FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1980
1980 - 3440.PDF
FLIGHT International, IS November 1980 US Navy faces SLBM gap THE US Navy is facing a "missile gap" caused by the retirement of ten Polaris-equipped submarines before introduction of Ohio-class submarines equipped with Trident submarine- launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Eight of the Navy's Polaris boats will be converted to attack submarines and two scrapped. A Pentagon spokesman tells Flight that the Polaris boats are vulnerable because they are in herently noisy, also they are too ex pensive to run. Each reactor refuel ling costs $100 million. The USS Ohio is five months behind schedule and will not now enter ser vice until June 29 next year. The US Navy says that the delay will not affect the schedules of the remainder of the Ohio class. The five Polaris- equipped boats remaining in service, based at Guam, are due to be con verted to attack craft over the next 14 months but the Navy is retaining the option to continue running all or some of them as SSBNs. The spokesman continues, "The relevant measure of the capability of the SSBN force is not the number of submarines, but the number of re entry vehicles and capability of mis siles, especially in range and accuracy, since these factors determine target coverage and survivability." The A3 version of Polaris has three warheads and a range of 2,500 n.m. Most of the Navy's SSBN fleet is now armed with either the 2,500 n.m. Poseidon C3 or the 4,000 n.m. Trident IC4 with up to 14 warheads. "Each of the Ohio-class submarines, with 24 launch tubes, will be able to attack more targets [almost 200] than the entire ten-boat Polaris force, at much longer ranges." The Pentagon denies that there has ever been a plan to replace Polaris boats on a one for one basis with Trident, and points out that not all Tridents will be fitted with 14 war heads. Under the terms of Salt II the USA is allowed to fit up to 14 multiple independently - targeted re-entry vehicles (Mirvs) to each missile be cause it has been tested with that number. Because of targeting require ments, range and destructive power, missiles will continue to be fitted with eight to ten Mirvs each. The fact remains that the US Navy's SLBM force will be reduced from the 41 it has been since 1967 to 31 until the Ohio goes on patrol in 1982—a temporary cut of 160 launching tubes. Passive Awacs locator ready for test THE US Air Force's Long Range Pas sive Location System (LRPLS) test aircraft, a modified Boeing EC-135, has been rolled out at Wright-Patter son AFB, Ohio. The EC-135 will begin flight-testing of the LRPLS from McChord AFB, Washington, later this month. LRPLS will detect and locate (in range and azimuth) airborne electromagnetic sources such as those emitted by airborne early warning aircraft. An E-3A Sentry will act as target during the test. Maj Steve Farris, LRPLS programme manager, says: "Since an Awacs-type aeroplane is rather noisy in terms of electro magnetic emissions, we hope we will be able to detect them before they pick us up, because we are in a pas sive mode." If successful, LRPLS will be inte grated into the avionics and fire con trol package of strategic aircraft. In addition to detecting hostile radar platforms, LRPLS information could be used to programme an air-to-air missile prior to launch. Casualties... • A West German Air Force F-104G Starfighter crashed in woods between Cologne and Briihl on October 17. The pilot ejected safely. • A Royal Air Force Harrier GR.3 of 4 Squadron, RAF Gutersloh, crashed on October 28, 19 miles north of Bit- burg. The Harrier suffered a bird strike while engaging an OV-10 Bronco during a dissimilar air combat training sortie. The pilot ejected safely. Casualties. „. • A Venezuelan Air Force C-130 Her cules crashed after take-off from Caracas Airport, Venezuela, on November 4. Six crewmembers were killed. • A Texas Air National Guard F-101 Voodoo of the 111th Fighter Inter ceptor Squadron crashed near its home base at Ellington, Texas, on October 23. Both crew members were killed. 1853 Hornets pass 2,500hr . . . MCDONNELL DOUGLAS F/A-IS Hornets have now accumulated more than 2,500 flying hours since the air craft's maiden flight in November 1978. At present the ten development and four production Hornets are in volved in development testing, the fourth of five US Navy preliminary evaluations and the initial operational test and evaluation (Iote) at the US Navy's Patuxent River air test centre in Maryland. The Iote phase is the service's first opportunity to evaluate Hornet in a squadron setting. The US Navy's test squadron, VX-4, is operat ing three production aircraft with McDonnell Douglas technical support. Later Iote programmes will take place at the Pacific Missile Test Centre at Point Mugu, California. . . . and achieve roll spec HORNET development aircraft num ber F8 is the first FT8 to receive roll-rate modifications and is demon strating roll performance equal to, or better than, specifications. The wing modifications include strengthen ing the aft areas of the inner and outer wings, increasing aileron sur face area and incorporating upward differential movement in the trailing- edge flaps. Aircraft Fl, F3 and F4 are currently receiving the same modifica tions. All production Hornets will have the modification incorporated either during assembly or by retrofit. Australia may allow armed B-52 staging AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Mal colm Fraser states that his country may allow US Air Force B-52s to carry nuclear weapons in Australia—- but only under the strict conditions of the US Government gaining the prior consent of, and disclosing de tails to, the Australian Government. "The Australian Government will have to be in agreement with tactical and strategic objectives of any US operation mounted from Australian soil" says Fraser. Australian Mirages now carry laser-guided bombs. In tests, a conventional 5001b bomb and a laser-guided store have been dropped simultaneously and aimed to fall 500m short of target. The smart bomb manoeuvred to score a direct hit. Of ten bombs released, the nearest was within 14m of the illuminated target
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
