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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0028.PDF
Initial EFA contracts 8 15,6,20,21,31 27 Right- and left-hand glareshields (Smiths Industnes/AIT-GST) Digital engine control unit (DSIC, Dornier, Technost) Engine radiation pyrometer (Smiths Industries) Engine igniter and thermocouple (Smiths Industries) Throttle top grip (Dowty Eiectrics) Pilot's stick top controller- (Dowty Electrics) Primary flight control actuators for rudder/outboard and inboard flaperons/foreplane(Liebherr-Aero- Technik/Dowty Boulton Paul, CAS A. Magnaghi Milano) Electrical engine control (Dowty Electrics) 9 Radar cooling liquid pumps (Plessey Aerospace/AOA Gauting/ Secondo Mona) 10 ECS and cold-air units/cabin pressure control valves (Normalair-Garrett) 11 Hydraulic system reservoir Magnaghi Milano) 12 Air intake cowl actuators (Dowty- Boulton Paul, Magnaghi Milano) 13 Multipin connectors (Smiths Industries) 14 High-pressure thermocouple (Smiths Industries) 15 Low-pressure speed probe (Smiths Industries) 16 Fuei control valve (Hymatic) 17 Survivabie memory unit (Ferranti) 18 Variable- speed constant-frequency generator (Ferranti) 19 Transformer rectifying unit (Ferranti) 20 Undercarriage selector switch (Dowty Electrics) 21 Cockpit interface unit (Teldix team) 22 Airflow inlet guidevane actuator and nozzle actuator (Microtechnica, Lucas, Sener) 23 Landing gear door actuator and gear actuator (Dowty Rotol/Nardi, Liebherr-Aero-Technik, CASA) 24 Main fuel and reheat fuel system (Lucas Aerospace, PLU, Seconda Mona. CASA) 25 Electrical generator (Ferranti-Bendix, Telefunken System Technik, SEPA, Seidef) 26 Firewall, air pressure unit and defuel isolate vaive. (Flight Refuelling) 27 Canopy seal inflation system (Hymatic) 28 Radar pressurisation system (Hymatic) 29 Main electrical generating system (Lucas Aerospace, Siemens, Magnetic Marelli Avio, Nardi) 30 Auxiliary power unit (Lucas Aerospace, KHD, Fiat Aviazione) 31 Video voice recorder (Computing Devices) How the contracts work During the current development phase, Eurofighter's team leaders are issuing four main types of contract aimed at keep ing development spending to a minimum. All airframe development contracts are ini tially set at maximum price followed by fixed price within a maximum price bracket. Equipment contracts are set at budgetary prices for later conversion to maximum and then fixed price. By this method Euro- fighter hopes to cap all contracts to fixed price by the time the production investment (PI) memorandum of understanding (MoU) is signed in 1992. All PI and produc tion contracts will then be fixed price with no risk of cost overrun. At contract signature, aproximately 20% of the pricing structure is made up of a budgetary allocation, with the remaining 80% made up of the maximum price ele ment. The budgetary element accounts for unpredicatable areas such as flight testing when weather or technical problems may extend the tight time schedule. As the contract progresses, the maximum price is gradually taken over by a fixed- price element. At one year before the planned production go-ahead, the budget ary proportion disappears altogether, and approximately half the contract is then set at a fixed price level. Some 25% of the contract becomes the residual maximum price, and this proportion gradually reduces until an ultimate pricing solution is reached. This aims to be 90% fixed price and around 10% residual maximum. A limited number of incentive bonus contracts have been available during the development phase for equipment showing demonstrated reliability, and some cost- plus contracts were issued for preliminary definition studies. Contractors will be paid on completion of individual milestones based on demon strated progress. In practice, however, pro gramme slippage often means these are not paid until later and at a lower level. computer, armament control computers, global positioning system (GPS), inertial navigation (INS) and forward-looking infra red (FLIR) system with video and map generator. SHOPPING LIST Eurofighter's shopping list is vast, even for the relatively elementary prototype aircraft. Navigational components including the INS, GPS, datalink, FCS, rad-alt and MLS will all be selected for the prototype fleet, as will the full cockpit assembly of wide-angle headup display (HUD) and FLIR, multifunction HDD, hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controls, direct voice input (DVI) and helmet sighting. The HOTAS will combine aircraft handling with sensor and weapon control and DASS management. The DVI system will handle data entry, HUD and HDD instructions (moding), autopilot control and radio com munications. The helmet will combine weapon aiming and cueing, night-vision aids and flash and laser protection. The majority of the advanced systems will be tested over more than 2,000 flight-test hours planned for the fleet before entry into service. This had been set for mid-1996, but the prolonged delay in selection of the radar may mean that initial operation capability of EFA will not occur until late 1996 or even early 1997. Following the flight of the first full-avion- ic-fit aircraft, P05, from Warton, the second full avionic aircraft, P06, will begin flight testing from Manching, P07, a dedicated trainer, will begin flying at the CASA flight test centre at Getafe in Spain, and the final prototype, P08, is scheduled to fly in late 1993 from Caselle. Debates and indecision Opinions vary on what the future has in store for EFA. Radical opponents, par ticularly in West Germany, claim that the entire concept is doomed as a result of a "greening" Europe, a reduced Soviet bloc threat and consequent shift in the economic emphasis of the EFA member governments towards non-military spending. On pure industrial and technological grounds, opponents say that the loss to industry of cancelling a programme such as EFA would be offset by the prodigious growth of the civil market and European involvement therein. EFA supporters say that the loss of the programme would banish the European aerospace industry into a gloomy world of US-dependent licence building from which it would never have the will or the technology to recover. The EFA programme is therefore as emo tive as it is important. To assess its future with any confidence it must be viewed from at least four angles: military requirement, industrial impact, technological importance and political background. MILITARY REQUIREMENT Despite the changing face of the Soviet threat, the EFA concept continues to meet the European Staff Requirement (ESR) agreed by the air staffs of West Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in December 1985. The ESR, which followed the signing of the Turin agreement in August 1985 and which led to the formation of Eurofighter, specifies an aircraft optimised for air-to-air combat with optional capability for offensive-support ground attack. h FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3-9 January 1990
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