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Aviation History
1969
1969 - 0163.PDF
The 1,000th T-38 Northrop Talon trainer taking off from Edwards AFB, Calif, for Randolph AFB, San Antonio, Texas, where it is to be used in the Training Command pro gramme ("Flight," December 26, 1968). T-38s have been in USAF service for seven years BRITAIN'S FAR EAST ROLE FORMER UK AVIATION MINISTER Mr Julian Amery told a Royal United Service Institution audience on Wednesday, Jan uary 15, that perfectly good plans existed in the Ministry of Defence for a mix of airborne and seaborne power in the Indian Ocean should Britain continue her Far East presence after 1971. Speaking on Britain's Military Role in the 1970s and indicating that he was conveying Conservative Party policy, Mr Amery argued strongly, against a political and economic background, for the continuance of a British presence in the Gulf and the Far East. He said that the leaders df Malaysia and Singa pore were keeping their options open on the possibility of the British still being there after 1971: RAF Tengah would be available until that date, so would RAAF Butterworth; and the dockyard at Singapore, under civilian management, would still be available for RN ships. Mr Amery gave instances over the past ten years of where British power deploy ment had been effective in preventing local conflicts, for instance in the case of Indonesian confrontation and the pos sible Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He quoted the former Minister of Defence for the Royal Navy, Mr Christopher Mayhew, as saying that the Conservative programme would cost £300 million per year more; but referring to the returns which Britain got from trade and invest ments all over the world, he said tjiat the present Government had admitted that its Persian Gulf oil revenues alone amounted to £250 million a year. Japan's 104 F-4Es A TOTAL OF 104 McDonnell Phantom F-4Es, enough to equip four squadrons, is to be manufactured in Japan by the 1976 fiscal year. This decision represents a compromise in budgetary negotiations between the Defence and Finance Minis tries. Originally the Defence Agency had planned the domestic production of 130 aircraft, enough for five squadrons, the compromise meaning that the Agency will have to reduce the size of its build up plan by 26 aircraft, or one whole combat unit. It is believed that officials Sukhoi's latest single-seat intercepter, code-named "Flagon," landing after a test flight. First seen at the 1967 Domodedovo display, when ten examples were flown, this twin-jet Mach 2 aircraft is thought likely to replace the earlier Su-9 fighter. A minor modification on this particular aircraft is the enlarged fairing on the fin trailing edge did not insist on their original plan because if the return of the Okinawa Islands to Japan is decided upon a new situation would arise, in which the nation's defence plans would have to be altered and the number of Japan's back bone jet fighters would have to be increased. Bombing devices are being removed from the domestically produced F-4Es, making it clear to other countries that their purpose is only defensive. RAF Jet Provost Order A CONTRACT FOR the supply of more than 100 new Jet Provost Mk 5 basic trainers for the Royal Air Force, placed by MinTech on behalf of the MoD, was announced by British Aircraft Corpora tion on Tuesday of last week, January 14 (Flight, Sensor, January 16). Describing the order, BAC said, "This follows the decision to replace the exist ing Mk 4 Jet Provost announced in the 1967 Defence Estimates. It supersedes the present interim arrangements and marks the successful conclusion of formal contractual negotiations. The Jet Provost Mk 5 is identical, save for the engine, to the BAC 167 Strikemaster, which has so far attracted export orders for 76 aircraft, worth £12i million. The addition of over 100 aircraft to BAC Preston Division's production line at Warton will mean a powerful sales boost to the Strikemaster in which a number of countries are known to be interested." Austrian AF Skyvans FIRST MILITARY ORDERS have been received for the Short Skyvan. Two have been ordered by the Austrian Ministry of Defence with potential further orders for eight aircraft. They are to be delivered this summer and will be used by the Austrian Air Force for carrying pas sengers and freight, aerial survey and para-dropping of troops and supplies. Shorts state that "since Austria has many short airstrips in its mountainous areas the Skyvan's exceptional STOL per formance and its single-engine capa bility are points which particularly com mend it to the Austrian military staff."
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