Newsdesk – Military Aviation

 South Korea Reconsiders F-18 Choice:

South Korea is reconsidering its choice of the MDC F-18 Homet fighter, and may re-open competition to rival General Dynamics.

South Korea had originally chosen the F-18 over the GD F-16 in December 1989, and a formal memorandum of understanding covering the acquisition of 120 aircraft was to be signed by the end of 1990. However, the new South Korean defence minister, Lee Jong-Koo, announced in early November a complete reassessment of the F-18 deal, including “the acquisition method, the number of planes to be purchased, the extent of the transfer, and even the model”. This effectively puts General Dynamics back in the running.

The F-18 deal was to be for 120 Hornets, 12 built by MDC, 36 MDC-supplied kits to be assembled by Samsung in Korea and 72 Korean license-built aircraft, plus 24 additional spare engines. The value of the US portion of the deal was set at $4. 7bn. In return, MDC agreed to a ten year 30% commercial offset program for Korean industry. According to defence minister Lee, a review of the proposed deal was made necessary by MDC asking for “much more” than had originally been agreed. However, though MDC officials concede that the program cost has risen above the $4. 7bn ceiling, they note that this is primarily due to a higher than projected inflation rate since the original MDC proposal was made.

 French Rafale Receives Priority Funding:

The French govemment has cut back French air force fighter procurement and limited to just 41 the number of the Mirage F. 1CT upgrades, allowing the Dassault Rafale fighter to remain “a top national priority”.

For 30 years up until 1989 the French defence ministry had traditionally ordered 33 new aircraft for the air force each year. This has been cut back since 1989 so that just 24 aircraft 16 Mirage 2000ADs and eight 2000Ds-will be ordered in fiscal year 1991. It had been planned to upgrade 55 Mirage F1CRs to CT standard to allow the aircraft to carry air-to-surface missiles but this has been cut to 41.

Such cuts in funding are aimed at easing the effects of the cost of the Rafale fighter project, which is running behind schedule. The Mirage F1CT is seen as a stop-gap project to allow for the delay in Rafale delivery.

Harrier II Plus Launched:

The Harrier II Plus, which is being jointly developed and manufactured by British Aerospace and McDonnell Douglas, has been officially launched following the signing of a transitional Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the US, Italian and Spanish governments.

The MoU provides joint funding for the development of the radar equipped Harrier II Plus multirole fighter variant. Twenty seven AV-8B Harrier is already on order for the US Marine Corps will be built to Hamer || Plus standard, while the Italian and Spanish navies will order 16 and 18 of the new variant, respectively. The II Plus is to be fitted with Hughes AN/APG-65 multi mode radar, electronic counter measures (ECM), enhanced avionics and an uprated Rolls-Royce Pega- sus engine, offering a significant increase in combat capability over the existing Harrier !! variant. The new Harrier can carry the latest radar guided air-to-air missiles such as AMRAAM, conventional bombs and rockets, and short range air-to-air missiles such as the Sidewinder.

Negotiations on an MoU leading to firm production contracts and workshare agreements between US, Spanish and Italian companies and BAe have also been signed.

 Luftwaffe to Operate Mig-29:

In a surprising policy turnaround, the West German Defence Minister has decided to have the new German Luftwaffe, which combines the pre-unification West German Luftwaffe and the East German Luftstreitkrafte (LSK). Operate the MiG-29 Fulcrums formerly operated by East Germany.

The Luftwaffe had previously decided that it would not retain the Soviet built machines in the new combined air force, stating logistical and maintenance related problems as the main reasons for this. The decision to retain the Fulcrums -20 single seat and four two seat variants-has, however, reportedly been taken to maintain an adequate number of fighters in eastem Germany to counter the continued presence of Soviet combat aircraft in East Germany. The Fulcrums will be flown in the air defence of eastern Germany alongside two Luftwaffe F-4F QRA (quick reaction alert) sections comprising six aircraft. How long the Fulcrums will be operated remains unclear, their continued operation removes the chance of a quick sale of the aircraft, Finland having been very interested in obtaining the aircraft at up to a third the cost of their original purchase price.

Most other East German military aircraft- which for the time being sport standard Luft- waffe markings – will be disposed of, either through sale or scrapping. These include at least 420 front line aircraft, comprising such types as the MiG-23 Flogger (48), MiG-21 Fishbed (144), Su-22 Fitter (46), Mi-24 Hind (50) and Mi-8 Hip (56). These aircraft are currently operated by the newly formed Luft- waffe 5th Air Division (which incorporates all former LSK units) but will be progressively phased out by 1995. During the next four years the 5th Air Division will also be cut in strength from 20,000 personnel to just 10,000.

C-17 Back on Track:

According to the USAF Aeronautical Systems Division, the much-troubled McDonnell Douglas C-17 air-lifter program now appears to be on schedule with first flight expected in June 1991.

The prototype C-17 was originally scheduled to fly in February 1990 but an unfortunate combination of funding changes, delayed delivery of tooling and key components, subcontractor development and the Douglas management reorganisation pushed the original deadline back three times, to June 1991. A massive cost overrun was also predicted, but it now looks as if the development and testing of the three planned prototypes and construction of the first six production aircraft should be completed within the original contract ceiling cost of $US6. 55bn.

The USAF rewrote the development schedule in November 1989, and since that time Douglas has remained on track. The two most significant achievements have been the solving of development problems in the digital fly-by-wire flight control system and in the mission computer, both of which threatened to further delay the project. Douglas will only just meet the $US6. 55bn fixed cost project ceiling so will not achieve the financial results it had hoped for during the aircraft’s development, though it will stil make “a small profit” from development. The USAF has cut back the number of C-178 to be ordered, from an initial 210 to just 120, effectively raising the unit cost of each aircraft from $US199m to $US249m.

Us Pushing for Bulk Boeing Awacs Buy:

The US Goverment is attempting to persuade Italy, Japan and South Korea to co-ordinate their decisions on whether to buy the Boeing E-3 Sentry.

Discussions have been underway between the US Government and the three potential customer nations for some months, with definite interest expressed in acquiring a combined total of at least 13 new AWACS. Boeing itself is unable to directly negotiate commercial sales of AWACS because of US Government restrictions, though the company is being kept informed and believes a firm sale could be announced by year end. At this stage no firm sales have been announced and the last RAF E-3D is expected to be completed by mid 1991; Boeing will keep its E-3 engineers and production workforce on standby.

It is believed the foreign AWACS requirement is for a minimum of four aircraft each to Italy and Korea and between five and ten to Japan which needs added capability to defend its recently extended sea lanes. A joint purchase sale would be of advantage to both Boeing and the countries involved because it would guarantee a large order number, streamline production and reduce the cost per unit of the purchase program.

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