Newsdesk – Military Aviation

One such export market is of course the primary fighter requirements of the European (Spain, UK & West Germany) EFA partners. The USA has been pursuing actively tying up one or more of the European allies in participating with either General Dynamics with their F-16 Agile Falcon or MDC with the Super Homet in preference to the expensive and seemingly stalled EFA programme.

The Americans state that their variants will be considerably less expensive to buy then the proposed EFA, or Dassault Rafale, while still offering equivalent performance capabilities in addition to enjoying considerable commonality with US forces.

With Agile Falcon already taxying and Super Hornet about to emerge from the hangar, is it any wonder that European financial and political support for EFA is at an all time low!

Ata Loss A Blow To Grumman:

The US Navy has selected the team of General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas to build the new Advanced Tactical Aircraft. ATA will ultimately replace all Grumman A-6 Intruder aircraft in the medium-range tactical strike role. Losers in the ATA battle were Grumman and Northrop. For Grumman the loss is a serious blow to the Bethpage, New York company which has been a traditional supplier to the US Navy since before the Second World War. Grumman also looks like losing its A-6F upgrade contract on existing A-6 aircraft in the USN inventory following extreme pressure from Congress for significant defence budget cuts. Additionally, the company is building less than two dozen F-14 Tomcats per annum and barely half a dozen E-2C Hawkeye AEW aircraft. Hawkeye manufacture will inevitably run down in the early to mid-nineties as is the F-14D programme, leaving Grumman with no follow-on project with which to replace these two slow, but long lived programmes.

On the west coast the picture is brighter with Northrop busy with the development of the ultra-secret B-2 stealth bomber, major fuselage sub-contracts on the soon-to-be accelerated 747 programme and continuing F-18 production in association with MDC at St. Louis.

Can You Help?

If you flew Spitfires, Mustangs or Kittyhawks in the RAAF or had anything to do with these aircraft then we need your help.

Our third book in our bi-annual series (launched last September with “Australia’s Military Aircraft and followed up with “Wings Across The Sea”, which will be released this coming April) will narrate the history of these three excellent fighter aircraft in RAAF service. Author, Stewart Wilson, has spent months interviewing a wide variety of people associated with the period though what we now need is additional photographic material. It is amazing what material is out there in the way of unique photographs, etc and if just some of it is suitable for reproduction then the memory of the achievements of the air and ground crews involved with these aircraft will be relived by another generation.

A similar request recently uncovered exclusive gun camera film of John Haslope downing an Me 163 Komet with his P-51 (refer p 28 Jan AA) which of course will be used in the book, which is due for release this October. If you can help we would greatly appreciate it, please send all material direct by registered post to Stewart Wilson, 9 Lodge Ave, Old Toongabbie, 2146 or contact Stewart on (02) 636 6947.

 Raaf Aircraft To Get Shelters:

Carport-like aircraft shelters, similar to those at Amberley and East Sale are to eventually be provided for all medium sized aircraft at RAAF bases.

The shelters help protect the expensive aircraft from rain, direct sunlight, hail and frost and allow a more congenial environment for ground crews maintaining the aircraft on the flight line.

Until the permanent shelters are constructed the RAAF is to tender for 18 portable shelters, 12 of which will be deployed to Tindal to service the F-188 on 75sqn which are slated for base deployment this October.

Takeoff run to boost the aircraft into the air. Final design of the Advanced Technology Tactical Transport have yet to be decided and if the project proves viable, the new is planned to enter service during the mid nineties.

Beech And Lockheed Team On New Tactical Airlifter:

Beechcraft and Lockheed are teaming to produce a tactical and special mission airlifter for the US DoD.

The team will evaluate a number of potential designs in order to produce an aircraft with radical performance given the nature of its intended STOL operations. Performance goals for the new transport aircraft, designated as the Advanced Technology Tactical Transport, include a low altitude unrefuelled range of 2400nm, cruise speed of 320kts and a payload of 14 troops and 2 tonnes of cargo. The aircraft would be in the 22 tonne range which makes it fairly equivalent physically to the DHC Buffalo.

The team have already test flown a 62% scale proof-of-concept version which features tandem wings of high aspect ratio design linked by the nacelles of its turboprop engines. The entire proof-of-concept aircraft is constructed of composite materials and features fast-acting trailing edge flaps which are applied late in the

King Airs for Army?

The Australian Army is investigating leasing one or possibly two King Air 200 series aircraft for liaison and communication duties. The aircraft would be primarily used to transport senior Army personnel from base to base in much the same way as civilian senior management uses corporate aircraft to visit their various centres of operation.

Australian Aviation believes that the aircraft would be dry leased from an existing GA opera- for with the aircraft operating Australia-wide. The RAAF is also acquiring two Nomads to facilitate a shuttle capability linking Tindal with Darwin in the NT though we believe these aircraft may also be employed elsewhere as time passes.

Additionally, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell presently operates a personal Fairbairn based Macchi MB-326H which is painted in a special livery reminiscent of the USAF Thunderbirds display team. The jet allows Funnell to visit his bases more frequently and to discuss regional problems on a face to face basis that would be impossible if relying on either the domestic airlines or the RAAF’s existing internal transport shuttles.

Bae to Develop Anti-Helicopter Combat Aircraft:

British Aerospace has recently revealed the results of two years of study into developing a dedicated lightweight battlefield combat aircraft that is particularly suitable in the anti-helicopter role.

Designated SABA (Small Agile Battlefield Aircraft) and allotted the official company designation of P1233 the small aircraft would feature propane power, STOL capabilities and a simple and inexpensive airframe and system suite.

SABA is capable of initiating a 180 degree turn in 5 seconds with a minimum turn radius of just 500ft. It would also be able to operate at max payload out of 1000ft strips while its pusher mounted 4500shp Lycoming propfan would allow it maximum speeds of over 500kts, long mission endurance and the ability to per-perform low altitude, high g, manoeuvres at relatively slow airspeeds.

Armament would be a mix of air to air and air-to-ground-guided weapons with an emphasis in design from the outset being placed on the anti- helicopter role. For this, a mix of up to 6 AIM-132 advanced short-range AAMs would accompany a 25mm cannon.

No UK requirement exists for SABA though the aircraft would conceptually have many applications worldwide. The most ambitious of these would be fulfilling a USAF requirement for an eventual A-10 successor. BAe have already demonstrated their SABA concept to the US Defence Dept with a high level of interest and to this end would team with McDonnell Douglas as their long time American partner if any US order eventuated. Studies are continuing though it is unlikely BAe will build a prototype till further firm interest materialises.

 Government Approves Purchase of Two Boeing 707 Aircraft:

The Government has approved the purchase of two second-hand Boeing 707 aircraft for the RAAF, adding to the four already in service. The four original aircraft are due to be converted soon to provide an air-to-air refuelling capability for the F-18 Homets. All six aircraft will be based at No33 Squadron, Richmond, NSW.

The aircraft would be purchased from Boeing at an estimated project cost of $25m: $10m (aircraft). $15m (refurbishment, spare parts, support equipment).

Under arrangements recently agreed between Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, Australia will regularly deploy Homets and F-111 aircraft to those countries from mid-1988 when our Mirage squadron is withdrawn from Butterworth, Malaysia. The Boeing 707s would play an important role in supporting those deployments by providing air-to-air refuelling for the Homets while carrying substantial payloads of support personnel and equipment.

‘Agile Eye’

A new, lighter helmet with the head-up display projected on the visor was tested for the first time in a US Navy F-18 Hometat the USN Naval Weapons Centre, China Lake during December. Pilots demonstrated the ability of the helmet, nicknamed ‘Agile Eye’ to spot, lock onto, track and shoot targets during both air-to-air and air-to-ground simulated missions.

During those missions, the helmet, developed by McDonnell Douglas and Kaiser Electronics, withstood pressures up to five g’s, and still gave pilots vital flight information more quickly and in a more understandable way than they now receive it.

Currently, flight information such as aircraft attitude and altitude, airspeed and target location is presented on a head-up display – a small, transparent screen – immediately in front of the windshield. By projecting that information onto the helmet’s visor, it remains directly in front of the pilot’s eyes at all times, increasing his field of view from about 20 degrees to over 300 degrees.

Target designation and aircraft spotting beyond visual range is also improved. With the helmet, a pilot can designate a target by turning his head and pressing a switch rather than turn- ing the whole aircraft to face the target as is done now. Pilots during the testing were able to spot and track aircraft visually as far as 20kms away. The helmet is a one-half pound lighter than standard helmets now wom and can be integrated into existing and future fighter aircraft.

• Queen Mary & Davis Monthan Are Go!

In our article last issue (p26 Jan AA) on our special July Oshkosh Tour to the USA, we mentioned that there was at time of writing no guarantee that our tour participants would be able to enjoy the delights of the famous Queen Mary hotel at Long Beach or for that matter participate in a special tour of the vast aircraft storage facility at Davis Monthan AFB.

We are duly pleased to report that both these major events have been given the official stamp of approval. So, instead of spending the nights in LA in a conventional hotel room, you will now be able to step back to a gentler era and enjoy several nights aboard one of the world’s most famous ocean liners.

Similarly, from personal experience, I can honestly say that Davis Monthan with its stunning array of thousands of stored aircraft in the Arizona desert will probably only be upstaged by the spectacle of Oshkosh itself. See you there!

Israel Offers the Ultimate Mirage Update:

Israel Aircraft Industries is offering two major upgrades on existing Mir- age I and 5 airframes that must surely constitute the ultimate variant of this long lived fighter.

On offer is the Option 1 and 2 variants of Nammer (Hebrew for Tiger), a Mirage that would have been handy to have had during the dark days of Israel’s 1967 Six Day War. Option 1 essentially involves the replacement of the standard Mirage’s Snecma Atar turbojet with a single General Electric F404 of some 18,140lb thrust in afterburner, which is around 10% more powerful than the version used in our F-18 Hornets. Benefits of the re-engining programme are many and include an immediate boost in thrust of some 30% with an accompanying decrease in fuel burn of 20%. Additionally, maintenance manhours per flight hour are dramatically reduced. Due also to the smaller size and light weight of the F404, a weight saving of some 453kg is achieved which enables Nammer to uplift an additional 544kg of internal fuel. Effectively this essentially equates to a near doubling of payload/range over the standard 1950s design Mirage III! Option 2 includes the addition of the F404 as well as a major avionics and systems upgrade. Replacing the Cyrano in the Ill and literally no radar in the 5 is Elta’s proven ELM-2011 fire control radar which offers a coherent pulse Doppler capability, look up/look down facility and a slaving capability for advanced beyond visual range missiles. The cockpit upgrade includes revised zero-zero ejection seats and a full CRT/HUD suite. Both versions of Nammer come with a revised nose, canards from the Kfir and fixed probe and a drogue type air to air refuelling probe.

In the air Nammer is no slouch with a max instantaneous turn rate at 15,000ft of 21 degrees a second. Flying a combat air patrol mission carrying 1 1300it and 2 1700lt drop tanks and four IR AAMs and remaining on station for 60mins, the Nammer can offer a radius of nearly 750nm. In the hi-lo-lo-hi attack role, carrying 2 1700lt tanks, 2 Mk82 Paveways and 2 IR AAMs for self defence, Nammer can strike a target 540nm from base.

a IAI has no current plans to build a development demonstrator and is presently discussing its Nammer programme with a number of existing Mirage IIVS operators. Unfortunately, the bulk of the RAAF Mirages are too old, both in systems and airframe fatigue terms to be considered capable of effectively being upgraded to such a high standard.