Defence Update — Nomad Grounding

Decision Time Looms For Army’s Nomads

It may be mid year or later before it is known if the Australian Army’s locally designed and developed Nomad fixed wing multirole aircraft will return to service. Only two of the 21 Australian Defence Force Nomads – 19 in Army service and two attached to No 75 F/A-18 Hornet Squadron based at Tindal, Northern Territory since January 1989 – are permitted to operate for flight testing. The rest are grounded, including 10 delivered in 1993. The flight testing is designed to determine if their structural integrity is sufficient or requires further modification to allow them to become operational again. Army operations were suspended on November 14 following an incident in the French West Indies involving a civilian Nomad. The RAAF suspended flying of its two Nomads a week earlier. Whatever happens may have a major impact on the future of well over 100 civil and military Nomads, many of them designated Search Masters, flying around the world. They are flying in military service in Papua New Guinea (4), Indonesia (18), the Philippines (6) and Thailand (27), plus the United States customs and elsewhere. A RAAF Nomad, a stretched N24, suffered damage to ailerons when landing at Tindal on December 17 1991. The manufacturer, AeroSpace Technologies of Australia (ASTA), issued a strengthening modification after that. However the Nomad in the French West Indies is reported to have developed damage due to an oscillating tailplane and some twisting of the wing. It is understood to have undergone the ASTA modification. Australian Flight Test Services is doing flutter trials on a Nomad in South Australia, while the RAAF’s highly qualified ARDU (Aircraft Research and Development Unit) at Edinburgh base, SA is conducting flight load trials. These flight trials are likely to take several more months, and it remains to be seen if further trials are ordered, followed by further modifications. ARDU had previously performed significant testing of the Nomad some 15 years ago. That is likely to depend on the data obtained from the current trials. The alternative would be to scrap the Nomads, which have had a chequered service life of some 20 years mainly due to concerns about its flight characteristics. However the Nomad has been strongly supported by its original manufacturer, the Government Aircraft Factories (GAF), and now ASTA, who had hoped for sales of about 400 around the world. In Army service Nomads have been operated by No 173 (General Support) Squadron and the School of Army Aviation at Oakey, on the Darling Downs in Queensland. Army Nomad operations came to an abrupt end in November when the fleet was grounded. At this stage the aircraft won’t fly again until at least June when the results from current testing are known. This particular aircraft came to grief last when its undercarriage failed to extend when landing on Horn Island. (Matthew Acred) ARDU has carried out a multitude of flight trials over the history of the Nomad, with the first production machine, A18-303 being assigned there after delivery in late 1975. Lack of the Nomads, coupled with the unavailability of most of the Black Hawk helicopters based at Townsville (24 of 27 were reported as unserviceable to fly early this year due to a shortage of spare parts), is badly restricting Army Aviation training, and Army operations in general. Under the Air 87 Project (refer P25 Mar ’94 AA), the Australian Army is seeking to acquire aerial surveillance, reconnaissance and fire support capabilities in support of Land Force operations in northern Australia. A Project Definition Study (PDS) has been under way for some time. Equipment acquisition is timed to start in 1996-97. While the project largely appears to cover the replacement of a new helicopter for the current Kiowas, there has been conjecture that the Nomad fleet could be refitted with EW (electronic warfare) sensors and operate in that role. At present they are fitted with a limited radar designed to allow only cursory ground surveillance for the battlefield commanders. Readers wishing to know more about the Nomad in ADF service can refer to our special feature in the July 94 edition of AA. Similarly the Black Hawk is reviewed elsewhere in this issue.