Newsdesk – Military Aviation

Hornet Flies Into Turbulence:

November was a bad month for the McDonnell Douglas F-18 Homet with both airframe and engine problems identified that are of serious concern to the RAAF. Following long-term concerns regarding airframe structural integrity in the empennage area, MDC have agreed to fit a specially developed flange to modify airflow over the rear airframe and tail unit in an effort to reduce aerodynamic loads. The kit will be fitted to the RAAF’s Homet force through 1988. While no Hornet has so far been lost through airframe fatigue, the discovery of fatigue in the rear airframe bulkheads in 1986 has resulted in a number of design evaluations being undertaken in the US to overcome the problem. A more serious problem though was the breakaway of turbine blades in the F-18’s General Electric F404 engine. Compressor blades are falling due to vibration, the blades then were thrown into other parts of the engine, and in molten form were capable of penetrating the titanium engine shield and damaging associated fuel and hydraulic lines with catastrophic consequences. Of the 6 Hornets so far lost by the RCAF at least one had crashed as a result of an engine fire while in the period of two days two USMC aircraft were similarly affected. RAAF spokesmen have confirmed that our aircraft are still well below the hours where the engine failures appear to be occurring (800+ hours) though the situation is being monitored closely. GE have meanwhile agreed to modify the RCAF engines and will fit fire retardant rubber mat linings to the F404s’ ducts to better absorb molten blades. The compressor blades themselves are also to be replaced with ones made of a stronger alloy and treated with specially developed high-temperature coatings. Meanwhile, the RAAF lost its first Homet on Wednesday 18th November when one of a two-ship element impacted a ridge on the Palm Island bombing range near Townsville. The two Hornets were performing routine night ground attack runs when the accident occurred. Pilot Officer Richard Jeffreys failed to eject and there was no sign of an aircraft-related problem prior to impact. Investigations are continuing though it is expected that it will be some time before a conclusion can be reached due to the extent of damage that the aircraft suffered.

Centrespread

Nineteen eighty-eight will see the introduction to service of Australia’s second operational unit of McDonnell Douglas F-18 Homets. Without doubt the most potent front-line combat aircraft in the indigenous SE Asian region, the Hornet, despite its attributes came in for a drubbing as 1987 ended. Continuing long-term airframe fatigue problems, which are still not fully understood as to their severity and a sudden spate of engine fires, in an otherwise extremely reliable powerplant, have led the RAAF to put into place a number of close-analysis maintenance programmes to ensure that our Hornets don’t succumb to the problems afflicting the USN/USMC and the RCAF.

Additional Nomads for Adf:

Thirteen additional Nomad aircraft are to be handed over to the Australian Defence Forces. The aircraft were previously in storage at Oaklands in Victoria. The Army will receive 9 Nomads and the RAAF will receive 4. The Army aircraft will complement the existing force of 12 such aircraft that first joined the service in 1975. They will ultimately replace the Pilatus Porters which will be phased out of service by 1995. Meanwhile the RAAF will deploy its Nomads at Edinburgh and Woomera in South Australia in support of weapons research tasks allied with ARDU while at least two will base at Tindal to serve as courier aircraft shuttling between Tindal, near Katherine and Darwin. It was originally hoped that the aircraft could be sold to the US Government for Coast Guard and Customs Service duty following the sale of seven similar aircraft in 1987. However, no such order transpired and consequently, the aircraft have been handed over to the Services. Meanwhile, in the USA, Nomad distributor, NDI has sold two Nomads with one going to Inter-Island Air operating freight runs between the Hawaiian Islands and the other to Tar Heel Aviation, a North Carolina freight carrier.

Northrop Inertially-Aided Munition Kit Passes First Flight Test:

As part of the joint USAF/USN Inertial Guidance Technology Demonstration, the US Navy has successfully completed the first captive flight test of a Northrop inertially-aided munition (IAM) kit designed to dramatically improve the accuracy of free-fall weapons. The test involved the transfer of navigation data from a Navy A-6 aircraft to a captive-carry weapon fitted with the low-cost IAM kit. Northrop’s kit permits weapons to confirm their location and modify their trajectory after free-fall has begun. The result is a substantial improvement in the angle of impact and accuracy using movable fins as control surfaces, the IAM kit can be delivered without overflying the target, enhancing the safety of aircraft crews. With the kit, crews can release weapons more than 15 miles from the target for high-altitude delivery, and five miles away for lofted, low-altitude delivery. The IAM kit can be retrofitted to various weapons, including the Mk80 series of bombs. An assembly fitted to the weapons’s tail cone contains the kit, which features a Northrop strap-down inertial navigation system and a microprocessor. The kit is designed to be used with modem tactical aircraft equipped with precision avionics such as global positioning satellite navigation systems (GPS), attack radars or infra-red sensors

Black Hawks to Receive Emi Shielding:

Concern in the US has led Sikorsky and the US Army to retrofit EMI shielding kits to the force’s large fleet of UH- 60A helicopters. The shielding will eliminate the potential problems that may occur in areas of intense electromagnetic interference where EMI interferes with the routine operation of the aircraft’s vital electronic systems. While it has yet to be conclusively proven that EMI has caused the crash of several US Black Hawks it has still not been entirely ruled out. Similar electromagnetic interference during 1987 caused a delay in the RAAF obtaining the first of its Pilatus PC-9 trainers while EMI from a power grid in West Germany also caused the loss of an RAF Tornado during 1985. The Black Hawks, including those destined for the Australian Army, will now receive the same shielding kits that are fitted as standard to the naval Seahawk. The Seahawk is so equipped as it routinely operates within an area of known intense EMI caused by the high-power transmitters, radars and sensors that equip modem warships.

Japan Chooses F-16 for F-Sx Requirement:

Japan has chosen General Dynamic’s F-16 as the basis of its F-SX requirement. The win was an unexpected one for GD who initially saw the F-16 eliminated from the competition at an earlier stage. Favourites, till the final weeks of the sales battle, were a Super Hornet variant of the F-18 and a version of the F-15E Strike Eagle. The F-SX will eventually replace the F-104, some F-4 squadrons and F-1 fighter and ground support units within the Japanese Self Defence Forces. As much of the F-SX role is of an overwater nature in the anti-ship task, it was generally considered surprising that a single-engined aircraft was chosen. The F-16 model chosen by Japan will essentially be a modified Agile Falcon with enlarged nose strakes and Japanese avionics, radar and systems. Power-plant has yet to be decided but will either be the GE F110 or the similarly powerful P&W F100- PW-229. It is anticipated that 130 aircraft will be built in Japan with the type becoming operational during the mid-nineties.

Tenders Called for New Sea Survey System:

The Minister for Det- ence, Mr Kim Beazley, has announced the calling of tenders for the commercial production of a revolutionary system for charting coastal waters. A Request for Tender was released during November to a shortlist of 12 Australian-based companies to enable a contract to be let in 1988 for the production of Laser Airborne Depth Sounders (LADS). The LADS system greatly reduces the time and resources needed to carry out underwater surveys and produce accurate charts. Fitted in an aircraft, the LADS equipment emits green and red laser pulses. The green pulses are reflected from the sea floor while the red pulses are reflected by the sea surface. By measuring the time difference between the return of the red and green reflections to the aircraft the water depth can be calculated precisely. The system will provide a profile of the sea floor, including any obstructions. LADS is capable of measuring depths accurately between 2 and 30 metres and under ideal conditions, down to 50 metres. In a single year, a LADS equipped aircraft can survey nearly 10,000 square miles of coastal waters- a task that would take 8 to 10 years for a conventional survey ship. The LADS system was developed from experimental work on lasers carried out by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) Laboratories at Salisbury, ŠA. The RAN Hydrographic Service, RAAF and Australian industry assisted in trials to develop a system capable of operational service demonstrates the benefits of Defence- sponsored research to all Australians,” Mr Beazley said. “Charts produced from LADS data will not only make our waters safer for commercial, naval and recreational users, but will save time and money for shipping operators by locating new shipping channels. Australia is undoubtedly the world leader in laser hydrography. ” Mr Beazley added, “and this will generate overseas markets for our technology. ”

Updated New Zealand Skyhawks Ready to Fly:

During the course of this issue, the RNZAF plans to test fly the first of 22 upgraded A-4K Skyhawk fighter bombers. The upgrade is one of the most extensive so far yet undertaken on the venerable Skyhawk and includes a modified Westinghouse APG-66 radar (as used on the F-16) with a special overwater attack mode to accommodate the RNZAF’s primary role of maritime strike. The update also includes a complete cockpit rework featuring a Lear Seigler head up and head down display package, laser inertial navigator and elimination of all of the aircraft’s outdated avionics. As an example of how far science has moved these past two decades, some 38kg of avionics housed in eight separate boxes have been replaced by a single box weighing less than 4kg. The reliability factor has also been greatly enhanced with a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of 1000hrs for the digital flight control computer as against only 30hrs for the system it replaces. New Zealand’s upgraded Skyhawks, which include the ex-RAN A-4GS, will also be optimised to carry the AGM-65 Maverick air to ground missile and the AIM-9L Sidewinder AAM.

India to Use Dassault Expertise in Developing an Indigenous Fighter:

The Indian Government is to use France’s Dassault-Breguet to assist it in developing its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme. The LCA will be a delta-winged fighter/ bomber in the ten-tonne max takeoff weight class powered by an engine in the GE F404 or Snecma M88 class producing between 17,000lb to 20,000lb thrust. In many ways the aircraft is similar in design to the European EFA, French Rafale and Israel’s recently cancelled Lavi combat aircraft. In Indian service the type will replace around 200 MIG- 21 Fishbeds and HAL Ajeet aircraft. India is also set to choose a foreign designed advanced jet trainer through 1988 with both the BAe Hawk and the Dassault-Breguet/Domier Alpha Jet being shortlisted for the 83 aircraft order.

Birdstrikeclaims Usaf B-1B Bomber:

The September 28 crash of a USAF Strategic Air Command B-1B bomber has been put down to birdstrike. The big bomber was flying at around 600kts at 600ft when it lost engines 3 and 4 to multiple bird ingestion. Both these engines are in a single pod on one side of the aircraft. The stricken B-1 then climbed to 3/4000ft to initiate crew ejection though only three of the six man crew were able to clear the aircraft prior to impact. The accident again highlights the environmental problems of operating in a low altitude mode and the ever present danger that large flocks of birds present to even the most formidable large combat aircraft. In an unrelated event, the USAF also lost (publicly at least) its second F-19 Nighthawk stealth fighter on the Nellis gunnery range on October 14. Tight security measures were immediately employed at the crash site similar to those employed at Bakersfield, California in July 1986 when a similar aircraft crashed in rural bushland. It is believed that the USAF operates up to 50 F-19s from their ultra-secret Groom Lake base in Arizona.

Another Designation Change for the Old Gaf:

As the old Government Aircraft Factories continues in its evolution from a highly protected government instrumentality to that of a quasi-privately owned company, it is going through a number of designation changes. Earlier in 1987 the old GAF gave way to ATA and as from October 12th 1987 became known as ASTA, though still trading under the former banner of Aerospace Technologies of Australia. At present, the new company is wholly owned by the Commonwealth Government. However, the Government intends to make between 20% and 30% of the equity available to industry during the course of 1988. ASTA’s primary current project is the RAAF F-18 and a number of smaller civil offset contracts either negotiated directly with the old GAF or via Hawker de Havilland as a subcontractor. ASTA is now looking to teaming with an overseas partner in developing and manufacturing an aircraft that would adequately utilise the vast and very modern specialist facilities of ASTA.