Defence Update

given the chance to “rescue” the Wamira project by reducing costs, and that their revised package would be considered along with local manufacturing proposals from Short Bros, Belfast, UK and Pilatus of Switzerland. Shorts earlier this year won the battle to build under licence the Brazilian Embraer Tucano as the new RAF basic trainer. Pilat us already supplies the PC-7 trainer to a wide range of countries, and also is offering the considerably upgraded PC-9 now in production.

A report with options and recommendations is likely to go to Mr Beazley from his department and the RAAF in October, and then will be taken to Cabinet. The Government’s decision will have far-reaching consequences for the Australian aircraft industry, and its workforce, apart from the degree of impact of future Defence five-year rolling programs and budgeting. The evaluation is being carried out by a Defence-RAAF team following on the changes in direction announced by Beazley in the mid-year statement.

The team, which visited Shorts in Belfast and Pilatus in Stans near Zurich in August, was led by Mr Paul Foley, who is the Assistant Secretary of the Aerospace and Electronics Branch, and who has been acting as First Assistant Secretary of the Defence Industry Development Division. Group Captain Dick Kellaway, Director of the RAAF’s Trainer Project Office (he replaced Group Captain Joe Owens) was the deputy leader. The team comprised representatives from the industry development division, the major contracts branch, cost accounting, engineering and operations. A test pilot, Squadron Leader Greg Ruffs flew the Pilatus trainers in Switzerland. G/C Owens earlier flew a Tucano.

Group Captain Colin Bradford represented the Chief of Air Force Technical Services on the team.

The mission’s purpose basically was to assess what the costs would be in building either the Tucano or the PC-7 Mk2 or PC-9 in Australia. The Shorts Tucano is to have a beefed-up engine in the Garrett rather than the PT6 engine used in both Swiss trainers and in the Pilatus Porter light aircraft in service with the Australian Army.

The team also looked at design development, and export market possibilities if an overseas design was chosen to replace the Wamira program.

The Australian Aircraft Consortium (AAC) was a company jointly owned by the Australian Government (through the Government Aircraft Factories in Melbourne), the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation and Hawker de Havilland. It was set up to design and build 69 new turboprop primary trainers for the RAAF at an estimated cost in 1981 of $155m.

The Auditor-General and other Government bodies has more recently reported that the cost of completing the design phases and moving from the planned two prototypes to full production would exceed $300m in present-day prices.

With $58m spent on design work and prototype production to the end of June this year, the RAAF earlier this year argued, apparently with subsequent support from an inter-departmental committee {JDC), that it might be time to cut the losses and examine cheaper options. The JDC report on the A10 project and future options went to Beazley in mid-April and led to the Government’s decision in July to seek cheaper solutions.

In his statement, Beazley said that if an overseas trainer was chosen, construction in Australia would be a fundamental principle. This would guarantee work to sections of the Australian aircraft industry currently designated to build the Wamira, including the Government Aircraft Factories.

“In addition to construction of the RAAF aircraft in Australia, the overseas companies would be required to offer the Australian aircraft industry the opportunity to participate in design and development projects for future aircraft, and a share in export markets as part of wider collaborative teams” he said.

Beazley said the JDC report concluded that “substantial time and cost over-runs have occurred, and that only minimal cost savings could be made if the project continues under present managements” He said measures to be examined included alternative management arrangements, a technical review to reduce costs and the possibility of an aircraft of overseas design being built in Australia under collaborative arrangements.

Hawker de Havilland and CAC amalgamated on July 1, thus giving their partnership a 66% share of AAC. The CAC Directors resigned, and Mr D. J. Dalziel, who had been General Manager since 1976, retired as an executive on July 31. Mr Bruce Hattersley, who was the Manufacturing Director of Hawker, took over as Director and General Manager of the CAC operation.

In line with Government wishes Hawker has taken up the Commonwealth {GAF) shareholding, thus controlling all 100% of AAC. Mr Stan Schaetzel, the Technical Director of Hawker de Havilland has become Managing Director of AAC and had charge of preparing the revised bid to complete the A 1? Wamira project in competition with the Tucano and the PC-9 {or improved PC-7).

The deadline for the various packages is September 16.

Both overseas companies are confident they can meet the Australian requirements to manufacture under licence and other design/development and marketing provisions.

In that event, the question may well be decided on the final prices yet there has been considerable concern with the RAAF that it would be nearly impossible for the AAC to get the A10 project price down to a reasonable level.

This is not a view with which Hawker and the newly constructed AAC concur.

“We believe we will offer a very attractive package,” Mr Schaetzel told Australian Aviation. “We believe it is essential to have a local design and development and production capability in Australia which would have untrammelled access to world markets,” he said.

“Cancellation of the A 1 0 project would be a disaster for the Australian aircraft industry”.

Under the delayed program, AAC had planned to roll out the first Wamira prototype in September but that has been affected by the curtailed transitional funding provisions while the project is re-examined. But Schaetzel said it was hoped the prototype would be rolled out before Christmas.

A full-scale mock-up of the New A10 trained was unveiled at Fishermens Bend on August 16, 1983 when the first prototype roll out was planned for December 1984, and the first flight in February, 1985.

The current phase of the A10 project covers detailed design work, prototype development, and static and flight testing. The program is not yet at the static test stage of major Components. In bidding for Phase 3 (tooling up for production and acquiring long lead items) and Phase 4 (Production). Hawker started a review in the mid-year with the assistance of consultants from Macchi (Italy), and a re-look at GAF operations to see how costs could be curbed.

The revised bid for the total package will be designed to meet a revised Air Force Staff Requirement No. 5044.

“We are proposing a specification to meet that Air Staff Requirement which would mean a trainer slightly less gold-plated than the original A10 but very much cheaper Schaetzel explained. We also will give options to bring the plane up to the previous levels of detail sought. ” “In that way the Government will be able to compare our bid with those from the overseas companies and decide what it wants. We think we’ll be quite competitive, as far as the total package is concerned,” he added.

If Hawker gets the go-ahead, the first flight of the prototype should take place around mid-1986, but the production timetable could depend on a decision on just how much flight testing needs to be done before the production go-ahead is given.

Schaetzel said he welcomed the “swing” to cost effectiveness by the Defence Department as it now appeared that this factor was considered more important that “pure performance”. Hawker would be offering a baseline aircraft with various options with improved capabilities.

The RAAF’s major interest, given that the current CT4 trainers’ fatigue life is more durable than originally thought and should extend it into the next decade, is to see that it gets value for its dollars. This is particularly important as it is seeking funds for other projects like in-flight refuelling and Airborne Early Warning (AEW) for the FA-18s and possibly the F-111Cs.

The RAAF wants a decision as quickly as possible on the trainer, preferably before the end of the year, with a fixed prices deal and a set timetable. It sees the current re-examination as something of a crash program.

There was some belief early in the year that with the fly-away cost of a PC-7 around $1m, the project cost for 69 would run out at around $150m. Even with the added cost so far spent on the Wamira development, that seemed to give the possibility of savings of up to $100m on the latest estimates of a full production run of A10s.

However it is now believed that updated costs overseas could see the trainer project cost, based on the Shorts and Pilatus bids. coming out at around $200m. The fly-away cost of a PC-9 is about $1. 5m. So it may depend on just how far the AAC can pare the costs of the A10 which, on the earlier estimates, looked like costing more than $2m a copy (fly-away) after further develop. ment costs estimated at $30m.

Mr Robert Forrester Stephen, Managing Director of Roland Engineering in Melbourne, who represents Pilatus in Australia, is confident the Swiss company will come up with a bid which will be most attractive to Australia. The company will be offering both the PC-7 Mk2 and the “up the ladder PC-9. Pilatus already has sold some 430 PC-7s around the world and has firm orders for another 40 or so. It regards the PC-7 as the most successful basic trainer in the world.

The PC-9 has a cruising speed of 300 knots at 18,000 feet, and a climb rate of 4,000 ft per minute. The PC-7 cruises at 250 knots at 18,000 ft and has a climb rate of 2,000 ft per minute.

A Pilatus team recently in Australia had discussions with GAF In Melbourne about manufacturing under licence, and also briefly talked to Hawker de Havilland in Sydney.

Stephen said Pilatus already was a proven trainer and the company was prepared to meet the equivalent of 100% manufacture in Australia. He added that GAF already had much of the high-tech equipment that would be needed for the production run.

Mr Beazley is committed to building up an aircraft industry in Australia on a stable basis. But he has made it clear that if the AAC cannot get its costs down, the local manufacture of an overseas-designed trainer has to be considered.

One matter which would have to be worked out if an overseas trainer was selected would be whether the RAAF’s preference for side-by-side seating rather than tandem seating would be feasible. Initial RAAF opinion is that there is not much to choose between the Tucano and the PC-9 from an operational viewpoint. The RAAF requirement also is for its new improved trainer to have a fatigue life of 8,000 hours. The CT4 was thought to have a fatigue life of 2,500-3,000 hours. But tests by the Aeronautical Research Laboratories at Fishermen’s Bend, Vic. have proved it has a safe fatigue life of 5,000 hours and probably could go much longer. The RAAF currently has 33 CT4s.

Apart from the early concern about the CT4s fatigue life appearing to require their replacement by 1988, the RAAF has another reason for seeking an improved trainer.

It wants to train its new pilots for their first 100 hours in turboprop trainers rather than the 60 hours currently flown on the CT4s. By doing 100 hours on a higher performance turboprop trainer, student pilots would thus not need to do as much flying on the Macchi fet advanced trainers before they complete 200 hours. There would be considerable cost savings in this plan. . The RAAF also wants its new basic trainer to be extremely durable, have a much longer fatigue life, better aerodynamic performances and low maintenance costs.