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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 2735.PDF
DEFENCE Kongsberg's proposal for low-level air defence of Norwegian air bases is based on vertical-launch Sea Sparrow missiles, Norway—missiles or more F-16s? The Royal Norwegian Air Force has renewed its search for a surface-to-air missile system to protect its airfields. A decision is now expected in April 1983. Among the alter natives are the British Aero space Rapier, Euromissile Roland, Kongsberg Sparrow, and Raytheon Improved Hawk. A further option is the purchase of additional P-16s for air defence. Norwegian company Kongsberg Vapenfabrikk is proposing a Sparrow-based system using existing com ponents: vertical-launch RIM- 7M Sea Sparrows in Kongs- berg-built box launcher's, Saab-Scania SBAT III six- wheeled all-terrain vehicle, and modified Kongsberg shipboard fire control system with Ericsson Giraffe search radar. One of the options is a scaled-down Improved Hawk with Giraffe radar in place of the pulse and continuous- wave acquisition radars. The resulting reduction in range might be acceptable consider ing the horizon limitations of Norway's mountainous terrain. The emphasis appears to have shifted from airfield point defence to area defence. Improved Hawk was the favoured system until the Ser vice decided to restart its eval uation. The US Marine Corps is to stockpile equipment in cluding Improved Hawk in Norway, and the Air Force has been offered the option of leasing these missiles. A Norwegian study in the early 1970s rejected missiles for area defence because of the country's difficult terrain. The result was an order for 72 F-16s for both area defence and anti-invasion missions. This left the airfields at Andoya, Bardufoss, Bodo, Evenes, Orland, and Vaernes undefended by missiles, and the search began for a point defence system to comple ment 40mm anti-aircraft artillery. The requirement emphasises nuclear,biological, and chemical survivability of the mobile launchers. Complicating the selection procedure is the tailing off of F-16 offset work in 1984. The current agreement covers 998 aircraft, 348 for four Euro pean air forces and 650 for the US Air Force. The USA is offering its European partners work on follow-on USAF F-16s if they decide by early 1983 to buy additional fighters. The Netherlands has al ready ordered an initial batch of follow-on F-16s. Belgium looks set to follow suit, al though timing might be a problem. Denmark has set aside funds for long-lead items, but Norway has made no provision for additional F-16s. Up to £150 million is to be set aside in 1983 for low-level air defence, and this could be diverted from missiles to air craft. UK MoD shoots down Roland claims The UK Ministry of Defence refutes claims by Euromissile that a Roland surface-to-air missile system shot down four Harriers and forced Britain to abandon low-level attacks on Port Stanley airfield. A single trailer-mounted Roland fire unit was deployed by the Argentinians in the Falklands and is said by Euro missile to have fired eight of its ten missiles. The fire unit is now in the UK at RAE Bed ford. Euromissile claims that Roland shot down four Har riers and damaged a fifth. The UK MoD confirms the loss of five Harriers to ground fire, but says that only one is be lieved to have been destroyed by a Roland missile. "Three Harriers were shot down by 35mm anti-aircraft fire and another so badly damaged by small arms fire that the pilot ejected over the sea," the MoD says. The statement continues: "Roland did not cause low- level attacks on targets around Stanley to be abandoned—they continued throughout the campaign, and indeed a low-level RAF attack was called off at the very last moment as the Argentinian | troops around Stanley raised white flags." Laser Maverick successful Operational evaluation of the laser-guided Hughes AGM- 65E Maverick is successful, says the US Marine Corps. Of 15 test shots, 14 were hits and one "partially successful". The tests included "no easy shots", say the Marines. Six of the missile's targets were designated by Marines on the ground, using Hughes modular universal laser equip ment (Mule). This is a combination of the AN/ PAQ-1 laser designator and the AN/GVS-5 hand-held la ser rangefinder co-mounted on a tripod. All the Mavericks were launched by a Grumman A-6E Intruder equipped with a target recognition attack multisensor (Tram), but the last nine designations were made by Rockwell OV-10 Broncos, including target designation for a ripple- launch of two missiles against a moving seaborne target. The tests also included inflight-selectable laser cod ing and missile fuzing; maxi mum range shots; low-level, high-speed launches; and operation in the smoke and dust of a battlefield environ ment. Laser Maverick is scheduled for initial low-rate production next year pending completion of further oper ational evaluation tests. MX accident kills four Four men have been killed while clearing up 50,0001b of solid rocket fuel, left over from an explosion during an MX stage-two engine test on November 17 at the Arnold Test Centre, Tullahoma, Ten nessee. The accident occurred on November 27 as three engineers were cutting up lumps of fuel at the bottom of an underground test cell. About 20,0001b of fuel had already been removed. A fourth man was observing the operation from an elevator 70ft up the 250ft-deep, lOOft-wide silo. During the work, a flash fire occurred which ignited the fuel. Other persons on the site said the silo erupted like a huge firework in an instanta neous flash with tremendous heat. Three of the dead men were employed by Aerojet Strategic Propulsion, the other by Sverdrup Tech nology. A safety officer and 15 firefighters were overcome by fumes during the ljhr fight to extinguish the ensuing fire. Two of them were hospi talised, but have recovered. Battleship is back The battleship New Jersey (BB-62) is scheduled to re- commission into the US Navy on December 28, after com pleting her third and last sea trial off the US West Coast. The ship will be returned to the shipyard later for the fit ment of armoured-box-type launchers for General Dynamics BGM-109 Toma hawks. FLIGHT International, 18 December 1982 1737
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