Newsdesk-Military Aviation

The Tindal Nomad began vibrating and became difficult to control on the approach, although the pilot was able to get it down in one piece. Nevertheless, some airframe damage was sustained, reportedly by in-flight stresses.

Lhtec and Hawker Team Up:

The Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Company (LHTEC-a partnership between Allison and Garrett) and Australia’s Hawker Pacific have signed an agreement on the marketing of the new CTS800 turboshaft engine, a civil version of the T800 for the US Army’s RAH-66 Comanche helicopter (refer p. 80 Oct 91 AA).

Hawker Pacific will market the 1,350shp class engine in the Asia Pacific region and sees a refit market of 300-500 engines for the many Bell UH-1/205 Iroquois helicopters in the area. The Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan are seen as potentially major markets.

Raaf F-111s Maintenance Update:

The RAAF is to acquire new maintenance equipment for its F-111 strike aircraft.

The $42m contract ($12. 5m of which goes to Australian industry) has been awarded to the Harris Corporation in the USA and covers new Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) for avionics testing, replacing older equipment which is now near the end of its useful life. The new equipment will be more efficient as well as more reliable. Deliveries will begin in late 1993.

RAAF 7075 PROVE THEIR WORTH: The RAAF’s Boeing 707 tanker fleet has made its operational debut on Exercise Pitch Black 91, the annual air defence exercise held in northern Australia.

The first of 33 Sqn’s ex-Qantas 707-338C tankers demonstrated its role flexibility when it tanked a detachment of six 3 Sqn F/A-18 Hornets en route from RAAF Williamtown to Darwin while simultaneously carrying the detachment’s ground crew and most of its support equipment. The 3 Sqn detachment was thus able to cover a distance of some 3,000km in one hop and arrive at Darwin as an integrated and functional unit.

On a later sortie, the Darwin-based tanker rendezvoused over Alice Springs with six F/A-18s from 77 Sqn en route from William-town to the bare base at RAAF Curtin. The Hornets were able, for the first time, to fly the length of Australia in one hop using only RAAF air-to-air refuelling (AAR) assets.

The tanker was based at RAAF Darwin for the initial phase of Pitch Black, supporting RAAF F/A-18s of both Blue (defending) and Orange (hostile) forces. US Air Force and Marine Corps and Republic of Singapore Air Force F-158, B-528, A-6Es, EA-6Bs, F-5s, A-4s and E-2Cs participating in the exercise were tanked by their own organic tanker fleets: USAF KC-135s and KC-10s and USMC and RSAF KC-130s. The RAAF tanker force will be available to other allied air forces as the 707s are cleared for AAR operations with other tactical aircraft types. No firm plans have been made as yet to modify the RAAF’s F-111Cs, (which can refuel only from boom-equipped tankers such as the KC-135), for 33 Sqn’s probe and drogue refuelling operations.

The tanker conversion for the RAAF is being carried out by Hawker de Havilland at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport. The Bedek Aviation designed conversion uses Flight Refuelling Mk32B hose/drum units mounted. below the wings outboard of the 707s JT-3D engines. No extra tankage is fitted, the stan- dard internal fuel capacity of 72 tonnes (160,000lb) providing the tanker with suffi- cient range, endurance and fuel uplift in any combination required to satisfy current RAAF operational requirements.

Two modified 707s have been delivered to 33 San; a third is currently in flight test and the fourth and last will be delivered to the RAAF next year. (Greg Ferguson)

Canada Reorganises:

Like many other nations, Canada is undergoing a defence review in the wake of peace breaking out in Eastern Europe.

Among the changes (which include gen. eral reductions to all services over the next few years) is Canada’s withdrawal of the two CF-18 Hornet squadrons it has based in Ger- many, a reduction in the number of opera- tional fighter squadrons from four to six, the probable cancellation of the planned CP-140 Aurora (P-3 Orion) upgrade, the establish- ment of composite squadrons and the reduction of air force personnel from 21,500 to 18,500. Balancing that will be an increase in the number of primary and supplementary reservists.

One major change which Canada has long been planning is the farming out of primary, basic helicopter, multi engine and continua- tion training duties to a civilian operator. The $C150m five year contract for this has been recently let to Canadair, who will use Slingsby T67 Fireflys for primary training and Beech C90A King Airs for the multi engine course. The Canadair bid involves the use of eight other Canadian organisations, ranging from a helicopter operator to logistics and support companies.

 Dutch DC-10s:

The Royal Netherlands Air Force is to acquire two second hand McDonnell Douglas DC-10s for conversion to tanker/transports.

They will be used as tankers to support the air force’s F-16 fighter. The source of the. DC-10s has not been announced, although it is thought they will come from the stock of three DC-10-30s Dutch carrier Martinair has been offering for sale following its order for new MD-11s.

The Dutch also have a requirement for five or six medium weight transports, and the CASA CN-235M and Alenia G. 222 have been shortlisted. Types eliminated from the com- petition include a military version of the ATR42 airliner, the BAe 146-STA and the Fokker 1000C. The RNAF transport fleet currently comprises 12 Fokker F27s, all of which are about 30 years old.

Intruder Upgrade:

The US Navy is planning to upgrade 290 of its Grumman A-6E Intruder aircraft through an avionics and airframe modernisation program.

The first modified aircraft is due to fly in September next year and features include the installation of a larger and faster mission computer, improved self defence capability by the fitting of a towed aerial decoy, the fit- ting of an additional chaff dispenser, instaliation of a new display suite which incorporates a pilot’s Head Up Display (HUD) and a multi function display for the navigator/bombar- dier and the addition of modified wing fillets and longer wing leading edge slats.

Coup Leads to Cuts:

Following the defeat of the attempted coup in the Soviet Union, the leaders of the Russian Federation have called on the Supreme Soviet to make further large cuts in defence spending.

Among the aviation projects threatened are the conventional aircraft carrier program. The first of three planned carriers, the Admiral Kuznetsov (ex Tbilisi), has already been built and the other two are under construction. Navalised variants of the MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters have been undergoing flight tests including carrier trials on the Admiral Kuznetsov.

Most aircraft design and production centres are in Russia, although Antonov is in the Ukraine, which has signed a temporary military and economic pact with Russia. The Beriev design office and factory is on the Cri-mean peninsula, under Ukrainian control.

One major effect of the 1991 ‘revolution’ will be the speeding up of the conversion by the Soviet defence industry from military to predominately civilian programs. This process was already underway when the coup attempt was launched, and some 600 Soviet enterprises are believed to be in various stages of conversion, exploring alternative applications for their military technology and seeking overseas markets.

 Hellfire Hercs:

The latest application for Lockheed’s versatile C-130 Hercules transport could be as a missile platform, if investigations being carried out by Rockwell International come to fruition.

Rockwell has been awarded a contract to test its Hellfire laser-guided anti-armour missile on AC-130 Hercules gunships with a view to eventual operational use by Special Operations Forces. The missiles will probably be mounted on underwing launchers and will supplement the Hercules 25, 40 and 105mm guns in the interdiction, close air support and armed reconnaissance roles.

Red Knights Are Go!:

Despite the havoc caused by the attempted Soviet coup, it was confirmed at presstime that the western debut of the Soviet Air Force’s ‘Red Knights’ aerobatic team was to go ahead with its planned program at British airshows in the late northern summer.

Flying Sukhoi Su-27 Flankers, the team’s five aircraft have been painted in an attractive white, red and blue colour scheme (the colours of the old Russian flag) with the Soviet Air Force flag on the fins. A protocol between the Soviets and the British has been signed, allowing four RAF pilots to fly in the Su-27 and four Soviet pilots to fly in the Tornado F. 3. How times have changed!

Usaf/Usn Together on AX?:

The AX strike aircraft, a proposed long range stealthy replacement for the US Navy’s Grumman A-6 Intruders, is now also being considered by the US Air Force as an eventual replacement for its F-1118, F-15Es and F-1178.

A Request For Proposals (RFP) was issued in late August and at the time of writing five manufacturers had submitted proposals covering the AX concept exploration and definition phase. The companies are North- rop (with an aircraft using many features of its ATF competition-losing design, the YF-23), General Dynamics/Boeing/Lockheed (an F-22 derivative), Grumman/Boeing/Lockheed (a new design), McDonnell Douglas/ General Dynamics (a variant of the cancelled A-12) and McDonnell Douglas/LTV. As can be seen, the possible combinations of man- manufacturer cooperative deals are numerous. Some 700 AXS are required.

 Spaceport Viable:

Plans to develop the spaceport on Cape York Peninsula have received a boost following a report to the Federal Government by the Australian Industry Development Corporation (AIDC), which says the project can be commercially viable. But on the negative side, the AIDC estimates the cost of the project at close to $A1bn, or more than twice the figures estimated by the intending developer, the Cape York Space Agency (CYSA).

CYSA has estimated the cost at $380mbut have been inhibited by the financial troubles of its parent, the property development Essington Group. Another private concern, the Space Transportation Systems syndicate, has put the cost at about $750m. To date 23 companies and individual investors have expressed an interest in developing or taking equity in the spaceport since the responsible Minister, Senator John Button, invited approaches last year. If the investment and environmental issues are sorted out quickly, the first launchings could be made from Cape York as early as 1996.

Soviets Cancel Advanced Stovl Project:

The Soviet Yakovlev Yak-141 advanced short takeoff, vertical landing (ASTOVL) naval fighter program has been cancelled in a decision taken by the Gorbachev administration shortly before the unsuccessful coup attempt.

Reckoned to be well ahead of any western equivalent, the supersonic Yak-141 was designed to replace the subsonic Yak-38 which entered production in 1975. The news of the cancellation has been received with disappointment in the Soviet Union by many, who regard Gorbachev’s apparent lack of interest in aviation as a high technology key to the future as a worry.

Just six hours before the coup, plans to hold the first biennial air show at Zhokovsky were announced. The founding show is scheduled to take place next year and is intended to eventually match Paris and Farnborough. More importantly, it will help promote Soviet civil aerospace products to the world, a vitally important factor for the future as more military programs are cut or cancelled.

 ASTA Division to SA:

Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA) will move its electronic warfare and surveillance subsidiary, ASTA Systems, from Melbourne to Adelaide.

ASTA Systems is responsible for the Jindivik pilotless aircraft and other major programs and intends carrying out guided weapons work at the new facility.

Westernised Migs:

The German Air Force will carry out a limited upgrade to the avionics of the 24 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters it inherited from East Germany.

The changes will bring certain avionics up to Western standards and include the TACAN navigation system, emergency UHF emergency horizon and the IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) equipment. Test flights of the Fulcrum have revealed a limited combat radius of only 135-185nm (250-350km), particularly when after burner is used on the MIG’s pair of Tumansky RD-33 engines.

Latest Hornet Defined:

McDonnell Douglas has finalised the design of the next generation of its F-18 Hornet fighter, the single seat F18E and two seat F-18F for the US Navy. Detail design work is being carried out under a $US25m engineering study which is due to be completed next January. First flight is scheduled for January 1995 with an in service date of 1999. Proposed funding calls for 12 aircraft in 1996, 30 in 1997 and about 54 per annum after that. The current F-18C/D variants will remain in production until then.

Compared with the F-18C/D, the new Hornets will feature a slightly thicker wing (at the root) of about 25% greater area which will be capable of carrying heavier loads, larger slewed rectangular intakes to provide the greater air flow needed by more powerful engines, additional wing pylons, the increased use of composites, wing leading edge and skin surface ‘stealth technology and improved cockpit displays.

The new Hornet’s powerplants will be 22,000lb thrust (with reheat) General Electric F404-400 turbofans, derived from the engines originally developed for the cancelled A-12 Avenger. Compared with earlier versions of the Hornet, the F-18E/F will offer lower wind-over-deck requirements, an interdiction range increase of 38%, considerably higher bring back payload (unexpended weapons) capability and improved performance characteristics at high speed. An in-depth technical analysis on the F/A-18E appeared on p. 69 of our September ’91 issue.