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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2876.PDF
A Royal Air Force Tornado F.3 of 29(F) Sqn overflies a Malaysian village during joint exercises with the Royal Malaysian Air Force 29(F) I is UK overflights Malaysia signs UK defence deal Malaysia has signed a memo randum of understanding (MoU) covering the purchase of British defence equipment esti mated to be worth in excess of £1 billion over 15 years. Details are still to be final ised, but the deal is expected to include 12 Tornado air defence variants, British Aerospace Rapier and Shorts Javelin air- defence missiles, two GEC- Marconi Martello air-defence radars, and an ex-Royal Navy Oberon-class submarine. The Tornadoes will be purchased to complement rather than replace Northrop F-5Es currently in service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force. The projected acquisitions will "considerably enhance Malay sia's defence capability," according to the joint commu nique released by the two governments. The MoU provides for co operation and technology trans fer arrangements between the industries of both countries. Malaysia already has sufficient capability to support its own air force, but wants to upgrade its facilities and strengthen its defence industrial base. Never theless a large element of barter, including oil, is believed to form the basis of the MoU. Only a few years ago trade relations between Malaysia and the UK were at an all-time low. Much of the credit for the defence deal has been attributed to the close working relation ship between Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Britain's Margaret Thatcher. The fate of a US bid to sell eight General Dynamics F-16A/Bs to Malaysia is still unclear. US Congress has not objected to the estimated $230 million deal, but as yet no letter of offer acceptance has been received from Malaysia. General Dynamics was hoping that Malaysia would become its fourth major south east Asian F-16 sale, having already supplied Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, and still does not rule out an F-16 purchase by the country. Ireland confirm The existence of an agree ment between the British and Irish governments, allowing military incursions into each other's airspace in the cam paign against the Provisional IRA, has been confirmed by the Irish Prime Minister. Confirmation that such an agreement has, in fact, existed "for a long time" came in a formal statement issued from Mr Haughey's office on September 28, only a day after the Northern Ireland Office Minister—who only recently arrived in Belfast and was thought to have been unaware of the subject's sensitivity —volunteered at a press brief ing that an overflight agree ment was in force. Hitherto, Dublin's Depart ment of External Affairs has invariably announced "investigations" and lodged "protests" whenever British military incursions into the Republic's airspace were noted. "Arrangements have exis ted for a long time for aircraft of one jurisdiction to fly, with permission and subject to strict controls, for short distances into the other juris diction to help in dealing with specific incidents or suspect explosive devices," the state ment said. Hawker bids to update RAAFF-111 Hawker de Havilland (HDH) has joined forces with Rockwell International to compete for the Royal Australian Air Force's F-111C avionics update pro gramme. Rockwell was respon sible for the original F-lll avionics integration. HDH believes that teaming with Rockwell will be more complementary than two air frame manufacturers bidding together, as with the Aerospace Technologies of Australia and General Dynamics' F-lll update team. The agreement was jointly announced by Rockwell's Auto- netics Electronics Systems pres ident, J. A. McLuckey, and HDH's managing director, J. B. Hattersley. The executives issued a joint statement saying, "The teaming has been agreed upon after a careful exam ination by both partners of other options. We concluded that the complementary experience and capabilities of Rockwell and HDH were best suited to providing the Royal Australian Air Force with an optimised, highly cost-effective update for its F-111C strike force." Rockwell International's Autonetics Sensors and Aircraft Systems Division has completed the design, development, and integration of the United States Air Force F-111D. The division acts as the USAF's independent verification and validation contractor, offering technical evaluation and advice on the F-111A/E avionics modern isation programme. HDH Victoria is the com pany's lead division for the F-l 11C update, and has consid erable experience with systems integration and aircraft modi fication. For example, HDH Victoria carried out the integra tion of AQS-901 sonics pro cessors for Barra sonobuoys into RAAF P-3Cs, and is involved in the modification of RAAF Boeing 707s to tanker config uration. The memorandum of under standing signed by the two companies also includes team ing on other projects. Prospec tive areas for co-operation include further RAAF aircraft updates, and development in the fields of artificial intel ligence and knowledge-based systems. 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 8 October 1988
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