The DEW Line

Israel industry tour Day 1: Remember the Lavi

2009-11-22T16:40:25Z

TEL AVIV -- It's probably unfair to start my Israeli tour diary with the Lavi. It's a bit like finding a way to shoehorn Darleen Druyun's name into the beginning of a Boeing tanker article.

But there it was as I walked into the factory next door to Ben Gurion International Airport for the Lahav division of Israel Aerospace Industries. Parked behind a long line of refurbishment projects -- including two MiG-21s for an African customer, an Mi-17 and an Israeli F-16 -- was the last surviving remnant of the Lavi program cancelled in 1986. Pictured below is the B3 technology demonstrator.

The Israeli Air Force cancelled Lavi in 1987, spelling the end for IAI's future as a combat aircraft manufacturer. Asking company employees about the Lavi even today is not considered being polite.

But it's arguable that IAI ultimately benefited from Lavi's demise (although many believe China's Chengdu J-10 bears a striking resemblance to the Israeli technology -- you be the judge).

IAI's skilled engineers were free (or forced, depending on your perspective) to focus on their literally pioneering (ha! get it?) work on unmanned aerial vehicles, a market that exploded within a decade after the Lavi died.

UAVs might even become IAI's route back into the combat aircraft business. If the Israeli Air Force already operates an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), the public is not aware of it. But the capability to produce such an aircraft certainly fits within the skill-set of IAI's workforce.

If a UCAV ever does roll out from the IAI hangar, shall we call it the Lavi II?

Road Trip: Dubai to Tel Aviv (via London)

2009-11-20T09:49:32Z

The DEW Line's next stop is Tel Aviv. Starting Sunday, the next and final leg of my Mid-East tour runs through Israel's robust aerospace and defense industrial complex. My guide will be the inimitable Arie Egozie, Flight International's local correspondent. My assignment is to report for a special feature scheduled for publication in late January, but I'll update my blog too.

#DXB09: Sheikh rattles Aermacchi, gets rolled by F-22

2009-11-20T08:00:41Z

The DEW Line pal and frequent commenter Airpower stayed on-scene in Dubai long after many of his less-patient mates in the trade press flew off, regretfully including your blogger.

Lucky that Airpower stayed. He posted two comments on my blog last night that solves the mystery about what happened at the Ministry of Defense's surprise 3pm press conference yesterday, and also what happened during the F-22's first exercise encounter with the Typhoon and Rafale.

Get ready for disappointment. Airpower writes in:

Yes, there was a surprise alright - a nasty one for Aermacchi. The Thursday announcement was cancelled by the hosts with pretty much no notice, while several Aermacchi people were actually SITTING AND WAITING in the intended conference room. Whatever is going on with the jet trainer deal it is starting to look like bad news for somebody...

Airpower refers above to the Alenia Aermacchi M346 Master, which the UAE Ministry of Defense selected last February as a jet trainer and light attack fighter. My colleague Siva Govindasamy, Flight's Singapore bureau chief, also attended the air show, and will publish a story next week in the magazine that adds a bit of context to this turn of events.

But what about the appearance of six F-22s at Al Dhafra air base this week? A Royal Air Force spokesman told Craig Hoyle, Flight's defence editor, that Al Dhafra would host equal numbers F-22s, Typhoons, Rafales and jets from the UAE and Pakistan this week as part of the advanced tactical leadership course (the UAE's Red Flag or TLP).

Airpower also comments:

The F-22s did not participate in ATLC. They were planned in as part of the exercise, then shortly beforehand they were withdrawn. Six jets were still deployed to Al Dhafra but they did not come out to play with the other boys and girls (OK, there were no girls). The USAF representatives at the show refused to acknowledge the aircrafts' presence or explain what they were doing in the UAE. If anyone can enlighten us...

Yes, please, enlighten us. Anybody.

#DXB09: Display highlights for F-22, F-16 and China's L-15

2009-11-19T16:02:14Z

AAI jumps into cargo UAS market with slowed rotor/compound helo

2009-11-19T14:27:43Z

RQ-7 Shadow and Aerosonde-maker AAI Corp. wants to develop a new slowed rotor/compound aircraft as a cargo-carrying unmanned aircraft system, my colleague John Croft reports today.

Read the full article here: AAI Grabs technology stake in fledgling Carter

The aircraft shown above could be pursued under a 40-year agreement signed between AAI and Carter to develop the latter's slowed rotor/compound technology.

AAI's announcement is the latest move by a UAS supplier to target the mostly untapped market for moving cargo using unmanned aircraft. I've been trying to keep a close eye as the cargo UAS mission as it has developed over the last two years. AAI would face no shortage of competition if Carter's stopped rotor/compound designs proves feasible.

See also:

Oct 2: US Air Force and army seek unmanned cargo aircraft concepts
Aug 10: AUVSI: Lockheed/Kaman team and Boeing to face off for cargo UAV
June 15: Paris Air Show - Day 1
May 7: US Army remains undecided on cargo re-supply by UAVs

#dxb09: F-22 vs Rafale vs Typhoon, round 1?

2009-11-19T12:28:26Z

The United Arab Emirates not only attracted the Lockheed Martin F-22 to the Dubai Air Show, but also staged perhaps the first mock dogfights between F-22s, Dassault Rafales and Eurofighter Typhoons.

In parallel with the air show, the advanced tactical leadership course at Al Dhafra air base near Abu Dhabi hosted a five-nation fighter exercise, according to the UK Royal Air Force.

The France, the UK and the US each sent six of their top-line fighters to the exercise, and those were joined by jets from the UAE and Pakistan. The Abu Dhabi manoeuvres marked the first publicly-known event where the F-22 met Europe's two most advanced fighters.

The Rafale previously flew against USAF Boeing F-15Cs during the Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB in August 2008. The USAF, however, withheld the F-22 from the Red Flag manoeuvres, which also included South Korean F-15Ks and Indian Air Force Su-30MKIs.

#DXB09: The Dubai surprise

2009-11-18T15:43:59Z

The Ministry of Defense for the United Arab Emirates has called a press conference at the Dubai Air Show on Thursday at 3pm.

The timing of the event -- scheduled for the show's fifth day -- is unusually late for a major announcement and especially aggravating for, um, certain aerospace journalists who (blush) took the red-eye flight to London last night.

What the MOD plans to announce is a mystery, but it could be any number of big things. I departed the Dubai Air Show after waiting in vain for three days for a major contract signing. As of yesterday evening, negotiations were ongoing for several major contracts. The announcement could involve contract signings for the Dassault Rafale, Boeing C-17, Lockheed Martin C-130J, Raytheon airborne standoff radar or Alenia Aermacchi M346. It could also involve something that we don't know anything about yet.

Headline typo sends "NG" tanker to Wichita - briefly

2009-11-17T06:18:20Z

My Google alert for KC-X caused me a few moments of wild panic this morning. The headline for the Wichita Eagle story on my blackberry screen read: "ng would finish tankers in Wichita".

Stop the press!

Briefly ignoring the weirdly lower-case "ng", my mind instantly translated the headline as, "Northrop Grumman would finish tankers in Wichita". After all, NG is headline short-hand for Northrop Grumman, right?

As an admittedly anorak KC-X watcher, I immediately smelled a minor scandal developing. Wichita, of course, is Boeing territory, so my interpretation of the headline appeared to suggest a new plot-twist in the competitive landscape. Moreover, Boeing had refused several opportunities to commit to basing its finishing center for US Air Force tankers in Wichita. Had Northrop Grumman struck an unexpected industrial coup, with not insignificant political spill-over?

Stand-down. After clicking the link, it was quickly obvious the headline was merely a typo, albeit an unfortunate one. The first four letters of Boeing's name had been deleted, leaving only the "ng". (No jokes about what puts the 'ng' in Boeing, please.)

But Molly McMillan's excellent article is a must-read for KC-X news spotters. Boeing has finally committed to putting KC-X finishing work in Wichita. That means Boeing has backed off program manager Rick Lemaster's statement to me in September, when he said Boeing is "looking at alternatives" to Kansas' beleaguered aviation hub.

I'm just thankful there is no "ba" in Northrop Grumman, EADS North America or Airbus.

#DXB09: My personal Dubai Air Show news round-up

2009-11-16T05:18:54Z

The biggest news at the show is that nothing has really happened yet.

The United Arab Emirates has not signed deals for four Boeing C-17s, 48 Alenia Aermacchi M346s and 12 Lockheed Martin C-130Js, despite selecting the aircraft in February. The UAE also is not likely to sign a new deal for fighters, such as the Dassault Rafale. Nor is it likely to announce a contract for a new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. That's not a huge surprise. The Abu Dhabi emirate controls the military purse strings, so the Dubai show is not a big news vehicle for them. I guess we'll have to wait for the next IDEX, which is based in Abu Dhabi. Or maybe something will happen today or tomorrow. We'll see.

But we've kept ourselves fairly busy anyway. Here's most of the stories I've published from the show by the end of Day 1.

#DXB09: F-35 Lightning steals Rafale thunder in Dubai

2009-11-15T13:59:01Z

Source: Lockheed Martin

Today's lesson: Never count out the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

This was supposed to be a big show for the Dassault Rafale. But after the first day it's already clear the United Arab Emirates isn't any closer to signing a long-awaited contract.

Meanwhile, the previously beleaguered F-35 -- beset by recent cost overrun predictions and a frustrating flight test delay -- has stormed back into the picture -- big-time. First, Lockheed re-energized its flight test program with two big announcements The BF-1 flight test article finally crossed state lines, launching its epic journey to Patuxent River, Maryland, where it will finally make the transition from forward flight to vertical landing. AF-1, meanwhile, finally got off the ground (see above), becoming the fourth different variant of the F-35 to make its debut flight since 2006.

But the F-35's biggest moment at the show did not come courtesy of Lockheed public relations department. Instead, it came from Brig Gen Ibrahim Naser Alalawi, deputy chief of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence. Addressing the Dubai International Air Chiefs conference on Saturday, Alalawi shocked the audience by exposing the UAE's previously secret longing for a fifth generation fighter. Hence:

Dubai 09: UAE reveals fifth-generation fighter ambitions
A top United Arab Emirates military leader aspires to obtain a fifth-generation fighter in the very near term, suggesting a potential new sales coup for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

"I hope that within a couple years the UAE, like many other countries, will have a fifth-generation fighter," says Brig Gen Ibrahim Naser Alalawi, deputy commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence. Alalawi was speaking at the Dubai International Air Chiefs conference held yesterday morning at Dubai's Knowledge Village Conference Centre.

Lockheed's F-35 is expected to be the only fifth-generation fighter available for sale for perhaps another decade. The Chinese J-12 and the Russian/Indian PAK-FA remain in the early stages of development.

The UAE has previously not been named among the several countries - including the UK, Australia and Israel - planning to buy the first export F-35s scheduled for delivery after 2013.

#DXB:09 Watch F-22 flying display at Dubai (videos)

2009-11-15T12:03:24Z

The US Air Force showed off the always crowd-pleasing Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the 2:58 pm slot at the Dubai Air Show today. There are a few moments, especially in the first minute, when I lost track of the aircraft, but bear with me. I don't think I missed any big shots, like the F-22's famous J-turn, for example. Please enjoy.

#DXB:09 Watch F-22 flying display at Dubai (videos)

2009-11-15T12:03:24Z

The US Air Force showed off the always crowd-pleasing Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the 2:58 pm slot at the Dubai Air Show today. There are a few moments, especially in the first minute, when I lost track of the aircraft, but bear with me. I don't think I missed any of big shots, like the F-22's famous J-turn, for example. Please enjoy.

#DXB:09 Watch F-22 flying display at Dubai (videos)

2009-11-15T12:03:24Z

The US Air Force showed off the always crowd-pleasing Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the 2:58 pm slot at the Dubai Air Show today. There are a few moments, especially in the first minute, when I lost track of the aircraft, but bear with me. I don't think I missed any of big shots, like the F-22's famous J-turn, for example. Please enjoy.

#DXB09: Lebanon Air Force re-invents UH-1 Huey as bomber

2009-11-15T05:05:08Z

DUBAI -- Lebanon's air force officials on Saturday revealed making a desperate modification to a Bell Helicopter UH-1 Huey to drop bombs amidst a bloody war against a barricaded terrorist haven in 2007.

The Lebanese military resorted to the "Huey bomber" idea after a failed attempt to restore Hawker Hunter jets to flying status. Lebanon's Hunters have been parked for more than 20 years since being crippled during Lebanon's long civil war ending in 1990.

In May, 2007, fighting erupted between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants barricaded inside Naher Al Bared, a populous Palestinian refugee camp. The siege dragged on for three months, killing 130 people and wounding more than 1,500.

By August, the terrorist group had been isolated into a small area of the camp measuring 250m long by 200m wide, a Lebanese officer identified only as Lt Col Yassine told the Dubai International Air Chiefs conference.

At that time, Lebanon's post-civil war air force was limited to just four Robinson R-44 helicopter trainers, a handful of UH-1s and Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopters recently donated by the United Arab Emirates.

Lacking proper bomb-dropping aircraft, Lebanese officers hatched a plan to modify the Huey with a bomb release system. The modifications fitted a mix of bombs, ranging from 50kg to 400kg. The air force also calculated the precise envelope required to hit targets within a minimum range for accuracy.

The release envelope for the UH-1 bomber release was extremely tight. The pilot had to fly at precisely 90kts forward air speed and above 500m (1,500ft), Yassine said. Even a slight deviation from the speed and altitude parameters could throw off accuracy by several meters, he added.

In one month, Lebanese UH-1s performed 98 bombing sorties against the Fatah al-Islam haven inside the camp. The bombing opened up paths through the rubble of the camp for Lebanese infantry and armoured units to advance, Yassine said. By 2 September, fighting inside the camp had ceased, as the last remnants of Fatah al-Islam had been killed or surrendered.

#DXB09: China's L-15 armed trainer makes Dubai debut

2009-11-13T11:35:11Z

China

's latest aerospace export candidate - the L-15 Falcon advanced jet trainer -- will be on full display at the Dubai Air Show, a rare glimpse of the supersonic aircraft outside its home country.

The L-15, a product of Hongdu Aviation and a look-alike of the Yakovlev Yak-130, is making the rounds of major air shows seeking its first export order. Its appearance in Dubai follows the two-seat jet's debut at the MAKS air show in Moscow three months ago.

Since entering flight test in 2006, the L-15 has been linked to sales discussions in China, Russia and Venezuela. The Middle East could prove fertile ground for potential sales. Jordan, in particular, is looking for a new lead-in trainer as it receives upgraded F-16s. Recent F-16 fighter sales in Oman, and requirements for new fighters in Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar also could attract interest in China's L-15.

The L-15 that joins the flying display in Dubai is likely one of the first three prototypes powered by ZMKB Progress DV-2 engine. Hongdu has selected Ukraine's Ivchenko-Progress AI-222-25F engine for production versions.

As Hongdu travels to the Middle East seeking export orders, the status of the L-15 inside China remains uncertain.

The L-15 is competing with the Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation JL-9 to win a contract to supply and advanced lead-in jet trainer for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Perhaps seeking to mitigate the risk of a contract loss, Hongdu has started publicly discussing new variants of the L-15, including one-seat, armed and naval versions.