Newsdesk – Military Aviation

Unmatched by any aircraft flying or known to be on the drawing board, it has a typical cruising speed of over Mach 3 at 80,000 feet and it climbs through low alti- tudes at an incredible 10,000ft/min, although these figures are of little wonder when one takes into account that it is powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58s rated at 32,000lb static thrust. A total fuel capacity of 80,000lbs (36,000kg) gives it a range of 2,400 miles (3,860km). This range, coupled with an inflight refuelling capability effectively meant that it could be deployed from bases in Japan, the UK and the US to photograph almost all the hot spots in the world.

The recently retired Blackbird, or Habu to its crews, traces its development back to the A-12, designed by Lockheed as a high performance replacement for its earlier U-2. From the A-12 was born the YF-12 interceptor for the USAF Essentially the SR-71 was the reconnaissance derivative of the YF-12.

Ironically a victim of technology, the SR-71 has largely been replaced by satellites in the reconnaissance role.

F-117 Can Fight Too!:

The Lockheed F-117 stealth fighter (which is really a bomber) does have some air to air combat capability, according to an avionics spe- cialist involved with the programme

Although the F-117 has no radar its infrared acquisition and detection system has a search mode which can locate air and sea targets. The two weapons bays can also accommodate an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile and rail mounted missiles can also be fitted. With this capability, the F-117 could attack aircraft such as AWACS types, although it would probably need help from a friendly AWACS aircraft itself. Despite this, the F-117 is certainly not a fighter in the proper sense but a highly effective tactical strike aircraft SBAC WARNS OF DECLINE: The

Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) has warned that the British aerospace industry could suffer “rapid and perhaps irreversible decline” if the government does not support investment in advanced defence technology.

The SBAC is concerned that the combination of defence spending cuts and the UK’s open competition policy on defence contracts could make it difficult for local industry to make a long term investment in new technology and then see it become easy prey for subsidised foreign competitors.

The SBAC also points out that this loss of capability will flow to the civil sector with resultant job losses all round. SBAC member companies employed 194,000 people in 1989 though this is expected to fall to just 150,000 by the end of 1992.

Migs for Sale:

The former Soviet State, the Ukraine, is reportedly offering some of its military aircraft for sale to third world countries.

According to the ITAR-TASS news-agency, the Ukraine has 20 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters for sale along with eight 11-76 Candid transports and ten Mi-17 Hip helicopters, The price of the MiGs is quoted at $US25m each (“with armament”) and the Candids $US40m each. Figures described in the West as being fairly high by any

standard.

Coincidentally, the US Air Force is negotiating to purchase up to 20 Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker fighters for dissimilar air combat training. Discussions between the Pentagon, the Russian government, Sukhoi and Western brokers have taken place. The USAF also wants some MiG-29s for the same purpose. Even a mere year ago, who’d have thought it possible?

Cis Looks Ahead:

The Commonwealth of Independent States’ air arms and aircraft manufacturers have banded together to convince the government of the need to continue new combat aircraft programmes which were initiated by the former Soviet government but threatened by the break-down of the union.

The CIS leaflers’ response has been positive with the result that programmes such as two new generation fighters, a major upgrade of the Su-27 Flanker and a new jet trainer will receive financial backing. Not yet funded, but probably also saved are an attack version of Flanker, the Su-37 multi role aircraft and advanced air to air missiles.

Projects which have already reached the flying hardware stage but will not go ahead include the fly-by-wire MiG-29M, the Yak-141 Freestyle VISTOL fighter (although funding for this is being sought elsewhere), the MiG-29K naval fighter, the Su-25T Frog-

foot all weather attack aircraft and the MIG-3M Foxhound heavy air defence fighter. Further production of the supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber was cancelled earlier this year and will not be reinstated.

The MiG-29 has been in production for export only over the past two years and Su-27 production will end in 1995. These fighters plus the MiG-31 Foxhound in their current versions are being actively marketed by the cash starved

Cis. Pc-9s Grounded:

The RAAF temporarily grounded its fleet of Pilatus PC-9 trainers in late March following a crash near Albany WA.

The two New Zealanders (both experienced military pilots) on board were forced to eject when control was inexplicably lost while the aircraft was preparing to land at Albany. The grounding was applied pend- ing investigations into the crash and was lifted two days later. The results of the investigation were not known at the time of writing.

 Albatros Into Production:

Russian manufacturer Beriev has received an order for 20 of its large twinjet Be-42 Albatros amphibians from the naval aviation division of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The order covers 20 aircraft which will replace Be-12 Mail amphibians and Ilyushin 11-38 land based aircraft in the anti submarine warfare role. NATO has given the aircraft the codename Mermaid.

The Albatros was publicly revealed in 1989. It is 141 feet (43m) in length and is powered by two 26,4551b thrust MKB/Sol- oviev D-30 turbofans. It has an endurance of about nine hours.

Usaf Pilot Problems:

It never rains but it pours, apparently. The US Air Force has current and potential problems with its pilot numbers but for opposite reasons.

The USAF currently has considerably more pilots than it needs but an ever decreasing retention rate will mean a short- age later in the decade. With heavy reductions occurring (21 squadrons have been disbanded in the past year with 28 more to follow) and the flow of new pilots only slightly reduced, many are being assigned to non flying jobs on the completion of their training due to a lack of cockpits to put them in. Experienced pilots are also being given desks to fly.

The other side of the coin is the fact that fewer are signing on for longer term periods and the retention rate has dropped from 78% in 1983 to just 34% in 1990 and 1991. The result probably means a serious shortage in five or six years time.

Huge Ex-raaf C-47 Spares Stock for Sale:

One of the world’s largest stock of spare parts for the famous Douglas C-47 twin engined airliner is being offered for sale by the Department of Administrative Services.

The ex-Royal Australian Air Force spares store is expected to attract world- wide attention from the several hundred operators of the veteran Douglas which revolutionised commercial aviation in 1935 as the DC-3 by being the first airliner able to return a profit simply by carrying passengers. In wartime service the C-47 Dakota’s versatility was credited as making it one of the major contributors to the Allied victory. Several hundred were also made in the USSR under a Soviet label.

Of the more than 13,000 C-47s and DC-3s made more than 11,000 were military ver sions. The RAAF, which was the fourth largest air force in the world in 1945, had several squadrons. Currently there are still four Dakotas with the RAAF’s Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) at Edinburgh, SA and another 15 on the Australian civil register. There is no accurate figure on the numbers of the old aircraft still plying the world’s skies, some of them more than half a century old but the estimate is at least several hundred.

The ex-RAAF C-47 component series includes more than 3,600 individual line items ranging from fuselage sections to propellers. There are also engine components, wing structures and a host of other parts which went into making the DC-3 one of the most reliable aircraft ever produced. As well as the aircraft spares there is a wide range of special tooling.

The majority of the C-47 spare parts held in storage at Dubbo, NSW are either in their original containers or “as new” refurbished by the RAAF through the half century since it first began operating the type. The Air Force has retained enough spare parts to keep its own C-47s operating for as long as necessary.