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Aviation History
1984
1984 - 0169.PDF
USAF awaits future EW proposals WRIGHT-PATTERSON Invitations have been sent to 31 manufacturers by the US Air Force for proposal pack ages to build an integrated electronic warfare system (INEWS) for Air Force and Navy aircraft of the Nineties. Manufacturers were first approached last August and proposals are due on February 27, Contract awards are expected in the coming summer. Management of the INEWS for both services will be provided by the USAF Aeronautical Systems Divi sion (ASD) based at Wright- Patterson AFB, Ohio. The entire programme has three distinct phases, during which competing companies will be whittled down to find the eventual producer of the system. Phase one has two sub- phases: first a concept definition stage, and secondly an engineering and full-scale development preliminary de sign stage. Phase two will be full-scale development, and phase three will be produc tion. Prospective contractors have been asked to form teams of two or more compa nies. Of these, three or more will be selected to tackle the concept definition stage of phase one. ASD will make a further short list of successful teams who will move on to phase one's engineering development stage. Phase one is expected to take up to five years to complete. One team will then be selected to proceed with full- scale development, and one of the partners in this team will then be selected to produce the finalised system. Meanwhile the USAF is looking for contractors to upgrade the EF-lllA's AN/ALQ-99E tactical jam ming system. A request for proposals will be issued before the end of January and a full- scale development contract is expected by August, with production scheduled for 1987. FLIGHT International, 28 January 1984 Updates to the ALQ-99's encoder, processor, and ex citer capabilities will be devel oped. The contractor will then design, develop, and build a prototype system, integrate it with the aircraft, and provide flight-test support. Currently the EF-111A performs stand-off and close- in jamming, plus strike, pene tration, and escort roles. But, according to the programme manager, Col Thomas Max well, "the rapid upgrading of many foreign air defences dictate that we upgrade our jamming capability". First AV-8B delivered MCAS CHERRY POINT British Aerospace/McDonn ell Douglas delivered the first AV-8B Harrier II to the US Marine Corps on January 12. It is the first of 12 to be delivered this year. A further 21 AV-8Bs will be delivered to the Marines at MCAS Cherry Point next year. The first Harrier II squadron is due to be formed by the end of 1985. The Marine Corps intends buying a total of 336 AV-8Bs to replace five squadrons of MDC A-4 Skyhawks and three squadrons of BAe AV-8A Harriers. Other customers for the Harrier II include the Royal Air Force and the Spanish Navy. The RAF plans to buy 60 aircraft, designated Harrier GR.5, for intro duction in 1986. BAe is prime contractor for RAF GR.5s, and MDC is prime contractor for USMC AV-8Bs. Spain plans to buy 12 AV- 8Bs to replace its AV-8A Matadors currently in service with the Navy. Delivery is scheduled for late 1986. UK Services save 1,036 in 1983 HIGH WYCOMBE Royal Air Force search and rescue crews scrambled 897 times last year, and retrieved 771 people. RAF Wessex and Sea King crews flew a total of l,379hr 51min answering distress calls. Of 771 people picked up, 688 were civilians. Mountain rescue teams saved 23 people, with aircraft completing 119 SAR missions and teams on foot working a total of 856 manhours. Under RAF control and direction, Royal Navy heli copters were called out 325 One of the Northrop F-20 Tigershark 's weapon options is the McDonnell Douglas Harpoon anti-ship missile DEFENCE times, amassed 340 flying hours, and rescued a further 259 people. Of these, 228 were civilians, and RAF Nimrods provided 258hr of coverage. One of the busiest days was December 9, when RN and RAF helicopters saved 166 lives in separate incidents. RN orders Marconi radars CHELMSFORD ~ Marconi Radar Systems has received a Royal Navy order for 14 805SW Seawolf light weight tracking radars. This brings the total value of RN orders for the system to £100 million. The 805SW, designated by the Service as Type 911, was developed to succeed the T.910 currently fitted in Type 22 and some Leander-class frigates. Now on proving trials, the first T.911s will shortly be delivered to the Service. The first production batch will be retrofitted to Type 22s, and the Navy will order more T.911s later this year to meet the requirements of the vertical-launch Seawolf system to be fitted in Type 23 frigates. # Marconi is to receive an RN order for T.967M surveillance radars for Type 22s. The T.967M is an enhanced version of the earlier T.967 which was designed specifi cally to match the Seawolf s T.910. MLRS awarded second year funds DALLAS ~ LTV has received $287 million from the US Army to fund the second year of the $1,200 million, five-year Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) programme. LTV has been contracted to produce 149 launchers and 250,980 rockets. The most recent award will finance the production of 36,000 oper ational rockets, 3,948 practice rounds, 76 launchers, spare parts and equipment, and will provide long-lead material. MLRS has a 25-ton tracked launcher vehicle carrying 12 rockets with a range of 18 n.m. Multi-year funding will save an estimated $160 million. 269
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