Newsdesk – Military Aviation

Where Defence might win though is through the strengthening of the AUD, which has strengthened significantly against most international currencies over the past year. This reduces net outgoings on programmes such as the F-18 in particular and will assist in controlling cost escalation associated with the Anzac frigate and submarine programme. Furthermore, savings of several hundred million dollars annually are now being experienced through a revitalised and vastly more efficient defence support and industrial sector in addition to a greater degree of local sourcing for equipment and services where practicable. This has resulted in some 82% of this year’s budget being allocated for locally produced goods and services.

Defence is also moving to reduce the number of civilians from 35,818 to 33,787. At Budget time the a approved ADF target strength of 70. 279 was being met (RAN 15,715, RAAF 22,603 & Army 31,961) with this figure not expected alter greatly for this year. It is anticipated that the Active Reserve Force will increase to 28,880 with the opportunity of greater RAAF and RAN vacancies being made available.

Air Force programmes approved were the commencement of an F-111 avionics update, an Orion ESM update, wing refurbishment on the twenty year old C-130Es and an acceleration of the Jindalee OTHB system

Philippine Air Force Buys S. 211 Trainers:

in their second successful sales foray into Asia, the Siai Marchetti division of Agusta has sold its S. 211 primary jet trainer to the Philippine Air Force.

The PAF will acquire 18 S. 211s and has taken an option on a further 18 in a deal worth a reported $A110m. Delivery, as was the case with Singapore, will be in kit form with final assembly and test being conducted locally by the Philippine Aerospace Development Corp.

Civilian Pilots for Raaf Aircraft?:

The Chief of the Defence Force, General Peter Gration threw a cat amongst the Air Force pigeons during August when he publicly advocated using civilian pilots to help crew RAAF aircraft on a reservist basis.

Regular readers of AA will remember that this topic was the subject of our March issue editorial, one which received little official support at RAAF HQ yet was enthusiastically embraced by all operational pilots and civilian aircrew that we later spoke with.

General Gration has suggested that a scheme utilising ex-RAAF aircrew could be in force by this Christmas and would go a long way towards helping to alleviate the acute shortage of skilled plots in all sectors of the RAAF. Selected aircrew would not be used to fly F-111 or F-18 aircraft but would be employed in the transport, LAMP and training squadrons, thereby freeing additional qualified aircrew for the fast jet units.

The fear of the RAAF hierarchy is that such a scheme would in the long term make it even more attractive for pilots to leave the Services to the benefit of the airlines. A situation where pilots then enjoyed the big salaries, guaranteed flying and long-term family stability of the airlines coupled with periods of duty on military aircraft, with the operational benefits that offers, would ensure that all pilots left as soon as their initial period of obligation was served.

This is the type of system that operates successfully in the US and yet their attrition rate has never been any worse than our own. Certainly the scheme will prove to be one of the more controversial defence debates of the coming year as various levels of the Defence bureaucracy begin to battle it out!

Project Jindalee to Commence Development:

Two significant developments in Project Jindalee were announced recently by Defence Minister, Mr Kim Beazley.

The Minister said that site investigations for the first operational Over the Horizon Radar under the $500m Project Jindalee would begin shortly and that three Australian companies, AWA, BHP and Telecom had been nominated as prime contractors for the conduct of competitive project definition studies.

Sites will be investigated in the north and north western sections of Queensland as part of the selection process following successful trials of the prototype station in Central Australia. “Because of the national importance of Jindalee, Australian based companies have been chosen to lead the project. Australian Defence scientists will play a key role and the multi-disciplinary nature of the project will provide extensive opportunity for the involvement of Australian companies. Industry teaming arrangements may include overseas companies,” Mr Beazley said.

Centrespread

One normally associates the name Short Brothers with the compact 330 and 360 commuters. Shorts however during the nineteen thirties were building some of the largest planes of the era, their specialist area being that of the flying boats which coincidentally were also the first modem long-range airliners.

The Shorts range of flying boats served the world ably through both peace and war and soldiered on during the postwar period to open up many new commercial air routes in our own Pacific region.

It is with pride thus that we can say that the last regular scheduled airline services using the venerable Shorts Sandringham were those Ansett services linking Sydney with Lord Howe Island. When the services finally ceased during the mid seventies an era died with them, one that regrettably will never be seen again.

Mr Beazley added that the three Australian companies conducting project definition studies would be in a good position to tender for the operational radar contract to be awarded in early 1990. Jindalee will give the Australian Defence Force a massive boost to its capability by detecting ships and aircraft across Australia’s vast northern approaches. Timetables for the network of operational radars should see construction commencing in 1990 and commissioning between 1994 and 1996.

Early F-16% to Get Sparrow Bvr Capability:

Under a project originally intended for the USAF, all early model A version F-16s will now be updated to carry the beyond visual range (BVR) AIM-7 Sparrow air to air missile.

The retrofit includes fitting two new specially designed underwing pylons and performing modifications to the aircraft’s Westinghouse APG-66A radar including the addition of a continuous wave illuminator and upgrading various elements of the fire control system. Early model A versions from Pakistan, Egypt, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia will be upgraded as will some 270 aircraft in the US Air National Guard. It is not known at this stage whether the NATO countries will similarly upgrade their aircraft though this is considered fairly likely in the longer term.

 Blackjack Revealed:

US Defence Secretary, Frank C Carluca’s recent visit to Kubinka air base, south of Moscow, has revealed much new data on the Soviet Union’s latest strategic bomber, the Tupolev Blackjack (NATO reporting name).

The Blackjack is around 20% larger overall than the USAF Rockwell B-18 and is capable of a high altitude supersonic dash to its target. Length of Blackjack is 177t, wingspan is 182ft and max takeoff weight is 590,000lbs. By comparison the B-18 is 147ft long, has a of 137ft and a max takeoff weight of Blackjack has an unrefuelled radius of action of just under 4,000nm as against 3,300nm for the B-1B though the USAF has a far more sophisticated air refuelling capability than the Soviets with which to greatly extend the endurance of its strategic bomber fleet.

The aircraft is presently in a very low rate of production while the initial development squadron works the aircraft up into a fully combat ready status. It is believed that the Soviets have experienced similar avionics and systems problems to that experienced on the B-1B programme. It is estimated that there are presently 12 Blackjacks in service with at least 100 scheduled for delivery. The new bomber will I augment the effective Tupolev Backfire in the strategic penetration and maritime strike role. Particularly in the latter role, the Blackjack will may be equipped with the new AS-X- 19 supersonic cruise missile which is now in development, in the interim it is using the subsonic AS-15.

Meanwhile, America’s answer to almost everything, the stealthy B-2, is due for rollout from Northrop’s Palmdale facility in mid November in preparation for its first flight one month later. The revolutionary B-2 is no longer than an F-15 Eagle fighter (at 69ft) yet boasts a bat-like wingspan of 172ft! It is expected that the final crew complement will comprise a pilot, copilot and defensive and offensive systems operators. The B-2 is powered by 4 GE F118 engines, which are derivatives of the 28,000lb thrust class GE F110 as used on the F-14D, F-14A Plus and F-16/0. Whether the F118 is fitted with an afterburner is not known at this stage.

A total of 132 B-2s are scheduled for production while the first 6 aircraft will be used in an extensive flight development programme at Edwards Air Force Base, Nevada. An inital operational capability is expected to be available by the mid ’90s and at around $A600m each, the B-2 is the most expensive and electronically sophisticated aircraft ever built.

Harpoon Missile Simulator Contract an Export Boost for Local Defence Manufacture:

Australian industry will benefit from a Department of Defence designed Harpoon missile simulator which could have significant export potential. The Department has signed a $2m contract with Hawker de Havilland Systems Division (HdHSD) South Australia to produce 16 Harpoon missile simulators and spares.

The simulator, for which there is no overseas equivalent, was developed by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation at Salisbury, South Australia. Called a Harpoon Capt- ive Carriage Weapon Simulator (CCWS), the equipment has the same physical aerodynamic and electronic characteristics as the Harpoon missile. The wing mounted simulators will be used by F-111C and F-18 crews to exercise the use of the Harpoon missile up to the point of launch. Delivery of the four CCWS is scheduled to begin late 1989 and be completed in early 1990.

The CCWS will also be considered at a later date as a replacement for the internal electronic Harpoon simulator currently used on the Orion P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft

Pioneer’s Lecture:

This year’s Pioneer’s Lecture of the Royal Aeronautical Society, to be held on the evening of the 15th December, will feature lan Fleming OBE as the keynote speaker.

lan was of course one of the most famous men in Australian aviation through the fifties and sixties with a checkered career in both Del- ence Support and CAC. At the latter he was responsible as chief designer for such projects as Pika and the Jindivik RPV which of course is still in full production.

For more information contact the RAS at PO Box 1056, Canberra, ACT, 2001. It’s an event not to be missed.

The Big Australian Enters Aerospace:

BHP, Australia’s largest company, has decided to enter the high fech defence and aerospace field with the recent launch of BHP Aerospace & Electronics Pty Ltd.

The new company will initially concentrate on bidding for the Jindalee OTHB and LADS Navy laser depth sounding programmes though once established it will look towards an involvement in a far wider range of programmes.

New Defence Industries Group Formed:

The myriad empire of the Office of Defence Production is to be reformed into a new private sector-like company called Australian Defence Industries Pty Ltd.

ADI will comprise all the surviving assets of the ODP but will be operated under a charter vastly different from the ODP in that the ADI will not have the Australian Defence Force as a sole market and all bids will have to be won against local and competitively international competition. Thus if a factory or facility is inefficient then it will ultimately be closed down.

Australian Defence Industries will become effective from next March 1 and will employ around 8,500 people, its annual turnover is expected to be in the region of $500m. Eventally the aim is to get the ADI efficient and Internationally competitive to be able to privatise it in a similar fashion to the Government Aircraft Factories and the Wiliamstown Ship Yards. While Williamstown is going private the successor to GAF, Aerospace Technologies of Australia, has been converted to a public company though will in time also be privatised

Boeing Looking At Propfan Cruise Missile Development:

Boeing is examining the feasibility of developing a conventionally armed proplan-powered cruise missile.

Benefits of using propane propulsion would be a range increase of between 25% and 50%, greater low level manoeuvrability, improved service ceiling for initial mission transit and improved high temperature performance. Essentially the concept is to use an existing gas generator in a General Dynamics Tomahawk airframe. The propfan unit would necessitate a redesigned empennage which would include a tail to ensure a smooth airflow into the propulsor.

Boeing are continuing their studies in concert with wind tunnel analysis of a number of designs though point out that even if the project received official USAF monetary support, the new propfan cruise, with a purpose designed engine would not be available until at least 1997

Cape York to Get Its Bare Bones Base:

The RAAF is to build a bare bones airheld near Mission River, some 26kms east of the mining port of Weipa on Cape York.

The base will be built in a similar design to that of RAAF Curtin near Derby in Western Australia and will be used for deployments of aircraft during exercises and times of threat. Initially the RAAF favoured a site at Iron Range on the east coast of Cape York though ultimately the existing deepwater port of Weipa was considered an asset too vital to ignore. Weipa and its environs is also the projected site for the establishment of an Australian Space. port, of which the RAAF runway will be an integral part.

With the new airfield due to be completed by 1995 Australia will possess a series of high capability bases stretching from Learmonth in the extreme west thru Derby, Darwin, Tindal, Werpa and Townsville in the east.

Soviets Reveal the Mig-35:

According to reports in Jane’s Defence Weekly, the Soviet Union has offered a collaborative development and manufacturing package to India on the new MIG-35 if that nation should accept the aircraft as its new Light Combat Aircraft. The latest MiG is presently flying in its initial development trials in the USSR and is expec ted to become operational around 1993 and available for the export market about two years later. The MiG-35 is a single engine design in the F-16, Mirage 2000 class and features a chin inlet and a rear fuselage treatment not totally dissimilar to that of the MG-23 Flogger series. Indeed, from drawings released in Jane’s, the aircraft also features a MiG-23 style canopy, considered a rather dated and potentially dangerous (in pilot visibility terms) design by most observers nowadays. Powerplant is thought to be a single 20,000lb thrust class Tumansky R-33, a turbofan which is used to power the much larger F-18 class MIG-29 Fulcrum in twin engined form.

VIP Fleet Decision Nears:

The Federal Government announced during August that it had finally decided on a mix of 4 smaller jets and 1 airliner class aircraft to meet its future 34 Squadron VIP fleet requirements.

Firms shortlisted were Hawker Pacific, Canadair, British Aerospace and Australian Airlines. Hawkers are offering the Falcon 900, Canadair its Challenger 801A, BAe the 146-200 Statesman and Australian Airlines a Boeing 737-300. The smaller jets would seat between 12 and 15 pax while the larger jets would accommodate up to 40. It is likely that during an election period a short-term rental option would exist on a second of the larger type so that both the Government and Opposition may have a suitable aircraft with which to attack the hustings. A firm decision is now more than a year overdue though Canberra reports suggest that a Cabinet decision is hoped for before the end of this year.

French Battery Giant Announces Australian Subsidiary:

World leader in advanced battery technology, Saft, has set up a subsidiary in Sydney to boost its market share and position itself to bid for local defence contracts.

Long represented here through agents, the local operation-one of 13 outside France market Saft’s full range of industrial and high technology batteries in Australia and the South Pacific. Saft Batteries Australia Pty Limited’s French parent, Saft SA, is itself a subsidiary of French multinational giant Compagnie.

Generale d’Electricite (CGE). In 1987 CGE had a turnover of A$31bn and employs 250,000 From its new premises at Mascot, Saft will market sealed and vented nickel cadmium rechargeable batteries, advanced Ithium cells and special battery systems for defence. Worldwide, Saft is the leader in alkalino storage batteries, offers the world’s largest range of ithium batteries and is also the largest producer of torpedo and thermal batteries.

Airship Industries Looking Better:

A vast reduction in its fiscal year loss (down from £5. 2m to £3. 7m on £25. 2m turnover) for Bond Corporation’s Airship Industries has buoyed the spirits of the company.

Still in the wings is the USN Naval Airship Programme (NASP) which would see Airship Industries and Westinghouse jointly building a fiest of large radar carrying airships for UŠN battle group perimeter patrol. The project received an allocation of $US168. 9m in June 1987 and though omitted in this year’s defence budget is expected to continue with input from the specialist Defence Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which is evaluating the NASP concept for anti cruise missile AEW work off the US continental shoreline in addition to augmenting existing ground based radar assets in Alaska.

Locally, following several months of rebuilding after an untimely training accident, VH-HAA is back in the air with October being probably its busiest month on record. The airship rounded out visits to Expo in Brisbane, the Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst, Bankstown Air Fare, the ABAS and Naval Salute in Sydney and then returned north for the finale of the Expo. Meanwhile, sistership VH-HAN, is now in Tokyo while HAA will spend this summer based at Bankstown in support of the very popular skycruise flights over Sydney harbour.