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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0600.PDF
DEFENCE NEWS IN BRIEF HERCULES STALLED The Royal Air Force C-130K Hercules which crashed in the Scottish Highlands on 27 May, 1993 probably stalled in a low-speed turn at very low height, says the Ministry of Defence accident report. The crew appeared to have turned the aircraft one way to avoid a rock outcrop, immediately after a low-level dummy drop, says the re port, then reversed the turn to follow its planned track along the narrow Glen Loch valley, stalling "...at an alti tude from which recovery was impossible". All nine people on board died. STEALTHY SPIRIT The US Air Force has se lected "Spirit" as the official name for the Northrop B-2 stealth bomber. The USAF is buying 20 of the low- observable bombers. APACHE SALE The US Department of De fense has notified Congress of plans to sell to the United Arab Emirates ten McDon nell Douglas AH-64A Apache attack helicopters in a $330 million foreign-military-sales deal, including 350 Rockwell Hellfire missiles. Pakistan shops for Lebanese Mirage spares Pakistan is negotiating with the Lebanon for the pur chase of ten Dassault Mirage IIICs, which have been moth- balled for the past 19 years. The aircraft have been stored, without maintenance, at the Qolaiaat air base in north ern Lebanon. If the aircraft are purchased by Pakistan, the aim is to cannibalise them for spare parts. The Pakistan air force oper ates several squadrons of Mi rage III and Mirage V aircraft. In 1993, it bought secondhand Mirage Ills from Australia. • Raytheon earns Patriot Congressional reprieve Raytheon has staved off, at least temporarily, final de feat in the selection of a missile for the Patriot Advanced Capa bility (PAC-3) project. Bowing to Congressional pressure, Pentagon acquisition chief John Deutch has ordered an independent panel to review the Army's evaluation process which selected the Loral Vought Extended Range Inter ceptor (ERINT) missile. The move has resulted in the Pentagon postponing, until at least April, its deliberation on whether Loral Vought, as rec ommended by the US Army, should build the PAC-3. The US Army backs Loral Vought's hit-to-kill ERINT over Raytheon's Multimode Seeker (MMS) for the PAC-3. It says that the ERINT missile offers increased range, accuracy and lethality to the current Patriot system. The PAC-3 system is designed to be the lower tier of a two-tier missile-defence net work against tactical ballistic missiles. Lockheed's Theater High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) will be the upper- tier weapon. Raytheon has enlisted the aid of US lawmakers in trying to keep its blast-fragmentation warhead MMS project alive. The company has asked Deutch for a review of the Army's decision, saying that the selection process was seriously flawed. Among other points, they say that the Army review gave insufficient weight to the Mul titude Seeker's capability against cruise missiles. • LEAP target test success The rocket which will serve as the representative thea tre-ballistic-missile target for the Navy Lightweight Exo- Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) test was flight-tested success fully in late February. It was launched from the Wallops Flight Facility in Vir ginia. The sub-orbital rocket achieved an altitude of 322km before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. The LEAP project is de signed to demonstrate the fea sibility of hit-to-kill intercepts of theatre ballistic weapons, using sea-based weaponry. The LEAP interceptor would be carried by an advanced ex tended-range version of the US Navy's Standard (SM-2) mis sile. Actual LEAP intercept tests are scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 1994. • GAO puts THAAD costs in orbit The Pentagon's Theater High-Altitude Area De fence (THAAD) system being designed to engage theatre bal listic missiles at high altitudes and long ranges, using hit-to- kill technology, will cost an estimated $14.5 billion, accord ing to the US General Account ing Office (GAO). A GAO report says that the US Defense Department plans to buy 1,422 THAAD missiles, 99 launchers and 18 ground- based radars (GBR). The THAAD prime contractor is Lockheed Missiles & Space Company. Hughes Radar Sys tems Group is responsible for the GBR. Lockheed is developing THAAD under a $689 million four-year R&D contract. The THAAD demonstration/valida tion contract was awarded in 1992. The programme is sched uled to begin engineering-and- manufacturing development in 1996 and begin low-rate initial production in 1999. Flight testing of the system is expected to begin late this year. Initial fielding would take place in 2001 and full-scale production of the THAAD would begin in 2002. The THAAD missile system has an estimated price of $9 billion, while radar develop ment and procurement is ex pected to cost $5.4 billion. The Clinton Administration is trying to make the THAAD an international programme, potentially with Japan. D FUEL SHORTAGE GROUNDS MILS The operational tempo oj Russia's Naval Aviation forces continued to decline during 1993, according to Adm Felix Nikolayevich Gromov, commander-in-chief of the Russian Federation navy. Gromov admits that a lack of fuel and spares has forced cuts in flying time. This has affected front-line and training operations. Worst affected is the disputed Black Sea fleet aviation command. Non-delivery of spares and inadequate support means that around half of its 300 aircraft, including the Mil Mi-14 Hazes (above) in open storage at Anapa airfield, are grounded. 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 March, 1994
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