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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0127.PDF
HEADLINES Funding problems mean 11-86 will not be changing engines llyushin to phase out 'uncompetitive' 11-86 BY KIERAN DALY Ilyushin intends to end pro duction of the 11-86 350-seat airliner in view of its poor commercial prospects. The design bureau's general designer Genrick Novozhilov says that there is now no pros pect of the proposed re- engineing of the four-turbofan type with the CFM Interna tional CFM56 ever going ahead. He explains: "CFM has said we must pay in hard currency be fore we can have the engines and I do not have any money. 1 don't think now it will ever happen. Maybe there will be some retrofit ting of engines, like with the Boe ing 727." He adds that, without the CFM units, the 11-86 will not meet Stage 3 noise standards and so sales prospects for it are weak. Novozhilov explains that llyushin is pleased with the progress of the upgraded 11-96- 300, now in service with Aer- oflot, and it intends to concentrate on that type. He says: "Without the CFM56, the 11-86 is only Stage 2. But the 11-96-300 is doing Novozhilov: concentrating on the IL-96 well, so I think we will end production of the 11-86 and do this instead." He believes that llyushin has sufficient commitments for the 11-86 to justify production until the end of 1995. First flown in December 1976, the 11-86 has had a troubled history. Although in some ways it is a much more modern aircraft than earlier I Russian types, it g was let down by i its Kuznetsov s NK-86 turbofans and fell well short of its range specifications. Ilyushin com pleted the 100th example in 1993. The fly-by- wire 11-96-300 has shown much greater promise and achieved a first for a CIS- built airliner at the 1993 Paris air show when Dutch lessor Partnairs ordered five of the type, with five options. Novozhilov says that the first Partnairs aircraft is due for delivery in mid-1995. The sale agreement has not been signed yet, however, and Partnairs has not had to pay for any aircraft. Novozhilov says that it is not certain when that will be, but adds that the type is sold-out through 1995. • Governments in BAe/Saab talks BY SIMON ELLIOTT The UK and Swedish Gov ernments are being drawn into far-reaching negotiations over future collaboration be tween British Aerospace and Saab. A deal is expected to be finalised by mid-year. Talks between the two com panies, which began early in 1993, initially centred on BAe co-operation on the Saab JAS39 Gripen programme, but they have now been extended to cover a wider-ranging agree ment. The Swedish aircraft manufacturer says that the companies are looking at "all areas" of possible co-operation. Any deal is expected to take the form of an inter-govern ment agreement. Saab says that any agreement would need to be within "...a framework formed by the Government". BAe confirms that government involvement has been dis cussed, adding that this would "...raise the whole thing to the political level". Repaired Hubble proves its worth NASA has released new pic tures from the Hubble Space Telescope which, it says, show the December 1993 Space Shuttle repair mission ex ceeded expectations. "The spacecraft is operating beyond our ambition," says NASA Ad ministrator Daniel Goldin. The space agency has re leased a series of seven "before" and "after" pictures — some monochrome, some colour — showing the extent to which the corrective optics installed by Shuttle astronauts have cured the space telescope's my opia. The Hubble now provides 50% better resolution, in creased image contrast, and can "see" much dimmer stars, NASA says. The repaired telescope will be able to provide up to four times as many images as be fore, and scientists will be able to extract four times the data from each image, the space agency says. D The JAS39 programme re mains the main focus for the discussions. The aim is for BAe to use its international market ing network and expertise to promote the aircraft, while tak ing on modification work for specific customer require ments. BAe would aim the JAS39 at a market between the BAe Hawk 200 and the Eu- rofighter 2000. BAe would also be involved in development of new JAS39 variants such as the proposed JAS39C, which could be se lected in 1997 to form the third Swedish JAS39 batch. To date, two batches of the initial production variant of the JAS39 have been ordered by Sweden. Missiles is a second area of likely co-operation. BAe and Matra are already at an ad vanced stage of negotiations over the merger of their missile businesses and Swedish de fence minister Anders Bjork has indicated that Saab is also ready to enter these talks. "I have declared a Swedish preparedness to take part in this [merger]", said Bjork, fol lowing talks with French de fence minister Francois Leo tard. He adds that the ministers are in agreement that there is a need for "a common Euro pean alternative" in missiles. BAe and Saab initiated the development of the S225X me dium-range air-to-air missile as a competitor to the Hughes/ Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM, which is now set to form the basis of a misile system being developed by a four-nation Eu ropean consortium which also includes GEC-Marconi Dynam ics and Alenia. "D NEWS IN BRIEF SEA KING UPGRADE Westland has won a £4.5 million order to upgrade the Belgian air force's five Wes tland Sea King helicopters. It will include fitting a Bendix RDR1500B search radar, FLIR Systems FLIR 200F forward looking infra-red and a Racal RNS252 naviga tion system. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 19 - 25 January, 1994
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