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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 2750.PDF
FARNBOROUGH R EPORT Martin Marietta eyes LANTIRN for airliners Martin Marietta is talking to two unspecified airlines about flight testing an embed ded version of its LANTIRN infra-red navigation system. "We hope to demonstrate the navigation pod on a commercial airliner next year," says Mike Henshaw, vice-president of business development. The company also has a US Federal Aviation Administra tion/Air Force contract to carry out a feasibility study of infra red/millimetre-wave sensor sys tem that would enable airliners to land and taxi in all weathers. This would be based on LAN TIRN, and on the Longbow millimetre-wave radar under de velopment for the US Army Apache anti-tank helicopter. While it is not one of the two airlines expressing interest in flight testing, much of the initi ative for a bad-weather landing capability comes from Federal Express. Fog at the package carrier's Memphis operations centre often leaves it with sub stantial compensation charges. "The same applies to other air lines without Category incapa bility," says Henshaw. Discussions are still in the early stages, and there is no decision on the type of aircraft in which LANTIRN would be tested. The test would be funded by Martin Marietta and the airlines. Meanwhile, the two-pod mili tary LANTIRN navigation/ targeting system for US Air Force F-15Es and F-16s is prov ing extremely reliable in the field. More than 13,000 flights of development and field opera tion have been "incident free" according to the company. A HUD FOR EFA The new wide-angle headup display for the European Fighter Air craft features a single diffractive-optics com biner, raster and cur sive modes, upfront controller with flat- panel display for fuel, communication and engine data, and colour video camera. GEC Avionics is developing the system with Teldix, Selenia and CESELSA. "That's unheard of for a com plex system like this," enthuses Henshaw. Martin Marietta has delivered 200 navigation and 47 targeting pods to the USAF out of a total of 561 and 441 systems respec tively ordered so far. The order for the final 65 targeting USAF Rafale and EFA share Martin-Baker seat Martin-Baker's Mkl6 zero/ zero ejection seat being used in the Dassault Rafale fighter will be raked back at 34° to improve the pilot's g toler ance. The European Fighter Air craft (EFA) is using the same ejection seat but at the normal 22° position. The adjustment of the pilot's eyeline, which had been a prob lem with raked seats in the past, has been overcome on the MkF16F for Rafale by using a compound adjustment which raises the seat-pan vertically while maintaining the same functional reach distance over the whole percentile range. Moving the seat-pan up to ad just the eyeline had previously moved the pilot, away from the aircraft controls. In centrifuge tests the French Air Force found that the raked position improved pilot g toler ance by 2g. The service has also specified an overall g-protection suit and positive pressure breathing, which will also in crease tolerance by another 2g. In Rafale, the Mkl6 weighs 65kg; in EFA it will weigh 61.4kg. "The difference in weight is because of the vertical seat-pan adjustment for the Ra fale seat. The EFA seat will be at a more normal 22'," says Europe's fighters use M-B seat Martin-Baker marketing man ager Brian Miller. The seat has flip-out aerofoil stabilisers on each side to keep the seat and occupant facing the airflow until the drogue deploys after 0.23s. The seat electronics monitor the airspeed and alti tude constantly to calculate seat/pilot separation. The Mkl6 is zero/zero capable and the maximum low-level escape- speed requirement is 600kt (l,100km/h) for Rafale and 650kt for EFA. The seat will function at altitudes of more than 50,000ft (15,100m). Martin-Baker is also offering a seat based on the Mkl6 for the European Space Agency (ESA) Hermes spacecraft. "With minimum redesign the seat will be capable of providing safe escape at over Mach 3 in excess of 100,000ft," says Miller. In Hermes, the three seats will weigh 450kg less than the So viet seat on offer to ESA and derived from the MiG-29 ejec tion seat. • pods is expected later this year. Foreign sales potential of LANTIRN and its Pathfinder and Sharpshooter derivatives is "extremely promising", accord ing to Martin Marietta. Effort now concentrates on adapting the system to the F-16A/B oper ated by many countries. The Pathfinder navigation pod (a simplified version of the LAN TIRN navigation pod) may be ordered by the European Partic ipating Group (Belgium, Nor way, the Netherlands and Den mark) as part of the F-16 mid life update programme. The US Air National Guard may follow suit as part of its own MLU effort. Together, they add up to some 700 potential sales. • Norway signs Mistral deal The Royal Norwegian Navy has signed a £350 million contract for the supply of Matra Mistral missiles. The order for several hundred missiles repre sents the largest defence equip ment contract ever signed be tween Norway and France. The contract also includes the supply of firing systems, which will be the subject of an indus trial co-operation agreement with Norwegian industry. Raufoss, Norwegian Defence Technology and Auto Display will initially be involved in co- production of the system. •
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