Newsdesk – Military Aviation

 Rolls-Royce Cuts Jobs:

Having already shed 7000 jobs over the past two years, Rolls-Royce is to cut another 5000 jobs over the next two years as part of a general scaling back in the face of reduced orders for both civil and military engines.

The lost jobs will save the company about £100m ($214m) annually and will reduce Rolls-Royce’s workforce to 24,500 by the end of 1994. In addition, four manufacturing sites will be shut down.

Military engine deliveries averaged about 200 a year during the 1980s but recorded only half that figure in 1991. They are expected to stabilise at around 125 per annum over the next two years with longer term prospects improving with the recent Saudi order for 48 Tornados.

Civil engine deliveries reached a record 450 in 1992 and are expected to remain near that level for a time, including 430 in 1993. On the other hand, the spare parts market dropped by a substantial 20% from 1990 and has since recovered only half of that loss.

Everybody Wants the Airshow:

Corio Shire Council (under whose jurisdiction Avalon airfield is placed) and the Federal Airports Corporation are battling over the location of the next major air show run by the Aerospace Foundation of Australia.

Last year’s show at Avalon encountered problems which will require a major investment to fix, while the FAC claims the show can be staged at its Tullamarine Airport without any such investment and points to its proximity to Melbourne as a plus. Either way, it appears the show will remain in Victoria despite threats to move it interstate following the Avalon problems.

A third factor has now entered the equation, namely the siting of the proposed National Air and Space Museum of Australia. At the moment planned for Laverton, Corio Council is touting for it to be located at Avalon, something which would help the air show remain there.

The City of Werribee, which controls Laverton, has been closely involved with the planning of the museum since its inception and says it has the support of the Minister for Defence and the Museum of Victoria.

 Centrespread

Last year witnessed two important RAAF anniversaries go by largely unnoticed, although the commemorative paint scheme on the Macchi did mark the occasions in a suitable fashion.

Perhaps dampened bywing fatigue prob- lems across the entire fleet, the Aermacchi MB-336H did record 25 years in RAAF service last year. A full feature on the MB- 336’s service life can be found on p53 of this issue.

76 Squadron meanwhile celebrated its 50th anniversary during 1992. The Squadron was formed at Archerfield in March 1942 with Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawks, consequently serving with distinction in the South West Pacific Area. Having previously operated Mustangs, Sabres, and Mirages, it was reformed with the Macchi in the late eighties, which it uses as a day fighter and a lead-in trainer for fast jet pilots.

Boss Lady:

Wng Cdr Julie Hammer has become the first woman to take command of an RAAF operational command, the Electronic Warfare Operational Support Unit (EWOSU) at Salisbury near Adelaide. EWOSU was established in 1990 to provide electronic warfare support for the RAAF’s F-111 fleet and its activities have. since been extended to cover all of the RAAF’s RAAF’selectronic warfare systems. The unit was recently amalgamated with the Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU). Wng Cdr Hammer’s previous job was as project manager for the Electronic Support Measures (ESM) system upgrade for the RAAF’s P-3C Orions.

Virtual Reality:

Operational and trainee RAAF F/A-18 Hornet pilots can now fly missions using the world’s most sophisticated electronic warfare and targeting systems to counter threats from ‘enemy’ radar, missiles, aircraft and artillery, all without leaving the ground.

This realistic combat environment has been created by Computer Sciences of Australia (CSA) which recently upgraded the software which controls the RAAF’s two Hornet Operational Flight Trainers (simulators). Threat jammers, surface-to-air and air-to-air missile detection and – systems, enemy radar warning, the Harpoon missile, aerial mine and Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) systems have been included in the upgrade programme, providing realistic simulation for Hornet pilots. The simulators are located at the RAAF’s two Hornet bases, Williamtown and Tindal.

For more information on RAAF Hornet operations, Stewart Wilson’s new book Phantom, Hornet and Skyhawk in Australian Service is now available from your newsagent or direct from Australian Aviation (refer advert pgs 62/63 this issue).

Eurofighter Dogfight:

As suggested in Stop Press last month (p5), a major row has developed between two of the major contributors to the Eurofighter 2000 project, Deutsche Aerospace (DASA) and GEC Marconi Avionics.

GEC Marconi is attempting to take over prime contractorship of the aircraft’s flight control system (FCS) from German project leader DASA. There have been continuing technical problems with the integration of the FCS, for which GEC has developed the software. This has been the major reason for the Eurofighter’s continually postponed first flight, which is now not likely until at least the second half of the year, more than two years behind schedule.

The politically and technically sensitive issue is being presented by GEC as part of workshare changes being negotiated following the reduction in German orders for the fighter. DASA is naturally resisting any change.

Comrade, Can You Spare a Dime?:

The cash starved Russians will do just about anything to raise some readies these days, and for aviation enthusiasts this means some (relatively) great bargains.

British aerobatic champion and display pilot Richard Goode has taken advantage of this state of affairs and is organising visits to the once very secret Zhukovsky airbase where rides in various Russian combat aircraft can be arranged.

$US8000 will get you an hour’s simulated aerial combat in a Su-27 Flanker, $6500 buys a bit of Mach 3 Walter Mittyism in a MiG-25 Foxbat and a bargain basement $2500 is all that’s required for 60 minutes in a MiG-21. If even that price is a bit rich, there’s always the option of apiddling $250 for an hour in a Mil-2 helicopter.

Perhaps the RAAF should start selling rides in Hornets and F-111s to help overcome the effects of budget cuts!

Long Range Russian Missile:

Russia is developing a very long range air-to-air missile capable of engaging targets as far away as 400km.

Called the KS-172, the 6m (20ft) long missile has a two stage propulsion system, an active radar seeker and can also be used with inertial guidance and mid course correction. It has an all-aspect, all-azimuth capability and is thought to be designed mainly to intercept airborne early warning aircraft (AW) from long ranges.

Up to seven KS-172s could be carried by a single Su-27/35 Flanker fighter.

 Starlifterlife Extension:

The US Air Force’s fleet of 178 Lockheed C-141 Starlifter transports may be subject to a life extension programme if an unsolicited proposal from Lockheed is accepted by the service.

The proposal includes substantial structural modifications to the aircraft which would extend the C-141’s life from the current 45,000 hours to 85,000 hours at a total cost of $US4. 45bn. The modifications comprise replacing the inner and outer wing sections, the centre wing box on 58 aircraft not covered by an existing programme, the fuselage cab top near the windscreen, parts of several main frames, engine pylon attachment fittings and the fittings which seal the forward pressure bulkhead.

The fin would be modified to reduce stresses incurred during low level missions, the bleed air, wiring, main landing gear actuator systems and spoiler and control cables would be upgraded, and a new power-by-wire, fly-by-wire electrically activated spoiler system would be fitted. If the programme goes ahead, work could start in April 1995 and completed by 2002 at a rate of three aircraft per month. The upgrade will take seven months per aircraft to complete