Newsdesk – Military Aviation

Cheap Cruise Missiles a Worry:

Senior US government and defence industry officials are expressing concern over the number of nations which now have short to medium range ground attack cruise missiles available to them at relatively little expense.

The observations stem from the fact that there is now increased interest in ground attack missiles with a range of several hundred kilometres and of 100 meters or less using off the shelf commercially available navigation systems. This shift of interest has taken the emphasis away from the traditional battlefield weapon of that ilk, the much less accurate ballistic missile.

The ready availability of these weapons is the basis of the USA’s. A country with a ‘point to prove’ could purchase a simple cruise missile from, say, China, and use it to ‘make a political statement’ against a target. These weapons could be based on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which can cost less than $US100,000 each. Similarly, a commercially available UAV or even a light aircraft could be loaded with explosives and sent to a target using on board television for guidance.

French, Russian and Chinese companies have recently been involved in converting existing anti ship missiles to land attack, while the US itself has developed the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM), a derivative of the well known Harpoon anti shipping missile.

France is also considering modifying its successful Exocet anti shipping Lufthansa Cityline sile for land attack duties and has a ready made potential market for such a weapon with numerous countries already operating the missile, among them Libya, Iraq, Indonesia and India. France is already atively marketing its Apache and Super Apache land attack cruise missiles, although these are more sophisticated and accurate with a price in the $US1-2m range.

 Dsto Develops Spatial Sound for Aircraft Cockpits:

Defence Science and Technology Organisation scientists are currently developing spatial sound as an aural means of presenting important flight information to pilots.

Ever increasing advances in sensors, communications and weapon systems technologies have dramatically increased the amount of information being generated for pilots, with almost all of this data being presented visually. Research currently being undertaken at the DSTO’s Aeronautical Research Laboratory aims to use “auditory signal systems” as a new means of presenting important information. Auditory Signal Systems take advantage of the human ear’s ability to detect with accuracy the direction from which a sound is coming from, using different types of sound for different pieces of information, such as threats, and the posi- tion they are in relation to the aircraft. Signals sent to the pilot through his headset can be made to appear as if they originated from different points both inside and outside the cockpit. Current work is looking at providing auditory sounds in conjunction with the Australian DSTO developed ALR-2002 radar warning receiver for the F-111, with various sound inputs to represent search radars, anti-aircraft artillery, missile launches and other threats to the aircraft.

 Australian Radar Warning Receiver Enters Production Engineering:

The Australian developed ALR-2002 Radar Warning Receiver has successfully completed concept demonstration, and is now due to begin the production engineering phase of its development.

The ARL-2002 was jointly developed by DSTO and AWA Defence Industries in response to a RAAF requirement to replace the ageing US built RWR on the F-111. Funded by the Department of Defence’s Acquisition and Logistics Organisation, development of the ALR-2002 concept demonstrator took just 15 months and cost $4. 95m. This is the first instance that a radar warning receiver has been designed in this country, demonstrating that Australia now has a unique capability to develop and support an indigenous electronic warfare industry. The ALR-2002’s technology is also directly applicable to other ADF aircraft such as the F/A-18.

The Defence Science and Technology Organisation and AWA Defence Industries have now entered into an Electronic Warfare Strategic Alliance facilitating the exchange of information and skills with a view to developing and manufacturing electronic warfare products for the ADF.

Outside the major powers of the USA, Russia, the UK and France, only Israel and now Australia have developed their own RWR technology.

 Us &; Russian Team Offer Aggressor Training:

A teaming of American companies, the Russian air force and the Russian flight research institute is now offering realistic aggressor training programmes for foreign air forces.

The Advanced Adversary Training System (ADATS) will offer realistic advanced air-to-air combat courses using Russian air force MiG-29s and Su-27s as aggressor aircraft, with Middle Eastern air arms being targeted as key potential customers. The ADATS package will involve not only supplying the aircraft and aircrew, but also provide a complete academic syllabus covering topics taught at fighter weapons ground schools and the capability to analyse the customer’s re- sponse to the programme.

The teaming involves GreyStone Technology of San Diego, Grumman Aerospace, the Russian air force, the Gromov Flight Research Institute and a Moscow based leasing, financing and engineering company, Eco-Trends.

 Saudi Eagle Deliveries Slowed:

Saudi Arabia will take delivery of the 72 McDonnell Douglas F-158 Eagles it has on order at a slower rate than originally planned.

The move comes as a result of a Saudi plan to restructure payments of $US9. 2bn over the next two years to cover of US arms. Deliveries will begin on schedule in 1996 but the aircraft will be handed over at a rate of one rather than two per month. This will stretch the delivery programme by three years to 2002, unless oil prices increase later in the decade. If this happens, the Saudis will look at reverting to the two per month delivery rate.

This slack in the F-15 production schedule will be taken up in the early stages by Israel’s recent order for 20 F-15ls, deliveries of which will also start in 1996 at a rate of one per month. Saudi Arabia’s decision does have a benefit for MDC as it means the F-15 line will be kept open longer.

F-22 Could Be Delayed:

A report from the US General Accounting Of has suggested that production of the USAF’s new Lockheed F-22 fighter could be delayed for up to seven years with no effect on US security.

The report’s reasoning lies in its claim that foreign threats are insufficient to justify the F-15 Eagle’s early replacement and therefore the money which will be spent on the F-22. It says the F-22’s entry to service could be delayed until 2010 without risking US security, and that the economic service life of the F-15 will extend to 2015.

The F-22 programme is worth $US96bn for 442 aircraft, or $US217m each!

Orion Update Contenders Announced:

The three final contenders for the RAAF P-3C Orion update contract have been announced by the Department of Defence.

Of the five tenders received, E-Systems, Martin Marietta and Rockwell Sys- tems Australia have been selected for continued evaluation. All three have established arrangements with local companies for the project: E-Systems with AWA and Honeywell Australia; Martin Marietta with Scientific Management Associates, Adacel, Wormald and Qantas; and Rockwell with Australian Defence Industries and Ferranti Computer Systems Australia.

The project involves replacing the, acoustic processing, computer, navigation and communications systems on the Orions. It is due for completion by the turn of the century and will extend the Orions’ operational life to 2015.

Philippines Looks at Mirages:

The Philippines is examining the possibility of obtaining up to 20 refurbished Mirage 5 fighter bombers from Belgium to bolster its air defences.

The country has very little air defence capability at the moment with its Crusaders being retired some years ago, leaving only six aged Northrop F-5 fighters to fill the role. The situation was exacerbated by the withdrawal of US forces from the country, which included F-4E Phantoms.

The Mirages in question were upgraded by Belgium’s SABCA but were not returned to service due to defence cuts which resulted in the Mirage fleet being removed from Belgian service. The upgrade includes the fitting of foreplanes, active and passive ECM, IFF, new communications equipment and a revised cockpit.

 Lockheed on the Ascendant:

For a company which not so long ago looked to be in serious decline, Lockheed has staged a notable turnaround and is now rated as the third largest company in the US and world aerospace industry behind Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.

The change in fortunes results from recent sales and acquisitions (including the purchase of the General Dynamics F-16 fighter line) resulting in a substantial backlog and 1993 revenues of $US25. 4bn, a 29% increase over the previous year. Lockheed’s 1993 profit was $US422m, a 21% improvement.

The F-16 line alone has a backlog of nearly 600 aircraft while the development of non defence businesses and improved efficiency have all contributed to Lockheed’s improved position. Over the past 38 year the company has cut its workforce by 8100 to 83,500.

Malaysia to Get Cn-235s:

Royal Malaysian Air Force is set to take delivery of up to 35 Indonesian-built Airtech (CASA/IPTN) CN-235 transports and two IPTN built NAS-332 Super Puma helicopters in a cross trade deal believed to involve Malaysian built cars and MD3- 160 basic trainers for Indonesia.

The CN-235 order is expected to consist of transports to replace ageing Caribou, and a number of CN-235MPA maritime patrol aircraft. The first batch of CN-2358 will be delivered from January 1995.