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Aviation History
1979
1979 - 0069.PDF
FLIGHT International, 13 January 1979 67 Shorts takes £30 million turn for the better SHORTS has now taken orders for thirty-four 330s. Chairman Sir George Leitch tells Flight that he expects 150 to be in the order-book by the end of 1980. In the last 12 months 22 have been sold, worth approximately £1 million each. Current production rate of this commuter airliner, which according to aircraft division execu tive director Alec Roberts "has now really arrived," is one a month. As Flight goes to press, two more orders —one export and the other domestic —are expected. The 330 was launched to break even after 100 aircraft. Leitch be lieves that Britain's third-level airline industry is "suddenly taking off," trading up from aircraft like the Twin Otter. TAIWAN has announced plans to increase defence spending beyond the present level of around 40 per cent of the national budget. At an emergency meeting of the Nationalist Party Central Committee last month, Prime Minister Sun Yun-suan announced that Taiwan intended to "step up pro curement of modern weapons, strengthen our capability to make major weapons, and develop new types of naval vessels, mines, heavy artillery and long-range missiles so that we can establish a self-sustaining defence industry." More than $500 million of US military aid is in the pipeline, and the Carter administra tion has promised that deliveries will continue despite US recognition of mainland China. Taiwan has also discussed possible arms purchases with Israel and France, though both nations are likely to insist on hard cash in payment. According to the Pentagon, supplies of weaponry to Taiwan account for only around 7 per cent of the total of Shorts' chairman says that in the last three months of 1978 the com pany's business took a £30 million turn for the better, with orders worth more than £70 million won by the company's three main divisions—air craft, structures and missiles—since this time last year. This, he says, is a confident background to the Govern ment's five-year investment plan of £60 million announced last month. The 330 dominates the company's business, and the chairman expects 40 more aircraft to be sold in the current year. His only fear is that the aircraft "could almost absorb too much of our production and manage ment resources." This is why Shorts is determined to remain in the missile, military and structures fields. The US military aid delivered between 1950 and the present day. Although the US has ended its 30- year-old defence treaty with Taiwan, it will continue to provide a wide range of weaponry, including a further 107 Northrop F-5 fighters and 500 Hughes Maverick missiles. But Taiwan's request for F-4, F-5G or F-16 fighters remains stalled. Equipment known to be on Taiwan's shopping list includes the F-16, AIM-9L Sidewinder, Dragon anti-tank missile, Improved Chapparal and the F-18L Hornet. Deployment of the F-5E force is virtually complete, according to local sources, but doubts about long-term supply spare parts and the effect of a possible Arab oil embargo have led the Government to reject Israel's Kfir-C2 fighter. Last October the Taiwanese Army dis played the locally designed Hsiung Feng surface - to - surface bombard ment missile. The weapon is roughly equivalent to the US Honest John artillery rocket. "heavenly missile twins," Seacat and Tigercat, continue in production. Blow pipe continues to attract growing foreign interest, says Leitch. The Skyvan continues in production at a rate of about eight a year, with 126 sold so far and a new sale about to be announced. Shorts is bidding for airframe elements of the Boeing 757, probably including podding of the Rolls-Royce RB.211-535 engines, and is pressing Rolls-Royce and Boeing for decisions. Shorts is making 747 components (undercarriage doors) at a rate of seven ship-sets a month and is, managing director Philip Foreman claims, still able to compete with American costs and to have a "much higher level of productivity" than other British airframe groups. Grumman accused of Iran payoffs GRUMMAN has been accused of making secret payments to Iranian sales agents for their assistance in "influencing the Government of Iran to purchase the F-14 Tomcat." The US Securities and Exchange Commis sion has filed a civil law suit against the company, alleging that in 1974 Grumman agreed to pay more than $24 million in commissions. The SEC has charged the company with defrauding or deceiving its share holders by failing to disclose details of its foreign payments. Grumman has neither confirmed or denied the allegations. The company has now voluntarily filed a detailed descrip tion of the transactions, and has agreed to perform its own internal investigation, the results of which will be made available to the SEC. US Navy airlifts injured Russians FIVE injured survivors of a Soviet airliner crash in Antarctica were flown to New Zealand aboard a US Navy C-130 Hercules on January 5. Their 11-14 crashed last week after take-off from a research station at Moldezhnaya, killing three of the 14 persons on board. Six survivors received medical treatment on the spot, but none of the available Soviet transports had sufficient range for the seven-hour flight to Dunedin, New Zealand, with the more badly injured. A US/Soviet medical team travelled on the Her cules. F-16 No 80002, the second production example and the first with Belgian-built wings, has entered USAF service at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Belgium will take delivery of the first European- built F-16 later this month Taiwan seeks arms independence
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