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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0020.PDF
TECHNICAL: DEFENCE Night-attack F-18 Hornets enter service BY SIMON ELLIOT The first McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornets equipped with night-attack capabilities have been delivered to the US Navy and Marine Corps. The aircraft, a single-seat F-18C and a two-seat F-18D, were delivered to the Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland as part of the test pro gramme, the Pentagon says. The three to five night-attack F-18s are expected to be kept at China Lake, California, and Patuxent River. They will remain there for an indefinite period while pilots validate and evaluate systems and night-attack tactics. Two squadrons, based at Naval Air Station Lemore, California, will be the first to become operational with the night-attack Hornet. Key features of the night- attack capabilities are the ther mal imaging navigation set forward-looking infrared sensor, night-vision goggles, and a colour digital moving map. In Marine Corps service, the two-seat F-18D is scheduled to ft yjh2J ^ f The two-seat F-18D Hornet will have weapon control systems in place of the F-18B's rear-seat stick and throttle replace the existing fleet of A-6 Intruder aircraft in the tactical strike role. Modifications from the two-seat trainer variant of the Hornet include the replacement of the stick and throttle in the rear cockpit by two stationary hand controls which operate the weapon systems. All future US Navy and Marine Corps Hornets will be equipped for night-attack capability. Deliv ery numbers will fluctuate according to orders, but Hornet deliveries average 100 a year for calendar years 1989 and 1990. # McDonnell Aircraft has also received an $8.5 million contract from the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) to design and develop advanced tactical crew station designs for tactical fight ers in the 21st century. The four-phase, six-year pro gramme calls for McDonnell Air craft to create two designs, one based on an ejection seat system and one on an escape capsule. Towards the end of the con tract period, McDonnell Aircraft will provide NADC with specifications to build a reconfigurable crew station for design evaluation on the Navy's dynamic flight simulator in War minster, Pennsylvania. D As well as the CLDP, this Mirage 2000S carries two AS.30L missiles Mirage tests Thomson-CSF laser Thomson-CSF's convertible laser designation pod (CLDP) has been carried on the Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000S conventional strike variant of the Mirage 2000N for the first time. The CLDP has been developed for the export market and fea tures a laser designator, which is supplemented by a television or thermal-imaging sensor. A laser transceiver is situated in a common body, with the TV or thermal imager being deployed in separate noses, interchange able within two hours. The Mirage 2000S, aimed at the export market, was an nounced in April last year and will be available in 1993. The aircraft pictured carries two Aerospatiale AS.30L laser-guided missiles and two Matra Magic 2 air-to-air dogfight missiles with a centre-line l,3001itre auxiliary fuel tank, as well as the CLDP. D DoD to demand CALS compliance Rank Xerox is warning poten tial aerospace defence con tractors that they risk losing business with the US Depart ment of Defense (DoD) unless they become CALS-compliant. Computer-aided acquisition and logistics support (CALS), is a set of standards formalising the structure of the documents that support US military weapon sys tems. The system is designed to reduce the mountains of paper needed to accompany weaponry by transferring it to a computer- based environment. Phase one of the implementa tion of CALS will be in place next year, and phase two, calling for full CALS compliance by 1995. The US DoD is uncompromising in its commitment to CALS, and insists on compliance. CALS in the USA is likely to have a knock-on effect in Europe; Rank Xerox, which mar kets a CALS system, points out that the Swedish Government is already specifying compliance. CALS systems are im plemented on the European Fighter Aircraft project to ensure ease of communication between the four nation contractors. • France flies Rubis FUR pod An operational French for- zVward-looking infrared (FLIR) Rubis pod has flown for the first time, being carried by a Mirage 2000 at the Bretigny flight-test centre near Paris. Rubis, which has been devel oped by Dassault with TRT and Intertechnique, has previously flown in a mockup configuration beneath a Mirage FT, a Mirage 2000 and a Super Etendard. Bretigny officials report that the operational Rubis FLIR pod produced good quality images during its first flight. •
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