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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 2347.PDF
FLIGHT International, 7 October 1978 France plans sixth missile submarine FRANCE has decided to build a sixth missile^arnied nuclear submarine, to be launched next year. When it be comes operational in 1985 the new vessel should guarantee the presence of three operational boats on patrol at any one time. By contrast, the Royal Navy has only four mjssilei-anned sub- marines, with no more than two, and sometimes only one, on station at any given time. Inflexible will be the first of an intermediate class of ballistic-missile submarine which will fill the gap be^ tween the five present vessels and a new class planned for the final decade of this century. It will be armed with the MIRVed M4 submarine-launched ballistic missile. Next year's defence budget will contain Fr220 million (£24-5 million) for the vessel. President Giscard d'Estaing has thus ended a long-standing disagree ment between his government and the Gaullist party, which opposed the decision, reached three years ago on the grounds of economy, to postpone a sixth ballistic-missile submarine. General Vanbreneersch, head of the President's military staff, has argued that had Inflexible been started any earlier it would have become opera tional with the present M20 missile and would have had to be refitted later with the newer M4. The new submarine and the MIRV-equipped missile should now come into service at the same time. 1295 : • \ SH-60B mock-up goes to sea PRELIMINARY shipboard compati bility trials of the Sikorsky SH-60B Lamps helicopter have been carried out aboard the frigate USS Oliver Hazard Perry and the destroyer USS Arthur W. Radford. An engineering mock-up spent two days aboard the frigate at Mayport Naval Station, Florida, followed by a further two aboard the destroyer at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia. The trials were intended to demon strate : • deck handling and securing pro cedures • folding of rotor and tail pylon, followed by stowage within the ship's hangars and measurement of critical clearances • opening of all access panels, doors and work platforms • replacement of major components such as engines, main blades, tail rotor, radome and avionics sub-units • loading of sonobuoys and tor pedoes and other mission equipment. Since a mock-up rather than an actual aircraft was used, some of these operations could only be simu lated. BILL MUGFORD BILL MUGFORD, deputy director of SBAC since 1970, has died at the age of 55. He was responsible for the planning and presentation of the last four Farnborough Shows and was on duty throughout this year's event. Mr Mugford joined the RAF in 1941 for a service career which spanned almost 30 years. After serving as a flying instructor, an intelligence officer and in administrative posts, he be came Assistant Air Attache in Wash ington in 1965. For three years until 1970 he commanded the Central Flying School, Little Rissington. Piead for buoyant de Havilland Canada . separate three-year agreements expired this summer. According to the * company, it is the distribution and K allocation of cost-of-living allowances, rather than the size of DHC's offer to 1 the workers, which are at the heart i of the dispute. Meanwhile, DHC's priorities are to keep up worldwide product support and then to maintain delivery schedules. Up to this month, no deliveries had been delayed. Twin Otter sales are now up to 635 (see Flight for June 18, 1978, page 1847). Apart from the order for 10 from the Libyan Government, other recent customers include: Helicopter Rental (UK) 2; Schreiner 2; Brymon 1; Air Botswana 1; Rio Airways 1; Metro 1; Lesotho Airways 2; Royal Nepal 3; and the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Civil Aviation 1. The first Libyan aircraft, from an original order for four, will be delivered early next month. The remaining 13 will be delivered over the following 12 months. Production rate now exceeds four aircraft a month and could be in creased to six a month by about October 1979, although the current 16-month waiting period for PT6 engines could cause delays. The Twin Otter seen at Farnborough has now embarked on a two-month sales tour taking in India, Thailand, South Korea, Abu Dhabi, Iran and Iraq. Four Dash 7s have been delivered (one each to Spantax, Wardair, Rocky Mountain and Greenlandair). The remaining 10 on order will go to: Canadian Defence Forces 2; Canadian Coastguard 2; Rocky Mountain 1; Greenlandair 2; Wardair 1; and an unnamed customer 2. The CDF air craft were due for delivery to a unit in Germany this November, but this schedule may now slip. The prototype Dash 7 is touring Austria, Italy, Libya and Tunisia. Flight understands that a Far East tour, including a visit to Australia, may be planned for early next year (see Flight last week, page 1152). After this the aircraft would return to DHC for fitment of production engines, possibly followed by a tour of South America. After completion of the flight-test programme the two prototypes may be brought up to production standard. Although they are slightly different from later aircraft, the pair may be offered at a knockdown price to operators who are interested in just two aircraft. Most likely marketplace is seen as North America, where the best possible product support would be available. Current price of a Dash 7 is around $4 million, and recent production rate has been running at V2 to two a month. Buffalo sales approach 100, and pro duction authorisation has recently been extended by 24 units to 126. The Farnborough demonstration aircraft has now been delivered to the Sudanese. Three of the four proto types remain in service, performing research duties in the US.
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