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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 1868.PDF
HEADLINES Northrop slip reveals ATF payload details BY JOHN BAILEY IN LOS ANGELES Detailed drawings of the Nor throp/McDonnell Douglas YG-23 Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) prototype, which were in advertently released after the rollout ceremony on 22 June, appear to have revealed the air craft's still-classified paylod. The classified drawings, which were hastily retrieved by embar rassed Northrop officials, clearly showed a single ventral weapons bay beneath and slightly aft of Passengers prefer US regional carriers out-per formed the major domestic airlines in 1989, according to the annual report of the Regional Airline Association (RAA). RAA figures show that al though the number of regional carriers fell from 163 to 151, the number of passengers rose by 6.3% to 37.4 million against a rise of 0.4% for the major in- the cockpit, with stowage points for four air-to-air missiles. A plan-view drawing appeared to depict two AIM-9 Sidewinders mounted forward of two AIM- 120 AMRAAMs, although this would be a remarkably small payload for a long-range air- superiority fighter. The aircraft will also carry a 20mm cannon in the starboard fuselage. The McDonnell Douglas F-15, which ATF will replace, has eight missile stations and can carry a mixture of Sparrows, Side winders or AMRAAMs. US regionals ternal operators. Total revenue passenger miles flown increased by 12.1% to 6.77 billion last year. The industry now serves 817 airports against 275 for the major internal operators, of which 68% depend exclusively on the re gional carriers for air transporta tion. Of the top 50 regionals however, 43 use code sharing with larger carriers. Brig Gen James Fain, ATF pro gramme director, says: "We are working on an integrated solu tion for ATF which evaluates not only the weapons load, but also the stealth characteristics and performance of the aeroplane". The prototype rolled out at Edwards (Flight, 27 June-3 July) is one of two which will com plete the remaining six months of the demostration/validation contract. The Air Force requires final submissions by the end of December, and will announce its choice of an aircraft for full-scale The biggest carrier in pas senger numbers is Air Wisconsin with 2.2 million, followed by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Henson Aviation, WestAir Air lines and Simmons Airlines. The most commonly run air craft is the Fairchild Metro, which accounts for 10.8% of total seating capacity, but of the 13 most common regional types in use, 11 are built outside the USA and only one, the British Aerospace 146, is a jet. • NEWS IN BRIEF ECAC LOOKS EAST Hungary and Poland formally joined the European Civil Avi ation Conference (ECAC) on 27 June, bringing the number of member states to 25. SHAHINE UPDATE Thomson-CSF is to update Saudi Arabia's Sb.ab.me sur face-to-air missile network in a contract valued at Fr2.5 billion ($500 million). The system—a variant of the Crotale—was originally supplied in 1984. R-R WINS IN INDIA Air India has selected the Rolls-Royce RB.211-524G for its fleet of Boeing 747-400s. The airline has, subject to Indian Government approval, taken out four firm orders and five options for the aircraft, with delivery of the first two set for 1992 and the second two in 1993. development on April 30 (see News Analysis P 20), The rival Lockheed/Boeing/ General Dynamics YF-22 will not appear until August, flying about a month after the first YF-23. The four aircraft—two from each team—will be used to vali date the low-observable features, and the performance of the air frames and engines, with avion ics validation performed in ground laboratories and on sepa rate flying testbeds. Both ATF prototypes are de scribed as "fourth-generation" stealth aircraft, meaning that the low-observable characteristics will not affect range or perfor mance, as was the case with the third-generation F-117A. Fain says that ATF design is based on five basic require ments—stealth, manoeuvrability, range, payload and supersonic cruise without afterburner. He says: "It's a highly manoeuvrable aeroplane, more manoeuvrable than the F-15 or F- 16 generation of fighters". Range is "substantially more than today's fighters", Fain says. The YF-23 clearly shows its B-2 heritage with a high degree of wing and fuselage blending, and a faceted tail plan-form with exhaust diffusion areas on the upper fuselage between the twin tails. Both ATF prototypes will be fitted with convergent/diver gent exhaust nozzles, but only the YF-22 will employ thrust vectoring. • Italian ECR Tornado deal to go ahead The defence committee of the Italian Senate has approved the Italian Ministry of Defence's plan to acquire 16 Tornado Elec tronic Combat Reconnaissance (ECR) for the Italian Air Force. Approval is now only required from the Italian parliament's lower house defence committee for the deal to go ahead—a likely event in the wake of the upper house's decision. The value of the programme is estimated to be around $852 million to be spent between 1990 and 1995. • ROOIVALK SEEKS NEW PARTNERS The Atlas Aircraft division of the South African state-owned Armscor says that it is holding talks with "several overseas aerospace companies'' on possible joint development and production of the CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter. The South African Air Force has decided not to place production orders, however. Armscor believes that air forces in the Middle East and South America could still be potential customers for the Rooivalk. Following its maiden flight on 11 February the Rooivalfc has logged more than 30h flying as part of a privately funded Armscor programme. 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4-10 July 1990
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