Maverick air-to-surface missiles.

Buck Rogers Cometh!:

Fighter pilots soon will be able to fire or drop weapons while Flying at manoeuvring angles and distances previously impossible, thus more easily evading enemy defenses.

Development testing began recently at McDonnell Douglas on a US Air Force F-15 Eagle equipped with an automatic tracking laser illumination system (Atlis II) pod as part of an integrated flight fire control (IFFC)/ Firefly Ill program.

The Air Force Flight Dynamic Laboratory’s flight control division awarded McDonnell Douglas a $10 million contract to develop, integrate, and test F-15 flight and fire control systems with the optical sensor/tracker pod. Ten airworthiness flights are being made before the F-15 goes to the Air Force flight test centre, Edwards Air Force Base, California, to begin a 15-month flight test program of 150 flights.

During development testing, air-to-air weaponry will be fired at simulated targets while the F-15 manoeuvres at high offset angles, demonstrating its ability to accurately release weapons while in a three-dimensional flight path. Fighter aircraft usually fly in conventional level-flight profiles while delivering weapons.

The IFFC/Firefly Ill flight test program marks the first time such unconventional manoeuvres will be flown and will quantify for the Air Force the improvements achievable through the advanced integrated control concept. This concept is applicable to other fighter aircraft.

‘Combat effectiveness, the opportunity to fire first, and the time available to fire during an air-to-air combat mission will increase significantly when pilots fly aircraft with integrated flight and fire control system,’ said Vitauts “Vic” Lanka, McDonnell Aircraft MarketingManager.

‘Furthermore, survivability of any fighter equipped with this new technology should increase significantly in an air-to-ground attack,’ he said.

No longer will it be necessary for a fighter pilot to risk flying directly over his target during weapon delivery. He now can fire sooner and at greater distances.

Skyhawks to Return to Melbourne:

HMAS Melbourne, flagship of the Australian fleet is due to enter dry dock later this year for its final refit Number one on the priority list is a complete rebuild of the steam Catapult system which was largely responsible for the loss of two A-4G Skyhawks on Indian Ocean deployment last year, since then use of The Skyhawk from Melbourne has been abandoned. There is still no formal intention to purchase replacement Skyhawk jets for the RAN and it is now thought that the current inventory will soldier on till a final decision is made as to which ship/aircraft complement will eventually replace HMAS Melbourne during The latter eighties.

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft:

Following the brilliant achievement by NASA And the shuttle in April, we have been asked to supply some background on the 747 Terry aircraft. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) is a modified Boeing 747 originally purchased by American Airlines in 1970.

In July 1974, NASA purchased the aircraft for $15 million and redesigned it N905NA(SA). First use of the aircraft was in a flight research program conducted by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center to investigate the problems associated with wake vortex flow from widebody jet transports. Following the program the 747 was returned to Boeing for modifications in April of 1976.

While at Boeing, the 747 was modified to carry the Space Shuttle orbiter. Its main structure was reinforced to support the weight of the 67,500-kilogram (150,000-pound) orbiter. Forward and aft supports and adapters were positioned atop the fuselage to carry the orbiter, and tip fins were added to the plane’s horizontal stabilizer to provide added aerodynamic stability during mated flights. Modifications were also made in the cockpit for controls and displays necessary for air launching and Terry missions.

Because of the increased weight of the Shuttle and the requirements to achieve as high an altitude as possible for Approach and Landing Test launch, the 747’s Pratt and Whitney JT90-3A engines were converted to a JT90- 7AH configuration, increasing takeoff thrust from 19,575 kg (43,500 Ib. ) to 21,128 kg (46,950 lb). A special increased climb thrust rating will be used which will permit the engines to climb (at altitude) using sea-level temperature limits. A 10-m,nute restriction is imposed for this rating.

The inside of the 747 was stripped of seats, galleys, etc, resulting in a weight of 153,900 kg (342,000 lb) unfueled. Adding fuel and the orbiter, the takeoff weight of the combination is 265,350 kg (585,000 lb). Length of the 747 itself 68 m (225 ft); wingspan Is 59 m (195 ft); height of the 747/orbiter combination is 23 m (75 ft).

In the Approach and Landing Tests, the orbiter was carried aloft on the 747 in a series of captive manned and unmanned flights. In April of this year, the first manned space flight of the orbiter took place.

The 7 4 7 will be used to ferry the orbiter back to its launch site, John F. Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The 747 will also serve as a ferry aircraft in other future missions.

The 747 crew consists of the pilot, co-pilot and two flight engineers.

Harpoon Scores:

Harpoon, the McDonnell Douglas air-to-surface antIsh1pp1ng missile soon to go into service locally on RAAF P-3s, F-111Cs and RAN Oberon Submarines,FFG and frigates has further demonstrated its lethal killing power. In a recent series of US Navy-sponsored tests, from 151 launches a direct hit rate of 87 was achieved with this being fined down to 93% for the final series of 73 launches. Harpoon has an effective range of 100 km and will provide a formidable deterrent against surface maritime threats in all weather conditions.

Mini Pave Tack for Fighters:

Ford Aerospace have developed a smaller, less sophisticated version of their Pave Tack FUR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) pod, ten of which are being deltvered to the RAAF for fitment to F-111C strike aircraft. The new pod is primarily aimed at the F-18A and measures only 72 in long as against 102 in, weight is only 330 lb as against 1,280 lb for Pave Tack. The new mini pod will have a smaller field of regard, is To 150 degrees as against 180 degrees has a smaller optical aperture with a consequent reduction in picture resolution. One major advantage though is that the F-18A pod is all digital as against the largely analogue systems of Pave Tack.

Twin-Seat Kfir Launched:

Israel Aircraft Industries has launched a twin-seat Kfir project with the first production aircraft having flown in March this year. The twin-seat Kfir will be used primarily tor combat proficiency training though is expected to be also used for possible Wild Weasel and recce applications. Kfir Production is currently at 2 5 units a month with over 200 in IAF service (some are in reserve), ultimately the Kfir will be replaced by the yet-to-be-launched Lavi strike fighter.

American 707s Go Military:

American Airlines, who this year have parked against the fence more 707s than Qantas ever operated, have sold 25 of their 707 transports to USAF. However, only seven of the aircraft will be kept. Intact for USAF duties, the remainder will be Cannibalised as a source of spares. Sale price of the jets was in the order of $US2. 2m each, grim testimony to the dismal future awaiting the World’s 707 and DC-8 fleets.

Research Advances on Aircraft Fatigue:

The cost of replacing present-day military aircraft has caused many countries, including Australia, to seek ways of extending the life of their present aircraft.

For instance, the RAAF’s Mirage jets, in operation since 1968, will be refurbished to give them several more years of service.

Part of this program concerns monitoring the growth of fatigue cracks in structural components.

During ground servicing, conventional inspection procedures are used to search for indications of cracking in fatigue-critical regions of aircraft. Even minor inspections are often expensive and time-consuming and usually require some disassembly of the aircraft.

Aircraft can only be submitted to intermittent ground inspection and intervals between major inspections are quite long. Accordingly, procedures for assessment of structural integrity based on a knowledge of crack growth rates have had to be developed, so that aircraft containing known fatigue cracks can be flown safely between inspections

There are obvious advantages in developing techniques for continuous in-flight monitoring of cracking without the need for frequent disassembly.

Two systems devised by the Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL) offer improved methods for such monitoring.

One, called the Aircraft Fatigue Data Analysis System (AFDAS), enables normally inaccessible areas of the aircraft to be monitored for the stresses and strains that cause fatigue.

The other is Acoustic Emission, which offers new ways of detecting and monitoring the growth of cracks in aircraft.

AFDAS has been developed from the ARL concept by British Aerospace Australia Ltd, under the sponsorship of the Defence Industry Development Branch.

Basically the system uses seven strain gauges fitted to known fatigue points on the wing, fin and fuselage of the aircraft. The gauges measure the cycles of stress imposed on the aircraft, and this information is stored in an in-flight computer.

At intervals, the stored information can be transferred to ground-based equipment where it is fed through a computer to provide fatigue damage predictions using software written by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.

This provides engineers with a picture of the progress of metal fatigue and the extent of any potential crack growth.

Besides making preventive maintenance easier the information will be used to compare the life of different aircraft of the same type. AFDAS is aimed particularly at highly stressed combat aircraft. However it could equally be used to advantage in civil aircraft.

The concept has the potential for use in other applications such as the monitoring of fatigue in submarines, tanks, bridges and towers.

Acoustic Emission is the name given to a developing inspection technique which has great potential for use in difficult situations such as are found with aircraft.

When a tree is about to fall, it signals its intent by a series of easily heard and recognised sounds. When metallic alloys deform, when a crack initiates, or when a crack propagates, sound waves are generated. In contrast to the sound waves from breaking timber, the noises from metal are very low in intensity and occur at high frequencies well beyond the audible range.

Thus special devices are needed to detect and amplify these signals but this can be done with no great difficulty. However, a challenge arises when attempts are made to identify measure and locate acoustic emission in an aircraft during flight.

Acoustic emission equipment has been installed in an RAAF Macchijet trainer aircraft for more than two years and has been accumulating data continuously ever since. This experiment, designed to demonstrate the feasibility of the monitoring of fatigue crack growth, has already largely achieved its objective, with many months of testing still to come.

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation, which controls the Aeronautical Research Laboratories, hopes, through its own research and contact with overseas laboratories undertaking similar research, eventually to be able to pass on the results of their findings to Australian industry.

The future could well see the installation of acoustic emission sensors in aircraft during manufacture, to be used as indicators of airworthiness.

Indonesian Government Buys Three Boeing 737s:

Side-looking airborne multi-mission radar for maritime surveillance will be a prominent feature of three new Boeing 737-200 twinjets ordered by the Indonesian Air Force.

Maritime surveillance has become more important to nations with long coastlines since many have established exclusive economic zones extending their dominion 200 miles to sea. To maintain sovereignty over such a large area requires specially equipped aircraft.

The high-resolution Motorola-built radar system (SLAMMR) features a console inside the plane linked to two 16-long blade antennas positioned on each side of the upper aft fuselage.

An aeroplane the size of the Boeing 737 is needed to carry the equipment which gives the crew the ability to scan larger areas of coastal waters more quickly and thoroughly than any other aircraft/radar combination.

Since the equipment can spot a small ship even in heavy seas, at a distance of 100 miles. on either side of the aeroplane flying at 30,000 ft, one 737 can survey the entire 200-mile width of the offshore economic zone by flying along the coast 100 miles off-shore. The new 7378 will have a single-mission range of 3,000 miles.

Six functional missions for the surveillance role have been established through studies.

These are fisheries control; law enforcement, protection and deterrence of smuggling and illegal entry; resource protection; environmental control and mineral development; disaster relief; shipping control and logistic support.

The first of the Indonesian Air Force’s 7378 will be delivered without the SLAMMR equipment and returned for retrofit when the radar device and antennas have been certificated on the 737.

In addition to this system, the Indonesian 7378 will be outfitted with 14 first-class and 88 tourist-class seats for government transport use.

This will be the first use of the Boeing 737 jetliner for a maritime surveillance mission. Other Boeing jetliners built on commercial production lines are in military use as cargo personnel transports, refuellers, navigator trainers, for airborne warning and control, as airborne command posts and for surveillance. With this purchase, total Boeing 737 announced orders have reached 925.

• RAF Buys More Vc10s:

The Royal Air Force has purchased an additional 14 Super VC10 airliners from British Airways. The aircraft had been stored at Prestwick owing to their high operating costs and despite relatively high hours still have around 20,000 additional hours of airframe life remaining. The additional aircraft will be cannibalised to provide spare support for the remaining RAF VC10 tanker and transport force through to 1995.

Procurement Definitions:

The most common pitfall leading to inaccuracies in comparing aircraft costs is using different parameters for each. For example, it is inaccurate to compare the flyaway cost of one aircraft with the program cost of another. It is equally inaccurate to compare the program cost of one aircraft developed during an earlier time period with another aircraft currently in development and with production in the future. Finally, because the total quantity of aircraft procured is a factor in calculating production cost, and equivalent quantity or lot-of total aircraft must be used to establish an accurate comparison.

To make accurate cost comparisons, an understanding of the terminology used in military procurement is required. The most commonly used military aircraft procurement terms are

• Flyaway Cost-always the lowest cost measurement; includes the airframe and its unique systems, propulsion, electronics, armament, other miscellaneous components, production tooling and system management expenses. usually the “middle of the road” cost; which includes total flyaway cost plus initial spares and support expense (l.e., the total cost of the initial introduction of the aircraft into the operational force).
•  Procurement Cost
•  Program Cost is always the highest procurement measurement; includes all development and procurement costs plus all military construction unique to the system.
• Unit Cost-used to further define flyway, procurement or program cost; for example, flyaway unit cost could be the cost of a single aircraft unit at a specified production point (such as the 100th aircraft) or the average unit cost for a specified total quantity of aircraft (for a total program or annual production run).
• Life Cycle Cost – includes the program cost over the entire life of the system. The life cycle includes the original development of the system, its total production procurement, including flyaway cost, support and initial spares, unique military construction plus the annual operating costs of the system in service times the total number of years the system is expected to be in operational service. Operating costs include all maintenance and overhaul, fuel, spare parts, military support personnel and in-direct operations and maintenance costs (eg, travel, facility maintenance, special duty assignments)
• Constant Year Dollars – the costs of any aircraft program as expressed in a specified base year (eg, 1975 dollars). •
• Then Year Dollars-the actual cost of the development and production of a given aircraft during a specified time period (eg. F-14, 1968-1981, F-18 1975-1988).

 Peru Goes Macchi:

Aermacchi have finally found export potential for their capable MB-339 jet trainer with an order for 14 from the Peruvian Air Force. The Italian Air Force has 100 3398 on order to replace its existing fleet of MB-326 trainers.

Stinger Is Supplied to Us Army Units in Europe:

The US Army has begun supplying its troops with the new Stinger air defense-guided missile system.

The first units receiving the portable, shoulder-fired weapons will be maneuvering elements of the Army in Europe. The US Marine Corps will also use the weapon.

Stinger protects ground forces against attack by low-flying, high-speed jet aircraft and helicopters. Stinger offers distinct improvements in defence capability over the Redeye missile system it replaces. It can engage faster targets at greater range including those flying directly towards the gunner. Stinger has built-in electronics compatible with all NATO aircraft that aid the gunner with aircraft identification.

The Stinger system evolved from the Army’s Redeye, the world’s first man-portable shoulder-fired, infrared-homing antiaircraft missile, also produced by General Dynamics and first deployed in 1967. And has delivered over 33,000 Redeye systems to the Army and Marine Corps and allied nations including Australia.

Stinger’s improvements involve a better propulsion system and greater resistance to enemy countermeasures. Stinger has the ability to engage targets in any aspect, whether head-on, crossing for flying away from the gunner.

A stinger is a fire-and-forget weapon. The missile is packaged in a throwaway launch tube and delivered as a certified round requiring no field testing or maintenance. A separate, reusable grip stock is attached to each missile round before firing. Once the gunner fires the Stinger, he discards the launch tube and in cases of multiple attacks, readies the next Stinger for firing.

Engineers at Pomona are now developing the next generation of man-portable air defence system improvement, a modular seeker called the Passive Optical Seeker Technique (POST).

The POST seeker will provide Stinger with additional countermeasures immunity, increased detection ranges and the ability to pick targets out of background clutter.

The first flight test of the POST engineering development seeker resulted in a direct hit on a subscale drone. This was the first flight test of an electro-optical guidance system employing microprocessors for controlling the signal processing logic.