Newsdesk – Military Aviation

Centrespread

The Winjeel shares a unique distinction with another long time RAAF survivor, the Douglas C-47 Dakota. Both have served their country for longer than most and both types survive operationally in very small numbers. In the case of the Winjeel as a Forward Air Control aircraft based at Williamtown.

The CAC built CA-25 Winjeel initially entered RAAF service some 35 years ago as the service’s new primary trainer. A total of 64 were ordered with the type being ultimately replaced during the second half of the nineteen seventies with the CT-4A. At the time many within the RAAF felt that the Winjeel had been replaced well before its time with the result that a number were retained for FAG duties and now fly as a part of No76 Sqn.

Their time is limited though, as a decision as to their successor, being either the ex-Army Pilatus Porter or new PC-9s, will be made later this year with the venerable Winjeel being retired soon after.

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 Mirage Production Running Down:

Dassault is completing production of two of its Mirage families of fighters, the delta winged III/5/50 series and the conventionally winged F1.

The last seven Mirage Ills for the Venezuelan Air Force are now in the final stages of assembly as are the last eight Mirage F1s for Iraq. The jigs for both types will be kept in case more orders are forthcoming. The Mirage III first flew in 1956 and entered production in 1960 with some 1,422 of all variants built by the time the Venezuelan aircraft are completed. Production has been sus- tained at a trickle over the past few years. The Iraqi aircraft will bring Mirage F1 production to 730 examples over 20 years.

Raaf Still Looking to Britain:

A recruiting drive instigated in the UK last year by the RAAF (refer Newsdesk Sept 89) to help overcome a shortage of pilots and engineers in the service has proved successful and is being extended until June this year.

So far 50 applications have been received, the first has been accepted and 12 others are being reviewed. The exercise is proving to be cost effective, the cost of sending the recruiting officer (Wng Cdr Alan Tarry) to London being made up by the recruitment of only one already trained pilot. The RAAF emphasises it is not poaching personnel still in the RAF (it has its own shortages) but is interested in people who have just left the British service.

All at Sea:

The Soviet Union has begun takeoff and landing operations of Su-27 Flanker and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters plus Su-25B Frogfoot trainers from its new full deck aircraft carrier, the 65,000 tonne ‘Tbilisi’ in the Black Sea.

The carrier employs a conventional angled deck with arrestor wires for landing but replaces the normal catapults with a ‘ski jump’ bow to facilitate launching. The variant of the Flanker used in the trials was a special short takeoff and landing development with canard control surfaces on the forward fuselage and vectorizable engine thrust nozzles.

Two Tbilisi-class carriers have so far been launched with a third under construction. It is not however expected that they will attain a full operational capability till at least 1995.

 What They Cost?:

If you have ever wondered what a major weapon system costs nowadays, then this basic analysis of current year fiscal programme appropriations from the Pentagon might help.

Figures refer to programme costs which also vary from project to project as the degree of long-term R&D and base support/ training/spares requirements are amortised. The AH-64 Apache anti armour battlefield helo costs $12. 8m each (all US$), the UH-60 Blackhawk $2. 8m while its USN counterpart, the SH-608 costs $24. 1m highlighting the extra cost of the sophisticated electronic suite that it carries. As a related point of interest, it is worth noting that Australia’s S-70B Seahawk is actually more costly on an airframe-for-airframe basis than the F-18, On the fixed wing side, the USN/USMC F-18C/D cost $28. 7m as against $16. 7m for the USAF F-16C/D and $37. 1m for the F-15E. The USN E-2C Hawkeye came in at $66m an aircraft, though this could be reduced substantially production authorisation was for more than four aircraft.

Other high value, low run buys were the USAF MC-130H Special Ops Hercules for $120m (giving some idea of the extent of its super secret surveillance and control suite) and $47. 8m for the latest variant of the AC-130U Spectre gunship. This Herc is actually more than just another gunship and combines some of the electronics from the MC-130 to give it a very discreet capability.

Missiles were also big budget items with the Harpoon topping the list at just over $1m a round. HARM (which will be aboard our F-111s and possibly F-18s soon) came in at $251,000 a round while the anti-armour Hellfire (which could be used on our Blackhawks at a later date) cost $45,530. The long range Tomcat launched Phoenix cost $770,000 while the Navy version of Maverick (which the RNZAF use) costs $107,140.

 Crusader Saga Continues:

The long running soap opera surrounding the question of replacing or upgrading the French Navy’s elderly Vought Crusader fighters while the naval version of the Das- sault Rafale is being developed has taken another turn.

Contrary to earlier reports that McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornets would conduct deck trials on France’s aircraft carriers as a prelude to a possible order as an interim measure (refer Newsdesk Sept 89), it is now revealed that the French government has told its Navy to forget about the F-18 and modernise the Crusaders instead.

The Crusader update has already been authorised and will cost $US256m, less than half the sum required to buy 15 second-hand F-188. The modernisation package will keep the now almost historic Crusaders going until 1998 when the first Rafales should enter service. The update includes fitting the Mirage F1 nav/attack system including Cyrano IV fire control radar and the capability to launch Matra Super 530F and Magic air to air missiles. Presumably, some allowance has been made to keep the Cru- sader’s tired old airframes going as well – they already have a quarter of a century’s service behind them.

Space Boost:

The Australian space industry will be given a boost through the establishment of a new research and development funding programme to set up Space Industry Development Centres (SIDCs) around Australia.

The SIDC programme is designed to over-come a lack of locally developed products and services by encouraging universities and industry to collaborate on market driven research and product development. Centres will be established within universities and institutes of technology.

In another boost for the local space industry, the federal government has endorsed the proposal by the Cape York Space Agency Pty Ltd (CYSA) to establish a commercial space launch service on Cape York Peninsula. The government’s endorsement of the project is important as it provides the confidence which potential equity partners, suppliers, financiers and customers needed for further progress to made.

Various issues still have to be examined, however, before CYSA gets final approval. These include environmental impact, land use, aboriginal concerns, security, technology transfer and commercial arrangements. One key the use of Soviet rockets and ground equipment – has raised no objection from the government.

 Stealth in Action:

Of course nobody saw it, but the Pentagon has revealed that the Lockheed F-117A ‘stealth fighter bomber was used in combat for the first time in late December last year during Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama.

At least two F-117s were used in a bombing operation against an empty paddock near Panamanian Defence Force barrack buildings. According to the Pentagon, the object was not to hit the barracks (“this would have caused extensive casualties”) but to drop the ordnance in the nearby pad-dock to “stun and disorientate” (sic) the Panamanian troops. Speculation that the F-1178 were actually aiming for the barracks and simply missed has been denied, the Pentagon saying that the mission was a complete success because the target the empty paddock – was hit.

A-12 Revealed:

An editing error in the transcript of a US Congressional subcommittee meeting has apparently inadvertently revealed cost details of the highly classified General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 twin engined, two crew, carrier-borne attack aircraft.

A single line, which should have been deleted from the document, states: “The January 1989 budget included A-12 production through Fiscal Year 1994 of 106 aircraft for $US10. 2bn. ” It is not known exactly what costs are included in the figure, although it would normally take into account spare parts, pilot training and an allowance for research and development. The US Navy wants 450 A-128 by 2005 to replace its Grumman A-6E Intruders.

Soviet Defence Cuts:

It seems cutbacks on defence spending is not just a problem of the West.

The Soviet Union’s defence budget will be cut by 8. 2% in 1990 to an estimated $US120. 3bn of which nearly 45% will be spent on arms and equipment and 18% on research and development. For the first time, the Soviet Defence Ministry has released some details of the armed services’ strength and some indication of the number of aircraft in service, albeit not by type. At the beginning of this year the USSR had 8,207 tactical combat aircraft, 4,014 helicopters and 162 heavy bombers of which 97 are capable of launching cruise missiles