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Aer Lingus has taken delivery of three BAe 146-300s which it has leased from Asset Management Organisation. The 110 seat 146s are used for domestic services between Dublin, Cork and Shannon, and for flights to Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol and Edinburgh. (AMO)
Newsdesk – Military Aviation
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Adf Nomads To Go
The Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Ray, has ended speculation on the future of the GAF Nomad STOL utility aircraft in Australian military service by accepting a report which says the entire fleet should remain grounded. Senator Ray has accepted the recommendation of a joint Army and RAAF review into the safety and economy of the aircraft, precipitated by a range of concerns in regard to air safety not the least of which was lack of confidence expressed by the pilots themselves. The minister agrees with the report and says: the Nomad was designed as a civil aircraft and may well be suitable for civil tasks. However, the aircraft is not capable of satisfying the military tasks required by the ADF because of limitations and restrictions on its operations. However, I believe the issues in regard to the safety of the aircraft require further consideration. The report acknowledged that the Nomad is likely to be found technically airworthy, but noted that such airworthiness is dependent on operation within a severely constrained flight envelope. Significantly, the report considered that the aircraft’s basic design does not provide an acceptable margin of safety for military operations. Although this seems to indicate that the permanent grounding of ADF Nomads is a fait accompli, the final decision had not been made at the time of writing but was due to be announced as this magazine hits the newsstands. Senator Ray said: I believe it is highly likely that the Nomad will be retired from service with the Australian Defence Force on the basis that it simply cannot perform the operational task required. It was pointed out that a number of other countries in the region successfully operate the Nomad in both military and civil roles, this fact indicating not so much a problem with the aircraft itself but in the way it is being used by the ADF. Several people have leapt to the Nomad’s defence, most notably its designer, Alan Wrigley, who has accused the ADF of exaggerating its shortcomings. Mr Wrigley has quite correctly pointed out that the Nomad was a victim of underfunding and bureaucratic interference throughout its production life. He makes the very interesting point that: The civil side has never had the problems of the military where the motivation has been the RAAF’s opposition to an aircraft industry in Australia. I was involved in a number of studies into aircraft production in Australia and the air force prevented every one of them. There has only been one civil Nomad fatal accident in Australia and that involved an experimental test aircraft.
Uav Market To Boom
A study by the Teal Group has predicted that the market for unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) will double between now and 2003 with nearly 8000 produced during the period with a value of more than five billion dollars. The report estimates that 5250 target drones and 2650 reconnaissance systems will be produced, the latter accounting for most of the increase. The estimated income covers only the UAVs themselves and not the cost of related equipment such as ground control stations. In many cases the UAV constitutes only 15% of the cost of the overall operational package.
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U-2 Offered To Raf
The UK Ministry of Defence and Lockheed Martin have been holding talks on the possible sale of U-2 (nee TR-1) reconnaissance aircraft to the RAF. Aer Lingus has taken delivery of three BAe 146-300s which it has leased from Asset Management Organisation. The 110 seat 146s are used for domestic services between Dublin, Cork and Shannon, and for flights to Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bristol and Edinburgh. The discussions are believed to cover the purchase of up to 12 U-2s for the RAF. Although their exact role is unknown, some sources suggest it is real time targeting for strike aircraft and tactical reconnaissance. The variant on offer is the U-2S with GE F118-101 turbofan engine (as fitted to the Northrop Grumman B-2A). The U-2S would be capable of a range of over 4000nm (7400km), an endurance of 15 hours and a ceiling of over 80,000ft (24,400m). American U-2s were based in the UK for a considerable period of time during the Cold War and they were often flown by RAF pilots.
Ef-111A Operations Extended
The USAF has decided it will operate its fleet of 24 General Dynamics EF-111A Raven radar jamming aircraft until 1999, two years longer than was originally planned. The USAF is concerned about a loss of short term jamming capability before the US Navy’s Grumman EA-6B Prowler replaces the EF-111s. Fewer Prowlers are available than expected, a planned upgrade for them has been cancelled and a number of aircraft assigned to continued operational use are in storage at Davis Monthan AFB instead. It was decided last year that the USAF’s remaining F-111s would be retired, the missions now carried out by the F-111F bomber and F-111E trainer being taken over by B-1 and B-52 heavy bombers and F-16 fighters with ultimately the EF-111As being replaced by Navy EA-6Bs. One concern of the USAF is that whilst the Prowler’s onboard electronic systems are more capable than those aboard the EF-111 Raven, the Navy aircraft is subsonic and lacks the range of the F-111, thus making it difficult to accompany a deep penetration strike force in some circumstances. Consequently additional tanker and fighter assets might need to be employed to support the EA-6B compared with the Raven.
C-17 Passes Major Test
The McDonnell Douglas C-17 transport for the USAF has surpassed the equivalent of two design lifetimes – 60,000 hours – of simulated flight in durability testing by the manufacturer. The 60,000 hours comprised more than 17,000 simulated flights and 24,000 landings, representing 60 years of actual flying time. There were 25 mission profiles simulated in the test programme, representing virtually all the conditions the C-17 is expected to encounter. Some 11% of these flight profiles were in the high stress regime of high speed, low level cruise at below 2000 feet (610m) and above 300 knots (555km/h). Also included were aerial refuelling, short runway landings, low altitude parachute extraction system (LAPES) missions and airdrops. More than 260 hydraulic actuators applied simulated loads to the airframe, monitored by more than 1000 strain gauges and deflection monitors.
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