Newsdesk- Military Aviation

This is actually not the first time this type of accident has happened to an Orion, and ronically the other accident also occurred at Cocos. In this case it was a USN Onion which whilst not making a high speed low level pass did suffer a loss of its wing leading edge resulting in a premature ditching once the undercarriage was lowered.

 Yf-22 Wins Atf Contest:

The Lock- heed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 has won the US Air Force’s ATF (advanced tactical fighter) contract.

The YF-22, now apparently named Lightning after Lockheed’s famous WW2 twintailed fighter of the same name, was awarded the $US95bn contract over the rival McDonnell Douglas/Northrop YF-23. The YF-22 was considered both more manoeuvrable than the faster YF-23 and more able to he modded for future carrier operations by tract should ultimately see some 650 of the aircraft delivered to the US Air Force. It will be powered by the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine, production of which is expected to commence in 1997 for the F-22, with some 1,500 engines to ultimately be delivered, valued at over $US12bn.

Meanwhile, both McDonnell Douglas and Northrop are facing up to a bleak future in the military production stakes. MDC is facing huge financial losses associated with the now cancelled Navy A-12 Avenger and also the C-17 military airlifter, which is behind schedule and considerably over budget. The YF-23 was to be the great hope for the company to reverse its fortunes of late, while for Northrop it was to ultimately replace the F/A-18 as its standard production fighter

South Korea Kills Hornet in Favour of F-16:

The South Korean Government has scrapped plans for the purchase of 120 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets, instead electing to buy the General Dynamics F-16 Falcon, a type which it already has in its inventory.

South Korea had originally selected the F/A-18 Hornet in December 1989 but reopened bidding for the fighter replacement program last year because of controversy over rising costs. General Dynamics then stepped back into the arena with a $US5. 2bn bid, $US1bn cheaper than the MDC proposal, and won the contract. General Dynamics will deliver the first of 12 US built F-16s in 1994, these being followed by 36 aircraft assembled in South Korea from US supplied kits and then 72 South Korean built aircraft. The Republic of Korea Air Force already operates 35 F-16s whilst the USAF also bases a number of F-16 units in-country.

Us Military Anticipates a 25% Personnel Reduction:

US military personnel numbers will be cut by 25% by 1995, and at least 17 air bases as well as other significant military installations will be closed, under plans put forth by US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney.

Among the major air facilities to be closed are three Navy/Marine bases and several US Air Force bases which proved extremely important during the Desert Shield airlift. Also recommended for closure are seven Naval research, development, test and evaluation facilities. The cost of closing the air bases and other defence facilities has been estimated at $US5. 7bn in 1992/97, however savings are predicted to be about $US6. 5bn. Further, the sale of at least $US1. 8bn in government land would also add to the savings made by closing the bases.

Amongst the bases listed for probable closure are Moffett Field NAS (Naval Air Station). California, which would result in the decommissioning of at least three P-3 Orion maritime patrol squadrons: MacDill AFB (Air Force Base), Florida, which houses Central Command; several AFBs currently home to A-10 units; and even Midway Island NAS, the strategically important Pacific base, apparently destined for closure despite the rising presence of several nations (including Japan) in the Pacific region in addition to the potential loss of porting facilities in the Philippines.

In line with the closure of bases will be the substantial reduction in the number of aircraft to be operated by the US military affecting all roles from fighter interception, through to bomber and maritime patrol. As well, the US military will be able to reduce personnel numbers by as much as 25% over the next half decade.

 Raaf Roulettes Reunion:

The Roulettes, the RAAF’s precision aerobatic team, is this year celebrating 20 years of formation flying and is planning a reunion for all past and present members.

The Roulettes anniversary falls on 20 August 1991, being 20 years since four Macchi jets were flown from East Sale to Laverton for a flying display. A reunion of team members will therefore be held on 23 August this year at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria to mark the anniversary. Functions will include a barbecue, flying display and dinner.

For further information contact Sodn Ldr Glen Steed, Roulette leader, Ph (051) 49 4373.

MDC Faces C-17 Penalties:

McDonnell Douglas could be liable for almost $US700m in cost overruns on the fixed price development contract for the US Air Force C-17 airlifter.

The US Air Force has reportedly estimated that it will cost up to $US7. 1bn to complete the C-17 development contract, $US1. 4bn more than the target price and $US503m above the absolute ceiling set for the program. These figures would leave MDC liable for SUS677m in overruns, arrived at by adding 20% of any costs between the $US5. 7bn target price and the contract ceiling plus 100% of all costs over that amount. Douglas disputes that it will be liable for the amount estimated by the US Air Force claiming instead that it will complete development work at a breakeven figure of SUS6. 6bn, leaving it responsible for penalty Development of the C-17 tactical airlifter has been plagued by a series of problems revolving around avionics integration difficulties, late subcontractor deliveries and internal management problems with MDC. The first aircraft had been scheduled to fly in February 1990, but first flight has been put back three times to June this year. A congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) report on the project to date has noted that “this is the first time that Douglas has undertaken integration with components as complicated as those of the C-17’s. ” However subcontractors have also received a blasting, in particular Honeywell which failed to deliver the aircraft’s quadruple redundant fly-by-wire flight control system and was therefore replaced by GE Aerospace.

Usaf Reverses F-4 Retirement Decision:

The US Air Force has reversed its pre-Gulf war decision to phase out its F-4G Wild Weasel defence suppression and RF-4C tactical recon Phantom variants before replacement types are available.

The Air Force now intends to extend the service life of the aircraft whilst also accelerating RF-16 and F-16 Wild Weasel production to replace the specialist Phantoms as soon as practical. Under previous plans there was to be a gap of several years between the retirement of the RF-4Cs and F-4Gs and the production of replacement aircraft. Budget restraints were at the time cited as the primary reason for this, however in the wake of experience in the Gulf War it has been decided that the aircraft remain too important to deactivate prematurely.

The decision marks one of the first real changes in US defence policy since the end of the war in the Gulf, and was based on the realisation of the value of the aircraft in suppressing Iraqi air defences and in the bomb damage assessment role. Not only were the aircraft themselves realised to be too important to be prematurely retired, defence planners realised it would be too difficult to disband units and then reassemble combat experienced aircrew for reformed, F/RF-16 It has therefore been decided to keep the F-4G Wild Weasel and RF-4C force intact, the Air Force now comprehends the fact that the current planned scale-down of forces needs to done carefully with an eye for the future in mind.

 Soviets Again Boost Paris Salon:

The Soviets are again set to steal the show at Le Bourget, this year with attendance of the Beriev A-40 Albatross amphibious jet rescue aircraft, and possibly the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber and the Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor.

Other aircraft listed for attendance by the Soviets include the Ilyushin 11-96-300 and Tupolev Tu-204 airliners, the single seat Yakovlev Yak-55M and Sukhoi Su-29 sports and aerobatic aircraft, the Antonov An-74T cargo transport and the Ilyushin Il-114 prop-jet airliner. The Soviet helicopter industry will also be represented by the Mil Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopter and the Mi-34 light trainer. The A-40 Albatross will no doubt attract the most interest from these aircraft, being unusual in both design and concept.

Military aircraft which will almost certainly be present at the show include the Tu-160 Blackjack and the MiG-31 Faxhound as the main drawcards, and probably the now familiar favourites, the MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker.

Following on from their excellent performance in the Gulf War, the US is also sanctioning the presence of a very large number of aircraft after years of official indifference to both Farnborough and Paris. Present will be the F-117A stealth fighter, possibly the Northrop B-2 stealth bomber plus the latest Grumman F-14D Tomcat, MDC F-15C Eagle, MDC AV-8B Harrier, Grumman EA-6B Pro- wier, MDC F/A-18C Homet, Fairchild A-101 and a wide assortment of helos. A line-up not to be missed!

F-111C Ate Win for Harris?:

Barring any last minute switch by Cabinet there are indications that Harris Corp has been selected as the preferred tenderer for the ject over the other three contenders, Litton, Westinghouse and Emerson, reports Tom Muir in the Australian Defence Intelligencer.

However this assumes that the Force

Structure Review, which is also considering the RAAF’s strike/reconnaissance capabili- ties, does not lead to earlier than expected retirement of the F-111C fleet and the (remote) possibility of cancellation of the ATE upgrade project.

The Cabinet submission with the source selection recommendation has languished in the Defence Minister’s office for some time, but Cabinet is now expected to endorse RAAF recommendations during late May with the announcement of the winning tender probably not being made until after the Ministerial statement on the Force Structure Review in early June.

 F50 for Singapore Maritime Patrol:

Singapore has chosen a variant of the Fokker F50 Enforcer 2 for mantime patrol duties.

Four aircraft have reportedly been ordered, with options held for an additional four, marking the first sale of the maritime patrol variant of the successful Fokker airliner. The Singapore maritime patrol program attracted bids from ATR for their ATR42/72 based Petrel, and the Boeing Canada Dash 8 and BAe ATP maritime patrol variants, as well as the Fokker 50 which was regarded as the front runner.

The F50 Enforcer is capable of carrying Exocet, Maverick, Harpoon, Sea Skua and Sea Eagle anti-shipping missiles, as well as depth bombs and anti-submarine torpedoes. It is not expected, however, that the Singapore aircraft will carry radar for acoustic detection of submarines, but instead will rely on surface detection of the vessels in the relatively shallow approaches to the island republic.

Iran Hoarding Iraqi Aircraft:

Indications are that Iran has little intention

of willingly returning Iraqi aircraft which flew to the country for refuge during the Gulf War.

Iraq is demanding the return of its aircraft. of which it says Iran holds 148, however Iran has signalled that it will not readily hand them back except if pressured to do so by the United Nations, which at this stage would seem very unlikely.

Iraq claims that 115 military aircraft flew to Iran: 24 Mirage F1s; all 24 new Su-24 Fencers; 44 Su-20/22 Fitters, seven Su-25 Frogfoots; four MiG-29 Fulcrums; and 12 MiG-23 Flog- gers. In addition, 33 civil aircraft flew to Iran, including a Boeing 707, a 727, two 737s and two 7478, 15 Ilyushin N-76s, two Dassault Falcon 20s and three Falcon 50s, a Lock-heed Jetstar, one Airbus A300 and three A310s. The Airbus aircraft were amongst those stolen as war booty from Kuwait, and are also amongst several ex-Iraqi aircraft which have reportedly been noted being repainted in Iranian civil markings. Kuwaiti aircraft unaccounted for are two Boeing 767-200ERs and a 727-200, two Gulfstream Ils and two BAe 1258.

Iran initially claimed that it would hand back the Iraqi aircraft once the Gulf War ended, however it seems that the aircraft are now being held (ransomed, if you like) until the issue of war reparations for the 1980-88 Iran/Iraq Gulf War have been settled to Iran’s liking. Iraqi requests for the return of aircraft, which are dispersed and camouflaged around various Iranian airfields, have so far been to no avail.

Joint Research on Aew Systems:

During a recent briefing of defence corre spondents, Defence Minister Senator Robert Ray said the acquisition of an AWACS system was high on his list of priorities with interest being shown in a ‘domeless’ air-borne system.

Here he was referring to collaboration by Australia with Sweden in research into AEW systems based on the low sidelobe, phased array antenna system originally developed by Ericsson Radar Electronics AB for the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration.

R&D work in Australia includes studies of the effect of the surfaces of various aircraft types on the radar beam pattern and how best to optimise aspects of the AEW system to suit local conditions.

Australia will share this work with that undertaken in Sweden with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the generic technology to enable selection, at a later date, of the most effective AEW system.

Centrespread

This month’s centrespread depicts a scene that would certainly warm the hearts of any Australian defence strategist. The RAAF has been seeking the force multiplier benefits of its own tanker force for decades. Indeed a single Hornet squadron operating in conjunction with our new 707 tankers and the Jindalee. OTHR would probably be more effective than all of our Mirages operating together when Australia had four squadrons operational

The long list of 707 military derivatives, including tankers, is covered in-depth in Part 3 of our 707/KC-135 Profile else-where in this issue.

Other phased array systems of potential interest are those under development by Thomson CSF and Israeli Aircraft Industries (Elta). It is believed that the P-3C would be the RAAF’s preferred AEW platform, the 707 (used in the Israeli development) having insufficient loiter capability and the Saab Metroliner used for the Ericsson Erieye system being too small.

While there are drawbacks to phased array systems as opposed to domed systems – including lack of full 360 degree coverage while the aircraft remains on a constant heading-domed systems are regarded as becoming dated technology with phased array systems now moving into low risk current technology. (Tom Muir)

UK Considers F-117 Purchase:

Discussions between the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Dept of Defense have been held to gauge the possibility of purchasing the Lockheed F-117 stealth fighter for the Royal Air Force.

Though the F-117A production line closed last year after the completion of 59 aircraft, the US Air Force is interested in acquiring more, updated aircraft for two new squadrons. Lockheed has proposed the production of about 40 new aircraft for the USAF, at a cost of about $US45m per aircraft, about the same cost as an F-15E. The new F-117 version could incorporate several design modifications to take advantage of updated technology, including amongst others a lighter, simpler exhaust system, a YF-22 type bubble canopy, and possibly a new radar using conformal ‘smart skin’ antennas; existing F-117As could be retrofitted.

The RAF has shown a keen interest in stealth aircraft in recent years, and has maintained strong contact with Lockheed’s “Skunk Works”. Interest in the F-117 was apparently renewed after the aircraft proved itself so capably in the Gulf War, and several British pilots have reportedly flown the aircraft on evaluation.

 Usaf Plans Major Force Restructure:

Drawing on lessons learnt in the Gulf War, the US Air Force is to restructure its air forces to create several composite air wings capable of deploying rapidly for an integrated air warfare campaign anywhere in the world.

Presently the USAF has three main flying commands: Tactical Air Command (TAC) maintaining attack/fighter wings; Strategic Air Command (SAC) with bomber/tanker wings; and Military Airlift Command (MAC) with transport aircraft. During the Gulf War various Wings from each command were deployed to the Gulf, with, for instance, fighter aircraft from TAC actively escorting bombers from SAC. However crews had to spend several months of intense training to operate effectively together in actual combat missions.

The USAF restructuring program will involve the formation of composite air wings, as used in Operation Desert Storm. Each wing will utilise squadrons from at least two of the present Air Commands. A multifunction air wing would typically include units of tankers, air superiority F-15A/Cs, attack F-15Es and F-168, and E-3 AWACS aircraft. Other air wings would be grouped for US Army support, for instance including F-16s, A-108 for ground attack, C-130s for transport and paratroops, and tankers. The idea is that the various air wings will train together and could therefore be deployed much faster as a combat ready force, and also used more effectively during operational missions.

 Soviet Buran Designed for Nuclear Warfare:

The Soviet Buran space shuttle was originally developed to counter the US Shuttle, which Soviet authorities believed was capable of delivering a surprise nuclear strike from its orbit position.

According to Yuri Semenev, general designer of the space systems design bureau Energia NPO, who made the claim, the Buran was ordered by the military with strategic and defence missions in mind. However, mainly because of severe defence cutbacks in the Soviet Union, the Soviet military are no longer so keen on the project, and indeed would like to pull out altogether. Thus it is possible that the Buran program could be abandoned, the Soviet shuttle having made just one unmanned mission over two years ago. The only hope for the project lies in a consortium of 50 Soviet enterprises and several banks, which hope to fund the Buran for commercial usage.

Us Examines Alarm:

With the US Air Force’s Tacit Rainbow program now cancelled, the US Defense Department is now examining several non-US systems to meet air defence suppression requirements.

Considered a main contender is the British Aerospace ALARM anti-radar system, as used successfully in the Gulf War, despite the fact that it is still undergoing final operational testing. Low rate production of ALARM commenced just prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August last year, and deliveries were thereafter accelerated to meet operational requirements. More than 100 ALARM units, which can loiter for several minutes while probing for targets, were fired from RAF Tomados during Desert Storm with much success, seemingly cementing the system’s operational future.

 Soviets Probing West’s Airspace:

The Soviet air force is again probing the air defences of the UK and other NATO nations, with a recent upswing in Soviet bomber incursions being noted, according to Jane’s Defence Weekly.

In recent months Soviet Tu-96 Bears have again been probing NATO airspace, after what was considered to be a relatively long period of inactivity by the aircraft. A pair of Bears deliberately penetrated British airspace in late February, whilst at the same time others commenced flying into the strategic Iceland air defence region. Such flights are continuing to be made.

The new round of incursions is causing some concern to military analysts. Should the Soviet flights continue, and they do in fact appear to be gathering in momentum, military planning may yet again have to be revised. The UK Ministry of Defence’s Options for Change review last year predicted upon a rapidly diminished Soviet bomber threat, and therefore foreshadowed the early end of the BAe Tornado F. 3 fighter in RAF service. The EFA (European Fighter Aircraft) was instead to fully take its place (the EFA will not enter service until 1998/99), being more capable of tackling the increasingly agile new-generation Soviet fighters. However, with the Soviet bomber force by no means grounded, the Tomado F. 3 will need to remain in service for some time in its designated long-range interceptor role.

Mig-29 Outflies F-15C:

An operational analysis by Royal Netherlands Air Force specialists has concluded that the Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrum is more capable than the F-15C in certain missions.

The analysis is based on dissimilar fly-offs between German air force MiG-29s and RNEAF F-16s, with projections developed to cover the MiG-29’s performance against the F-15C. According to Jane’s Defence Weekly, one Dutch analyst remarked that “The Fulcrum is an extremely capable aircraft in the role it was designed to be used for: shooting radar guided air-to-air missiles at beyond visual range then backing out of the battle. In that role, the Fulcrum is on par with – and sometimes even better than the F-15C. ” The Dutch analysts confirmed US claims that the Fulcrum’s radar is a virtual copy of the F/A-18’s AN/APG-65, acquired by the Soviets through industrial espionage. The aircraft’s radar, infra-red search and track. sensor and head-up display have been integrated into a “very efficient, capable fire control system for air-to-air combat”, however it is not as highly regarded as the F/A-18 Hornet, the MiG-29 pilot being placed at a disadvantage because although the aircraft’s radar features an enormous search volume, “the display technology in its cockpit is never able to present the radar data in a manageable format to the pilot. ”

And on a note which may cause some concern to Soviet authorities planning to offer the aircraft to foreign air arms, the Dutch analysts doubted that the MiG-29 could be successfully marketed to international customers. The Dutch stated that with its current avionics suite, use of the aircraft relied too heavily on ground control for decision making, which has proved to be a very inefficient and vulnerable air defence system.