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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2256.PDF
South Africa confirms nuclear capability The Hawk 100, with its extended nose for Flir and laser rangefinder, will be demonstrated in the Far East BAe Hawks to tour Far East British Aerospace's single-seat Hawk 200—together with its two-seat Hawk 100 and the new military cargo variant of the BAe 146, the 146STA (side- loading tactical airlifter)—are to tour the Far East shortly after the Farnborough show. The three aircraft will depart in early October, staging first to Australia, where they will be displayed at the Australian Bicentennial Airshow at RAAF Richmond, near Sydney, from October 12 to October 16. Following the show the Hawks will be demonstrated to the Royal Australian Air Force, which needs to replace its 80 Aermacchi MB.326Hs in the advanced training role. The two-seat Hawk 100 will also be demonstrated in the sea- surveillance / maritime - attack role. The Hawk 100 is equipped with an elongated nose into which can be fitted a forward- looking infrared sensor and/or a laser rangefinder. The Flir imagery is projected on to the wide-angle headup display (Hud) with weapons- aiming symbology overlaid, and is night-vision-goggle compat ible. Flir imagery can also be recorded for later review. The laser rangefinder is steerable over a 20° cone. The laser inter faces directly with the weapons- aiming computer and Hud, and does not increase pilot work load, says BAe. The system can be selected either for automatic or manual weapon release. The single-seat Hawk 200, which has been ordered by the Royal Saudi Air Force, can be provided with a similar sensor fit to that of the Hawk 100 or be equipped with radar. The West- inghouse APG-66 radar will be fitted to Saudi Hawk 200s and is BAe's preferred choice, although potential customers could specify another radar type. The 146STA is the first of four military 146 variants proposed by BAe. The STA has a cargo door on the rear port fuselage, and roller tracks can be fitted to the seat rails, allow ing easy movement of palletised cargo. A sliding paratroop door is set into the main cargo door and up to 60 combat-equipped paratroops can be carried. The other military 146 variants being studied by BAe are the 146MSL (military side- loader) with the 131in-wide cargo door of the civil 146QT; the 146M, a military rear-loader with rear loading ramp; and the 146MT, a tanker with dual- point hose/drogue refuelling capability. After leaving Australia the trio will be demonstrated in Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand before returning to the UK via the Middle East. South Africa has confirmed it has the capability to produce nuclear weapons. "We have the capability to make one should we want to," said foreign minis ter R. F. "Pik" Botha at a press conference in Vienna. When asked if South Africa had already built a nuclear weapon, Botha would not expand on his statement. South Africa has probably had an operational nuclear capability for at least five years. In September 1979 US satellites detected a bright double flash in the Atlantic south of South Africa. At the time the USA suspected that this was caused by the test detonation of a proto type nuclear device developed jointly by Israel and South Africa. The US Naval Research Laboratory estimated that the device had a 3 kiloton yield. The South African Air Force has several aircraft capable of delivering a free-fall nuclear bomb, the most likely being the six Buccaneers of 24 Sqn based at Waterkloof near Pretoria. Berlin carrier named Air France and Lufthansa have agreed on the name Euroberlin France for their newly formed airline serving West Berlin. Air France will own 51 per cent of the shares, and Lufthansa will take the remaining 49 per cent. Euroberlin France will lease four Boeing 737-300 aircraft from Luton-based Monarch Airlines. The lease will include cockpit crews, but cabin crews will be hired locally. The airline will start operations on Novem ber 1. The new airline has approval for 210 weekly flights between West Berlin's Tegel airport and the West German cities of Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, Munich, and Stuttgart. Civil air attaches from the USA, UK, and France recently authorised three new carriers to fly to Berlin: TWA, American Airlines, and Euroberlin France. This decision changed the situation existing since the Second World War, with a monopoly on traffic to West Berlin being held by Pan Am, British Airways, and Air France. Designed for nuclear strike, the Buccaneers have in-flight refuelling capability. Refuelled by South Africa's newly acquired Boeing 707-320 tank ers, also based at Waterkloof with 60 Sqn, the Buccaneers could strike practically any where in Africa. Other suitable types include the remaining half-dozen Can berra BI.12s and the new Atlas Cheetah (most forces use a two-seat aircraft for nuclear weapons, to guard against unauthorised release). Despite Botha's statement, it is possible that weapons have already been built and are kept disassembled for added security and safety, ready to be assem bled within hours. Botha's visit to Vienna was to meet the British, Soviet, and US guarantors of the nuclear non- proliferation treaty. Last year Nigeria demanded that South Africa's membership of the International Atomic Energy Authority be revoked unless it signed the treaty. European delays worsen Scheduled airline flights are joining the charters in experi encing increased delays throughout Europe. Karl-Heinz Neumeister, Association of European Airlines secretary general, says that the six-month punctuality figures reveal that delays caused by congestion in June this year are three times those experi ence in June 1986. Neumeister admits that passengers on scheduled flights are not being delayed as much as charter passengers, but says that the situation is definitely getting worse. "What has changed is the shortfall between the demand for air transport and the capacity of the existing infrastructure." As increased charter flights add to the problem, Neumeister fears that figures for the peak holiday season will show more pronounced delays. "What is needed urgently is increased investment in airport and air traffic control," he says, "but even this will not be enough without a co-ordinated European approach to ATC." 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 27 August 1988
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