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Aviation History
1980
1980 - 2623.PDF
980 < _ *" f«M AerMacchi's new c/ose air-support aircraft, the M&.339K Veltro 2, has two fuselage-mounted 30mm Defa cannon and carries a 4,0001b warload on six underwing pylons. The Veltro was a Macchi fighter of the Second World War RAF Pembrokes, Devons to stay THE RAF's order for 14 British Aerospace Jetstream 31s will not now be placed, following the three-month moratorium placed on new defence contracts, announced by the UK Sec retary of State for Defence on August 8 (see Flight, August 2, page 406). The UK Ministry of Defence says that the Jetstream 31 will meet the the RAF's Air Staff Requirement 408, to replace Devon and Pembroke liaison aircraft in full. It is unlikely that the order will be placed at the end of the defence spending moratorium. The MoD says that the RAF will be operating its Devons and Pembrokes for "a long time yet." BAe's Scottish Division is continuing the Jetstream 31 programme and is awaiting futher clarification of the situation from the MoD. Vertical launch for ELCM? UNITED STATES NAVY is consider ing a list of contractors who responded to a Navy request for proposals on an external launch cruise missile (ELCM) system for SSN688 Los Angeles-class submarines. The ELCM launch system will consist of eight to 12 vertical tubes installed in the for ward main ballast tank area of the boat. In this position the tubes will be outside the submarine's pressure hull and would not interfere with the stan dard torpedo tubes. A torpedo tube extension would change the sub marine's length, and therefore its speed and acoustic signature. The ELCMs would have a conventional warhead and would not be affected by Salt limitations. There are 32 Los Angeles class submarines in the USN. German F-4s to train in Canada FOLLOWING talks between Canada and West Germany, it has been agreed that six Luftwaffe F-4s will take part in field trials from Goose Bay, Labra dor. The field trials will provide ex perience on which to base a perma nent training centre in Canada for the German Air Force. The trials will take place between August 24 and September 26. The move to Labrador has followed mounting pressure on the Luftwaffe from the German public to curtail low flying training in Germany. If the field trials are successful and a permanent centre is to be set up, a formal contract will have to be drawn up between the two Govern ments. The present agreement is on an air force to air force basis. FLIGHT International, 6 September 1980 Inflation hits F-16 and F-18 INFLATION has pushed the US Navy McDonnell Douglas F-18 programme cost to $29,700 million. The US Air Force General Dynamics F-16 pro gramme cost has now reached $18,800 million. Inflation pushed up the price of 46 major US weapons systems by $4,500 million between March and June this year. Cuts in procurement and support equipment reduced this from $4,700 million. Increases on the programmes most affected are: • CG47 Aegis air-defence cruiser— $800 million • McDonnell Douglas F-18—$585 million • General Dynamics F-16—$287 million • Sikorsky/IBM Lamps III—$176 million. Israel receives RU-21s ISRAEL has taken delivery of a number of ex-US Army refurbished RU-21 surveillance aircraft. Supplied under the terms of the Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, the RU-21s will be used to monitor troop movements in the Sinai. The US already has a sophisti cated surveillance system deployed in Sinai to warn Israel of any threaten ing troop movements. The RU-21s may be used to receive information from US sensors or from an independent system emplaced by the Israelis before withdrawal. The US used the RU-21 extensively in South East Asia to monitor and relay data provided by the Igloo White remote sensor system. Hold up on Spanish fighter SPAIN'S Future Aircraft for Combat and Attack (Faca) programme for re-equipping the Spanish Air Force with 144 fighters at a cost of £1,169 million is held up in discussions on industrial offsets. The inter-minister ial commission working on the pro ject is now expected to publish its first findings in October. At present the F-18A and F-18L appear to be in a stronger position than the F-16. Radar update for A-6E NORDEN SYSTEMS has been awarded a $5 million US Navy contract to pro duce 295 Airborne Moving Target Indicators (AMTIs) to be installed in the Grumman A-6E Intruder's AN/ APQ-148 radar. AMTI will enhance the radar's ability to detect moving targets. First deliveries will be in July 1981, and fleet installation will be complete by early 1983.
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