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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2966.PDF
TECHNICAL: DEFENCE BAe ATP Maritime launched British Aerospace has unveiled an anti-submarine-warfare/ anti-surface vessel warfare (ASW/ASVW) variant of its Advanced Turboprop (ATP) regional airliner. The ATP Maritime was revealed at the UK's Royal Navy Equipment Exhibition, held in Portsmouth this week. The aircraft joins a growing list of contenders for what BAe believes is a growing market for moderately priced ASW/ASVW platforms. Rival airframes already in the market include the Aerospatiale/Aeritalia ATR72 Petrel, the Fokker 50, and the Boeing Canada Dash 8. A number of air arms, particu larly in the Far East, are seeking to acquire ASW/ASVW capability for the first time, or to replace older aircraft such as the Grumman Tracker. The ATP Maritime can be configured to suit a variety of customer requirements. Its low- wing design allows a maritime ATP Maritime aircraft Left and right observers'seat and observation dome Wardrobe Sonics operator Smoke and flame float stowage J Single sonobuoy launcher MAD boom FLIR H: m ^iB f Radar radome Observers' compartment Galley Tactical navigator Rotary sonobuoy launcher ALE-40 countermeasures dispenser system Wardroom Radar operator Sonics compartment 17 in diameter rear launch chute D Toilet- 3 crew rest bunks Crew rest area Crew compartment 3 sonobuoy stowage racks 14-man crew dinghy reconnaissance radar to be belly mounted. This offers a 360° scan, rather than the blind arc associ ated with nose-mounted systems. BAe is actively considering the Litton APS-504(V)5, the MEL Supersearcher, the Thorn-EMl Searchwater II, and Ferranti's Blue Kestrel maritime recon naissance radars. Although the illustration shows an external magnetic anomaly detector (MAD), an internal MAD is not ruled out. US airfield attack rethink ready by March The United States Air Force is to release its revised evalu ation of the boosted kinetic- energy penetrator (BKEP) submunition in March 1990. The runway-cratering submunition is a key part of the Direct Airfield Attack Combined Munition (DAACM) programme, which was halted in July amid reports that Soviet runway hardening work might render the weapon NASP component test success McDonnell Douglas has successfully tested nose cover designs for the National Aerospaceplane. The experi ments at NASA's Ames Research Center proved that two cryo- genically cooled cover components could withstand hypersonic flight temperatures. If built, the NASP will use its cryogenic helium fuel for struc tural cooling, the fuel being pumped through critical com ponents before burning in the engines. In the trials a coolant representing the cryogenic fuel was pumped through the test components as hypersonic flight was simulated. The components survived the high heating rates in "excellent useable condition after repeated exposure," says MDC. Success in component testing comes, however, as funding for the NASP programme has run into Congressional opposition.• obsolete. Each DAACM contains eight Textron BLU-106/B BKEPs and 24 Hunting Engineering HB876 area-denial mines. The decision to re-evaluate BKEP came just days before DAACM contractor selection was due. Honeywell, Loral, and Text ron Defense Systems have been competing since 1984 for the multi-billion-Dollar programme. Meanwhile, Hunting Engineer ing of the UK is understood to be undertaking a new marketing effort to interest the USAF in its Hades area-denial system, which contains the HB867 mine devel oped for the UK's JP233 anti- runway weapon. The company has already sold six of the systems to USAF for the original evaluation of the HB876. • The acoustic processors under consideration include the GEC AQS-920 series, and a Computing Devices of Canada system. A candidate . for the forward-looking infrared system is the GEC Sensors' Thermal Imaging Common Module II, while possible electronic support measures equipment includes the Racal Kestrel and the Marconi Hermes systems. The aircraft would share features with the civil ATP: a five- screen electronic flight instru mentation system, Pratt & Whit ney PW100 series turboprops, and low-noise six-bladed propellers. Endurance is esti mated at between 8 and 9 hours, although this could be extended by fitting additional fuel tanks. The ATP Maritime offers six hardpoints; four under each wing and two below the fuselage. A combination of torpedoes, air-to- surface missiles, depth charges, bombs, and mines could be carried. A total of 59 sonobuoys could be launched singly through a pressurised launcher, or in a pattern of up to six through a rotary launcher. • 20 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 30 September 1989
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