FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1981
1981 - 0602.PDF
644 FLIGHT International, 7 March 1981 United States continued radar is mounted in an underfuselage radome. Other mission options available for the Learjet include low-light TV, forward-looking infrared, multispectral linescanner, sonobuoy processing, side- looking radar and electronic support measures. Customer: Finland 3. GENERAL DYNAMICS P-lll/FB-111 US Air Force FB-111A strategic bombers are being modified under a $300 million programme to install satellite communications, stall inhibitor, ALE-62 radar warning re ceivers and ALQ-137 electronic counter- measures. Of the 76 FB-lllAs built, 65 will be updated. Australia is to buy four F-lllAs to replace F-lllCs lost since 24 aircraft were delivered in 1973. Four F-lllCs have been converted to reconnaissance aircraft with sensors in the bomb bay. The stretched FB-111B/C proposal is one manned bomber option now being studied by the US Air Force. The aircraft is powered by two GE F101 turbofans giving twice the sea-level dash range of the FB-111A for increased pay load. The study is to be completed by March 15 this year. Customers: Australia 24 C, 4 A; USA 141 A, 94 E, 96 D, 106 F, 76 FB-111A. F-16 Fighting Falcon Latest customers for the F-16 multirole fighter are Egypt (40 aircraft) and South Korea (36 initially). The F-16 is on the three-air craft Austrian Air Force shortlist alongside the F-16/79 (see below) and Dassault-Breguet Mirage 50; 24 aircraft are required to replace Saab 105s. Aus tralia, having narrowed the fighter choice to the F-16 and F-18, has post poned a decision on the 75-aircraft pro gramme until later this year. Spain, seeking 144 new fighters and evaluat ing the F-16, F-18 and F-18L, has also delayed its decision. The US Air Force has contracted Westinghouse to incorporate significant improvements in the F-16's APG-66 pulse-Doppler radar, including a pro grammable signal processor and dual- mode transmitter, the latter providing optimum pulse repetition frequency (from low to high) for each radar mode. The first improved radars will be installed in late 1983 and will prepare the F-16 for the beyond-visual-range Amraam advanced medium-range air-to- air missile, providing increased detec tion range, faster engagement, track- while-scan and Doppler beam sharpen ing for raid assessment (separating a close formation into individual target aircraft). The radar improvements will be accompanied by structural and wiring changes to the F-16. A new, increased area tailplane will be fitted for ease of production (titanium has been eliminated) and increased e.g. travel with external stores. Intake hard- points will be added for the Lantirn night-attack pod and a possible bolt-on terrain-following radar. Customers: Belgium 116; Denmark 58; Egypt 40; Israel 75; The Netherlands 124, 222 total planned; Norway 72; USA 650, 1,388 total planned. F-16/79 Developed as a private venture to meet the demand for an inter mediate, air-defence oriented, export fighter to replace the F-5E, the turbojet- Crumman E-2C Hawkeye powered F-16/79 will be available for delivery from 1983. A single develop ment aircraft, modified from a pre- series F-16B two-seater, has completed an intensive two-month, 70hr company flight-test programme and is now avail able for customer demonstration flights. Substitution of the 18,0001b-thrust General Electric J79 for the 25,0001b thrust Pratt & Whitney FlOO makes the aircraft more suitable for those nations unable to afford—or barred from receiv ing—frontline aircraft such as the F-16. Unit cost is about $1 -2 million less than the F-16. reflecting the difference in price between the J79 and FlOO. Avionics and systems are basically similar to F-16 equipment. Handling is virtually identical, pilots report. GRUMMAN A-6 Intruder/EA-6B Prowler The 1982 US defence budget requests funds for four US Navy A-6E Intruder shipborne all-weather attack aircraft, 12 having been added by Congress to the 1981 budget. Most aircraft are being fitted with the target recognition attack multisensor (Tram) turret which com bines forward-looking infrared with a laser tracker/illuminator. Some In truders are being converted to KA-6D tankers, retaining a secondary fair- weather attack role. US Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler shipborne electronic warfare aircraft are to be modernised. The ICAP-2 electronics update, planned for incorporation by 1983, includes software and display improvements to the ALQ-99 ECM system. The Prowler can carry five pods containing a total of ten jamming transmitters. Each pod covers one of seven frequency bands. The two elec tronic countermeasures officers in the rear cockpit control the jammers using the several modulation techniques available. Customers: USA 500 Intruder (all variants), 90 Prowler. E-2C Hawkeye Principally a carrier- based airborne early warning aircraft, the E-2C is operated by export cus tomers from land bases. Israel has used the aircraft to vector fighters onto Syrian interceptors encountered in Lebanese airspace—with devastating results. The APS-125 radar processing system automatically detects, identifies and tracks aircraft, land vehicles and ships. More than 600 tracks can be maintained over land and water. With a radar range approaching 300 miles from its patrol height at about 30,000ft. the E-2C has a 4hr patrol duration 200 miles from base. Additional fuel tanks in the outer wing sections can increase this to 9hr. An in-flight refuelling probe can be added. France and Australia are evaluating the aircraft. Customers: Israel 4; Japan 4; USA 77 planned. F-14A Tomcat US Congress has added six F-14 air superiority fighters to the 24 requested in 1981 and a further 30 are sought in 1982. To the Tomcat's traditional roles of maritime air- superiority, anti-bomber/cruise-missile defence and tactical air support of amphibious forces must now be added photographic reconnaissance. A number of aircraft in each squadron are being wired to carry the tactical airborne reconnaissance pod system (Tarps). The pod houses both frame and pano ramic cameras and an infrared line- scanner for day/night clear-air recon naissance. Tarps is now operational and preliminary studies of a side-looking radar for all-weather reconnaissance are now under way. Improvements planned for the F-14 include a longer-range Phoenix missile with digital electronics and inertial platform and the AWG-9 radar is to be fitted with a multifunction radar dis play, enhanced radar data processor and special-purpose digital signal pro cessor. A single F-14 will be re-engined with the General Electric F101 deriva tive fighter engine for flight-tests this
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
