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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0013.PDF
DEFENCE Austria extends deadline VIENNA Austria has delayed its deci sion on a new fighter until mid-January while the Minis try of Commerce and the Federal Chancery sift through the commercial tenders of the four competitors. Technical evaluation has already been completed, the Austrian Ministry of Defence tells Flight. As yet no results of performance comparisons have been released, and are unlikely to be publicised until the more complex commercial issues are processed. Four aircraft are chasing the Austrian order. British Aerospace has offered 24 secondhand Lightnings, pos sibly bought back from Saudi Arabia as an offset to a Tornado sale there. Dassault and Saab-Scania are also proposing second hand aircraft with the Mirage III and the J35 Draken respectively. Both are offering 24 aircraft for the ASch500 million (£56 million) replace ment fighter contract. Northrop alone is offering a new aircraft, the F-5E Tiger II. Because it is new, the F-5E is more expensive and Austria can only afford 16 (12 F-5Es and four two-seat F-5Fs). Grumman to fly conformal radar BETHPAGE Grumman has received a $14 million US Navy contract to flight-test a conformal radar antenna. The US Naval Air Development Centre at War minster, Pennsylvania, is sponsoring the programme, which will lead to a three-year flight-test programme sched uled to start in 1986. Conformal radar substi tutes a micro-processor controlled, electronically scanned phased array for the usual electro-mechanical scanning system used in airborne radar. The advan tage is that the conformal radar antenna could be part of the aircraft structure—the wing leading edge for instance. This has two advan tages. An airborne early warn ing aircraft would not need a separate radar antenna, thus lessening the drag penalty of a large radome or rotodome, and the radar antenna can be bigger, enhancing radar performance for a given trans mitter receiver performance. In the test programme Grumman will modify an E-2C with conformal radar antenna in the wing leading edge. The passive wing array will be assessed as an advanced electronic counter- countermeasures system, in conjunction with the active radar antenna in the roto dome. TRACER Moscow has increased the interest rate on loans to buy arms. Many Third World nations are to be told that interest rates will be raised from 2 per cent to 5 per cent a year, while the repayment term is cut to ten years from the usual 15. Lockheed has signed a no- cost contract with the US Air Force to evaluate the rewinged C-5A Galaxy. Tests will check in-flight per formance at heavy gross weights of up to 920,0001b, and ground backing manoeuvres. The testbed C-5A will be powered by the improved General Electric GE TF39-1C engine. Selenia is to supply an unspecified number of Aspide surface-to-air missiles to the Royal Thai Navy. The missiles will arm the RTN's recently ordered corvettes, due to enter service in 1986. Northrop has been awarded a $41-2 million US Air Force contract to produce ground- support equipment for the Advanced Inertial Reference Spheres, which provide crit ical guidance information to the Peacekeeper (MX) missile's flight control system. Zimbabwe is understood to be negotiating with the People's Republic of China for up to 24 Xian F-7s (MiG-21s). Dutch Starfighters retire The last five Royal Netherlands Air Force Lockheed F-104G Starfighters are readied for their final flights before retirement. They have been purchased by US secondhand dealers for resale. CASUALTIES • A Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR.l of 27 Sqn, RAF Marham, crashed near Schweinfurt, West Germany, on November 8, while the aircraft was flying from RAF Laarbruch. Pilot and naviga tor ejected safely. • A Royal Norwegian Air Force General Dynamics F-16B Fighting Falcon was written of after an engine fire on take-off from Rygge AB on November 13. The two-man crew aborted the take-off and evacuated the aircraft safely. • A Royal Air Force Boeing- Vertol Chinook HC.l from 240 OCU at Odiham crashed on November 14, 9 n.m. south-west of Basingstoke. Of the seven on board, two were taken to Basingstoke hospital for treatment, one with serious injuries and one slightly injured. The remain ing five escaped without injury. No reasons for the crash have been released, but it is believed to have been caused by a mechanical problem. • A Swedish Air Force Saab J35F Draken of F10 Wing, Angelholm, crashed 25 n.m. east of Halmstad on Novem ber 22. The aircraft was manoeuvring at high level when it "superstalled" and control was lost. The pilot, Cdt Sgt Per Liedberg, stayed on hoard below 10,000ft, the minimum recovery height laid down by the SAF, and regained control at 2,000ft but too low to recover. Liedberg ejected safely. • Two French Air Force C.160 Transalls crashed after a mid-air collision near Castres in southern France on November 23. Fourteen crew- members were killed; the two aircraft had just dispatched 60 paratroops each. • A Royal Navy British Aerospace Sea Harrier FRS.l from HMS Illustrious crashed near Fort William, Scotland, on December 1. The pilot ejected safely. • A United States Army Bell OH-58 Kiowa of the 2nd Infantry Division's 7th Cavalry crashed near Camp Casey, 15 n.m. north of Seoul, South Korea, on December 10. The pilot was killed. FLIGHT International, 5 January 1985 11
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