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Aviation History
1983
1983 - 0056.PDF
<J mmsSSsSSm H i B S2I3J XT'- j! * [v -sWa JSTBEVAKfy !j:l:j'. ifUlJH'in hilj MipJH.[i<|ij SBa» SE-61 •i ,:1,j-i""'-.ilU&J^ uipf'ii^ g-' !is|kjii. tll 77us Swedish Coast Guard Cessna 402 has the first full SSC maritime reconnaissance fit. The side-looking radar under the nose is complemented by the IR/UV scanner amidships. Rear dorsal fuselage bump houses a Decca aerial Oil slick hunter for Netherlands Swedish Space Corporation's maritime surveillance system is being fitted in a Cessna 404 for delivery to the Netherlands in February. Swedair operates two SSC- equipped maritime surveillance Cessna 337s and a Cessna 402 on behalf of the Swedish Coast Guard, and Britain's De partment of Trade is investigating an in stallation in an Islander. Martinair will operate the Dutch aircraft. The main objective is detecting and examining oil slicks. Clean-up operations can then be carried out efficiently and evidence can be gleaned for use against ships illegally cleaning their tanks or leak ing oil. The sensors used are an LM Ericsson side-looking radar, a high- resolution infrared and ultraviolet linescanner, and an optical camera. The X-band synthetic-aperture side- looking radar (SLAR) works by detecting the reduction in sea clutter caused by an oil slick. The infrared guides the sensor operator to the areas of the slick where oil concentration is greatest—typically, 90 per cent of the oil is within 20 per cent of the slick. The ultraviolet is used for daytime mapping of the entire slick, and the two maps can be displayed next to each other. The SLAR has a range of up to 80km each side, and ground resolution is 75m. The 70kg unit can also be used to survey sea traffic, and for fishery protection, search and rescue, and ice mapping. SSC says that 15,000km2 an hour can be searched for oil slicks and lifeboats. Twice that area can be surveyed for small fishing vessels, and 60,000km2 an hour can be covered when looking for cargo ships. Ericsson has supplied the SLAR to Nor way, Mexico, Colombia, and Indonesia. As well as the sensors, the maritime sur veillance aircraft are fitted with two high- resolution visual cameras. Target location is calculated and displayed automatically. Digital cassette units can record up to 6hr of sensor documentation, along with air craft position. A Polaroid camera is used for a quick look at relevant data. Naviga tion is by Racal-Decca Tans, but Omega/VLF or Loran-C could be used. The complete equipment costs between $0.8 million and $1 million, depending on the options and the cost of modifying the chosen aircraft. SSC is working on five additions to the basic reconnaissance fit. The first is a TV camera, to provide real-time moving pic tures which would then be recorded on video tape. A gated-vision TV is also under development for night-time record ing of ships' names. By detecting the pig ment in the ship's paint, the device will prove the ship's whereabouts for potential prosecutions. Absolute proof can be obtained only in daytime at present. SSC plans to fly a data-link system next year which will transmit images directly to ships or land-based coastguards. A microwave radiometer is in prospect to measure the thickness of oil films. Those between 0.1mm and 1mm thick are usually the result of intentional pollution and the illegal cleaning of tanks. By Jan uary 1984, Swedish law will fine ship owners who pollute the sea intentionally in proportion to the quantity of oil, and the radiometer will provide evidence. More advanced systems capable of mea suring up to 10mm thicknesses will be used in deciding how to clean up the slick. In the long term, SSC hopes to develop a laser fluorosensor to distinguish between different types of oil. A laser with high energy in the ultraviolet region will induce a fluorescence in the oil slick; measure ment of the spectrum will determine whether the slick is a spillage of diesel, crude oil, or other heavy refined products—or simply a harmless gathering of fish oil or plankton. This will be used in the court proceedings, and to judge the clean-up operation. SSC intends to offer all the five improvements as options. The agency sees a fair export potential for its system; many countries have oil- spill problems in their waters. Sweden has successfully developed a system mainly because only one agency—the Coast Guard—is responsible for finding and re moving oil slicks, and detecting and prosecuting offenders. Philips updates Swedish Navy KV-107 helicopters Philips is to start updating the Swedish Navy's ten Boeing-Vertol/Kawasaki KV- 107s with RBS15 missile targeting and torpedo fire-control capability this year. The Navy intends to keep the KV-107s in service until the year 2000, and FFV is bidding for a major modification pro gramme which will include new engines, rotor blades, and main gearbox mod ifications, as well as major airframe over hauls. The three older KV-107Bs (Hkp 6B in Swedish use) will be brought up to C standard with new avionics, including an autopilot which has automatic approach and hover capability. The Philips Elektronikindustrier 9HCI-200 helicopter combat information system links an Omera ORB-32 frequency-agile search radar with an MEL transponder and Philips control and dis play equipment, and data-link. The sys tem could be made available for maritime versions of F.27 or SF.340-type aircraft as well as helicopters. Different radars and data-link stan dards could be provided, and electronic support measures, jammers, inertial navi gation systems, and automatically opera ting chaff and flare dispensers are optional. The Swedish Navy does not use sonar, mainly because of its difficult coastlines, but sonar could be linked into an exported 9HCI-200. The sonar trans ducer would be a plug-in alternative to the ESM antenna. Philips' equipment in the KV-107s will be able to track automatically up to 20 targets, displaying them on a 16in mono chrome plan-position indicator. Sweden's philosophy is that missile-firing re sponsibility rests with the ship, which will fire RBSl5s as necessary. The helicopters' existing 9TC-302 torpedo fire-control sys tems will be linked with the 9HCI-200 so the operator will be able to fire torpedoes as required. The new system integrates sea search, navigation, data transmission, fire con trol, and ESM. An integrated test pro gramme allows the operator to test the system. If the ASW computer fails, there is standby provision for the radar image along with range selection, calibration rings, and heading markers. An integrated simulator can be provided for training on board the helicopter. The Swedish Air Force is a potential customer, but it is likely to need a new search-and-rescue radar system. FLIGHT International, 8 January 1983
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