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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 0421.PDF
RIGHT" International, 21 March 1974 Mirage F.ls for Kuwait? The Kuwaiti Air Force is believed to be on the point of ordering 20 Dassault Mirage F.l intercepters, together with a number of Aero- spatiale/Westland Gazelles and Pumas. Armament for the Mirages is likely to include Matra R.550 Magic short-range air-to-air missiles and, later, Super 530s. Kuwait is also believed to be interested in Thomson- CSF Crotale surface-to-air missiles, AMX30 tanks and radars. A possible further acquisition is a fleet of French-built, Exocet-armed fast patrol boats. Iran has recently ordered six such vessels for operation in the Gulf (Flight, March 7, page 314) and will start taking delivery this year of four BHC BH7 Mk 5A hovercraft, which are likely to be armed with Exocet or Harpoon. Viking enters fleet The first Lockheed S-3A Vikings are now entering service with the United States Navy, with the first squadron due to be embarked on board the air craft carrier USS John F. Kennedy in July. The search range of the aircraft is about three times that of the Grum man S-2 Tracker that it will gradually be replacing in shipboard operations, and the twin General Electric TF34s double the ceiling, cruising and dash speeds of the Tracker. Lockheed has recently said that the Viking is designed for a life of be tween 15 and 20 years and that it has plenty of growth potential built into it. The maximum design gross weight (52,5001b), compared with the current operational gross weight (43,5001b), provides for a 20 per cent increase in payload, which would allow consider able additional sensors or weapons without any airframe changes. Air frame and engine modifications are thought to be capable of increasing volume and power by up to about 50 per cent, and the basic electrical sys tem has been sized to provide a mini mum of 30 per cent excess power to cope with future growth. Provision for the Omega navigation system and fleet satellite communica tions has been included and the acoustic and central computer systems have been designed to facilitate adaptation to new passive and direc tional-command active sonobuoys in the future. The capacity of the com puter can probably be raised by about a half. The Viking will be carrying Harpoon air-to-surface missiles when they come into service next year or in 1976. It has been confirmed that the Viking is being offered to West Ger- mi many as a replacement for its Breguet Atlantics from the late 1970s, but it seems likely that the European air craft will be required to remain in ser vice for some time after that, particu larly if modifications to the proposed Mk 2 standard are carried out. South Vietnamese F-5Es The South Vietnamese Air Force took delivery of its first four Northrop F-5Es on March 13. Under the terms of the Paris ceasefire agreement weapons can be replaced on a one- for-one basis, and the VNAF will retire part of its 200-strong F-5A force in return for 126 F-5Es. Meanwhile, North Vietnam's anti aircraft defences have been strengthened by the introduction of SA-6 Gainfuls. Twenty-four anti-air craft regiments, equipped with SA-2, SA-3 and SA-6, are reported to be operational. Argus goes ahead A prototype Argus battlefield sur veillance system is to be built, follow ing an agreement signed by the French and German Governments on March 6. Argus (Autonomes Radar Gefaechtsfeld Uberwachungs System) consists of a Dornier Kiebitz tetheied rotor platform which carries aloft an Orphee radar being developed by LCT. The vehicle is controlled from a seven-ton cross-country truck and can operate at a height of 300m for more than 12hr. A board of directors representing both governments has been set up to co-ordinate work by the contractors and military establishments. Dornier is responsible for system integration and testing. Kiebitz development models have made more than 900 flights, totalling more than lOOhr. The prototype Ferranti A.F530 sight, for use with BAC's Hawkswing anti-tank missile, has been installed in a Westland Scout (see news item). The viewing head protrudes through the helicopter's roof, and the thumbstick con troller can be seen on the lower left Based on Bardafoss, 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle, Wessex Vs of 845 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons, RN, have been practising snow landings among the peaks of northern Norway. They were taking part in Arctic warfare training during Exercise Clockwork Hawkswing sight delivered Ferranti's Aircraft Equipment De partment has delivered the prototype AF530 gyro-stabilised sight to the British Aircraft Corporation, which has installed it in a Westland Scout being used for trials of the company's Hawk swing anti-tank missile (see photo graph). The AF530, which will be used for target identification and guidance of the command-to-line-of-sight mis sile, is a new development but bene fits from AF120 experience. The sight is installed in the cabin with its head, which can be rotated through 240°, protruding through the canopy. Magnification of X 2 • 5 or X10 can be selected by means of a trigger switch mounted on a thumbstick used
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