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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 2754.PDF
FARNBOROUCH R EPORT Aero's proposed L-59 would undercut Western competitors Czech trainer seeks Western influence Czechoslovakian manufac turer Aero is seeking West ern partners to market a new variant of the L-39MS trainer. The Westernised variant will be called the L-59. It will be re-engined and have Western avionics and ejection seats fit ted, says Milos Valis, Aero's marketing manager. "The prob lem is that we are late entries into the world trainer market. We have plenty of experience; we built 3,600 L-29s and so far UK expected to approve replacement for IFF The UK Ministry of Defence's Equipment Policy Commit tee (EPC) is expected to give approval for the NATO identifi cation system (NIS) programme by early next month. NIS is intended to provide NATO with a highly sophisti cated identification friend or foe (IFF) capability, primarily for air but also for ground use. It is believed that the EPC will give the go-ahead for the project, but is thought likely to include the proviso that,' should the USA abandon a crucial ele ment of NIS, then UK involve ment will be reviewed. Other NATO nations have not com mitted themselves to NIS, but could do so at a later date. NIS is intended to be based round the MkXV IFF, under develop ment in the USA,although its future is uncertain. The MkXV, intended to re place the MkX and MkXII IFF, was originally zero funded in the current US defence budget, effectively bringing the pro gramme to a halt. Funding has now been found by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to continue the MkXV project, however. • have made 2,800 L-39s. The aircraft has the Lotarev DV-2 engine, very reliable but which by Western standards is heavy. The engine was specifically de signed for the L-39 and its mass flow is optimised to give best performance at 5,000m [16,500ft]. Really, the only Western engine that will fit and give us good performance is either the Garrett TPE731-3 or the Rolls-Royce Adour. "Aero has always built its own ejection seats and we are satisfied with them but the West would want Western seats. We will be talking to Martin-Baker on that. As to avionics, we are talking with Ferranti and Collins. "We believe that we could market the L-39MS in the west for around $2 million," he says. The L-59 would be priced at $3.5 to $4 million - about 60% cheaper than an equivalent Western trainer." D YOUR P CN-235
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