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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 2111.PDF
HEADLINES on P-7A lion write-off in the fourth quar ter of 1989 to cover the increased development costs, but also asked the Navy to assume some of the responsibility by altering the price and schedule of the FSED contract. The Navy has now refused to do so, accusing Lockheed of failing " . . .to make adequate progress to completion of all contract phases". Cancellation of the P-7 leaves the Navy with a requirement to replace its fleet of P-3Cs, some of which have been in service for 20 years. No decision has been an nounced on whether the Navy will re-open the orginal P-7 con> petition, but the cheapest solu tion would be to extend P-3 production, possibly with new engines, and fit it with Update IV avionics. Boeing is under contract to retrofit 80 P-3Cs with Update IV, in preparation for its introduc tion onto the P-7, and will de liver the first completed package in October 1991. Cancellation of the P-7 will have no immediate impact, says Boeing. • Cosmonauts close jammed Mir EVA hatch Soviet cosmonauts Anatoli Solovyov and Alexander Balandin successfully closed the extra-vehicular activity (EVA) hatch on the Kvant 2 module aboard the Mir space station during a spacewalk on 26 July. They failed to seal the hatch during an earlier EVA. Further maintenance on the Kvant 2 EVA hatch and airlock will be conducted by new Soyuz TM10 cosmonauts Gennadi Manakov and Gennadi Strekalov, who will be launched to Mir on 1 August. They will replace Solovyov and Balandin, who return to Earth on 9 August aboard the TM9 ferry which caused concern because of loose thermal insulation around the descent capsule. • CBA-123 MAKES ITS DEBUT First picture of the FMA/Emhraer CBA-123 on its 18 July maiden flight shows the 19-seat commuter unpainted. The joint Argentine/Brazilian-built aircraft will be the newest aircraft at Farnborough, where it is expected to be named. The CBA-123 has now been painted and was formally 'rolled out', for Argentine president Carlos Menem and Brazilian president Fernando de Mello, at Embraer's Sao Paulo dos Campos factory on 30 July. Harrier II Plus agreement for signature in September BY GUY NORRIS The trinational Harrier II Plus programme is scheduled for a September go-ahead if an "integration memorandum of understanding (MoU)" between the Italian, Spanish and US gov ernments is signed within the next five or six weeks. The outline MoU has already been drafted (Flight, 11-17 April) and could be announced for mally at the Farnborough air show in September. McDonnell Douglas says: "If the integration MoU is signed, the three govern ments are expected to start production MoU negotiations in early October". A joint programme office for Italy, Spain and the USA will be formed, and according to Mc Donnell Douglas "... industry will be assigend prime responsibilities for the lead in determining work shares. At that time, McDonnell Douglas would work with Italian and Spanish industry to come up with a pro posal on the airframe portion for the joint programme office." It is thought that Hughes would conduct similar talks with companies such as Inisel of Spain and FIAR of Italy over integra tion of its APG-65 multimode radar into the airframe. The radar has been selected for all three Harrier II Plus purchases involv ing up to 100 aircraft. The US Marine Corps is ex pected to procure up to 40 Har rier II Plus aircraft. The Italian Navy is likely to receive 16 in late 1992 or early 1993. A total of 30 is possible. Spain is believed to be looking at a procurement of up to 30 aircraft with an initial purchase of 12. Although McDonnell Douglas says that nothing specific has been determined about work shares, it is believed that the company is talking to Aeritalia— and possibly CASA—about transferring the manufacture of major airframe components and final assembly to the customer nations. • NEWS IN BRIEF NORTHROP BAN URGED The US Justice Department has recommended that the Pentagon bar Northrop from future defence contracts as a result of the firm's guilty plea on criminal fraud charges in faking tests on a cruise missile programme. The Justice Department advised the Air Force that the gravity of Nor- throp's actions "should give rise to a prohibition on new Pentagon business for the entire Corporation". If this happened it would be the first time a major defence con tractor has been effectively barred from participation in Pentagon contracts. A-12 TEAM REBUILT General Dynamics has re-as signed senior executives to the troubled A-12 programme. GD president and chief operating officer Herbert Rogers will move to Fort Worth as general manager taking over from Charles Anders who becomes A-12 programme director. Last month GD reported a $240 million second-quarter loss after taking a $450 million charge against the A-12. FUGHT INTERNATIONAL 1-7 August 1990 5
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