FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0063.PDF
HEADLINES cost "... a revolutionary programme which will improve our all- weather attack capability. It will incorporate significant stealth characteristics and become the primary striking platform of the carrier battle groups". Senator Sam Nunn, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, has estimated the total cost of the A-12 programme at $50 billion-$75 billion, to the year 2005. The A-12 is one of several projects being reviewed by the DoD. • IAI designs low- cost fighter Israel Aircraft Industries is studying the conceptual design of a small, lightweight, low-cost fighter. The private ven ture is funded entirely by the company, which has already in vested $1 million in the project, called Shahal (Biblical Hebrew for lion). The 20-strong Shahal design team all worked on development of the cancelled IAI Lavi fighter. Work on Shahal started early last year and IAI can afford to keep it going until the end of this year. The Shahal project details are secret, but the aircraft under study is believed to reflect the concept of arming a simple and cheap but highly maneouvrable platform with smart weapons, a concept increasingly in favour with the Israeli Air Force. IAI says that the unit price of Shahal is intended to be in the region of $6 million. The com pany says that more money will be invested in the project only if the Israeli Ministry of Defence or a foreign client is willing to share the investment. IAI has briefed the IAF on Shahal. The service says that it is interested but has no funds available. "The lesson of the Lavi pro gramme is that Israel cannot be involved in the development of a new fighter because the financial burden is too heavy. However, study of a new concept that is completely different from every thing we know today is worth the effort," says IAI. • EH. 101 looks tS Unisys for integration expertise on Canadian project Unisys joins EH.101 Canadian bid Unisys has joined European Helicopter Industries (Canada) (EHIC) as part of a major restructuring of the group. Unisys will be involved in the integration of the avionics system and major subsystems of the EH.101 helicopter selected for the Canadian New Shipborne Aircraft (NSA) requirement. Unisys will operate through subcontractors Paramax Elec tronics, which has responsibility for the avionics system integra tion of the prime mission vehicle, and Canadian Marconi, which is involved in major avionics subsystems. Paul Flagg, programme man ager of NSA for EHIC, says: "This expanded partnership will greatly extend the technical capabilities of the company to complete the NSA project". The restructuring also appears to mark the end of the involve ment of Bell Helicopters (Canada) in the NSA pro gramme. IMP Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia, may now take responsibility for the airframe which would have been under taken by Bell. Flagg says that the changes will take place with immediate effect and allows EHIC to "pro ceed with NSA project defi nition". This was originally expected to be complete by April 1989 but is not now due for completion until around July 1990. • • UK looks to foreign ATC staff The serious UK shortage of air traffic control (ATC) officers has led the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to look abroad for experienced civil ex-control lers, and at home for former military controllers. Former American civilian controllers in particular might be suitable, says the CAA, because of the large numbers employed, and their early retirement pro visions. The CAA has made a positive decision not to recruit in Europe because most countries there also have a controller shortage. Overseas recruitment plans have so far been given "only preliminary consideration", whereas plans to recruit former RAF controllers "are well ad vanced". Overseas candidates would have to be fully qualified and have recent experience. Additional training to UK stan dards would then be provided. About 600 new controllers will be required up to 1996. More than 130 cadet controllers are undergoing the basic I18- month course at the CAA's Col lege of Air Traffic Control, Bournemouth, Dorset. That is the largest number ever, but the annual cadet intake will increase this year to 200, and to 240 from 1991. • NAAWS faces new signing delay BY SIMON ELLIOTT Signing of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the next phase of the United States- led NATO Anti-Air Warfare System (NAAWS) is set for fur ther delays following recent events surrounding it and other NATO projects such as the NATO Frigate Replacement 90 (NFR90). The latter, a prime candidate for NAAWS, is expected to be terminated shortly. One senior programme official says that, after an 18 January steering committee meeting in Hamburg: "NFR 90 will not exist". The MoU, for the demonstra tion and evaluation (demval) phase, is now not expected to be signed by participating nations until May at the earliest. Signing had originally been due last December. A reassessment of the pro gramme is thought to be the cause of the latest delay. The UK selected the Euro pean-led Family of Anti-air Mis sile systems (FAMS) over NAAWS to fulfil the Royal Navy's requirement for an area defence anti-aircraft missile. West Germany also pulled out of NAAWS, saying the system was "too costly". Spain and the Netherlands have now withdrawn from the NFR 90 project, leaving the USA and Canada as the only remain ing members in what was once an eight-nation project. Nations continuing with NAAWS are Canada, the USA, the Netherlands and Spain. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence says that it remains in the NAAWS programme, while awaiting a political decision concerning the future of its naval air-defence requirements. Canada, having contacted the NAAWS project office in Wash ington, remains confident of the programme, despite the fate of the NFR 90 project. The NAAWS MoU signing will allow requests for proposals to be released to the three rival con sortia, led by General Electric, Westinghouse/McDonnell Doug las and Raytheon. D FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 17-23 lanuarv 1990 i
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
