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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 0008.PDF
its weight problem ATFh by John Bailey in Los Angeles The US Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) pro gramme is apparently facing delays, with both teams experi encing problems in meeting the 50,0001b weight requirement, because required advances in both avionics and engines are reportedly taking longer than expected. The first Northrop/ McDonnell Douglas YF-23A prototype is due to fly in the middle of the year, and the rival Lockheed/General Dynamics/ Boeing YF-22A team is predict ing a first flight early in 1990. The US Air Force recently awarded the General Dyna mics/McDonnell Douglas team a $7-9 million contract to study a modified variant of the A-12 as a possible Air Force F-lll replacement. The US Air Force is appar ently still studying design trade offs with the two ATF prime contractors to ensure that their aircraft meet both the weight target and the $35 million-a- copy price limit (in 1985 dollars). The ATF programme is still in the demonstration/ validation phase, and a five-year full-scale-development contract will be awarded to one of the teams in December 1990 after a competitive assessment of the two designs. The US Navy's A-12 Advanced Tactical Aircraft, being developed jointly by General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas, is thought to be at least three years ahead of the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF). Both partners are separately developing and building different systems and subassemblies, and these will be shipped to Air Force Plant 3 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for final assembly. The first A-12 will be a production version, as no prototypes are being built. Once full-scale production is authorised, the Navy will make GD and MDC compete year by year for management of the single production line. Both Services have agreed to study each other's next- generation tactical aircraft, but according to Pentagon sources the Air Force is more interested in the A-12 than the Navy is in adapting the ATF as a potential F-14 replacement. The Navy apparently favours an updated F-14, such as the Tomcat 21 (Flight, December 10, 1988). The A-12 is under devel opment as a stealthy replace ment for the Navy's Grumman A-6E Intruder, and an Air Force variant would have to shed several thousand pounds of hardware, including arresting gear and high-lift devices which equip the aircraft for carrier operations. NH.90 at stake Reports that West Germany may withdraw from the four- nation NH.90 military helicop ter programme on financial grounds are causing concern among the European industrial partners. Nonetheless, they dismiss such a possibility, and hope that the cash problem may be solved early in the new year. "To the best of our knowl edge, there is no question of Germany quitting at this stage," says Aerospatiale's helicopter division, "but it is true that our German friends have run into some financial problems. That is disturbing and worrisome to us all. A settlement may yet be reached early in the new year." One solution to ease West Germany's burdensharing is for its Army to participate with its Navy on NH.90 development, and for Germany to buy both the Nato Frigate Helicopter (NFH) and Tactical Transport Helicopter (TTH) variants. Another is to reduce develop ment costs all round among the industrial partners— Aerospatiale (France), Agusta (Italy), Fokker (Netherlands), and MBB (West Germany). This is unlikely, as NH.90 defi nition has been frozen. The first flight of NH.90 is scheduled for 1992. Full-scale engineering mockups have already been produced, for the NFH at MBB's helicopter facil ity in Ottobrun, and for the TTH at Aerospatiale's facility in Marignane. Northrop B-2 FLIGHT © Reed Business Publishing 1 The B-2 spans 172ft. The exhaust nozzles are shaped to give a low radar cross-section B-2 "worth the price »> The US Air Force says that the Northrop B-2 Advanced Tech nology Bomber will have an overall programme cost of $68-1 billion. This figure, which equates to $515-9 million for each of the 132 B-2s on order, includes design, development, and construction costs, says Air Force Secretary Edward Aldridge. In answer to criticism of the high unit cost, Aldridge answered: "How much is deter rence worth? The Soviets know what the aircraft can do. What ever it costs, it's worth it." Outgoing Defence Secretary Frank Carlucci, submitting the new two-year US defence bud get for Fiscal Years 1990-91, has recommended that the B-2 should be subject to multiyear funding. This practice allows the manufacturer to buy long- lead items in bulk, which saves money and provides long-term stability in both the programme in question and in industry. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has said that "for fiscal and tech nical reasons" the B-2 programme will be delayed by a year, and the aircraft will now enter service in 1995. At the B-2 rollout it was stated that the first deliveries to Strategic Air Command (SAC) would be in 1991, and that initial operating capability (15 combat-ready aircraft) would be in "the early 1990s". % Other programmes sug gested for multiyear funding include the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, F-18 Hornet, C-17, AH-64, and Grumman F-14A/D Tomcat. 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 7 January 1989
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