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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 1590.PDF
DEFENCE HAC wants C-17 engine competition The House Appropriations Committee (HAC), one of four Congressional committees which control the Pentagon purse strings, has directed the US Air Force to start qualifying a second-source engine manufac turer for the McDonnell Douglas C-17 transport. The USAF has also been told to start competitively acquiring C-17's engine, beginning in fis cal year 1997. The HAC gave the USAF until 15 April, 1995, to provide the Congressional panel details on its C-17 engine competitive- acquisition plan. The Congressional panel has expressed concern over the "escalating cost" of the Pratt & Whitney F-l 17-100 turbofan, four of which power the Globemaster III military transport. The HAC mandate for an engine competition was in its FY95 committee report. Committee members say that they are "dismayed" that the USAF and P&W have failed to implement any cost- reduction measures for the C-17's powerplant since the lawmakers expressed their concerns in 1993. The report says that the USAF's original proposal to pro cure a commercially available engine as Government-fur nished equipment not only failed to yield cost savings, but "...has resulted in significant cost increases to the C-17 engine". In 1993, Rolls-Royce sub mitted an unsolicited proposal to the USAF, offering its RB.211-535E4 for a C-17 engine competition. The offer was reviewed by USAF offi cials, but was never acted upon. The R-R proposal con tains "significant acquisition and support-cost savings, in excess of $1 billion, over the course of the C-17 pro gramme", according to sources familiar with the bid. The sources also say that the RB.211 would have better performance and provide a 2,000kg weight saving for each C-17 shipset. • UK selects Paveway III for RAF The UK Ministry of Defence is to become the first European customer to pur chase the Paveway III laser- guided bomb (LGB) to meet the Royal Air Force's require ment for additional precision- attack weapons. The Texas Instruments weapon has been selected in preference to that of GEC- Marconi, offering the Lancelot powered stand-off laser-guided weapon. GEC- Marconi drew heavily on the Hakim family of weapons, which was developed for the United Arab Emirates, for Lancelot development. US sources say that the MoD took a final decision in May as to which weapon to procure in meeting Staff Requirement (Air) 1242. GEC-Marconi refuses to comment on the out come of the competition. The contract award has yet to be announced. This is believed to be being held back until after UK Secretary of State for Defence, Malcolm Rifkind, announces the out come of the "Front Line First" defence-cost studies. The Paveway III is under stood to have been consider ably cheaper than the Lancelot, although it is a less capable sys tem. The Lancelot is a powered, rather than a glide bomb, giv ing a range thought to be well beyond 20km (llnm). The penalty for greater range is, however, thought to be a price almost 50% greater than for the Paveway III. • A replacement for Russia's L-39s has yet to emerge Russia extends dual trainer evaluation BY ALEXANDER VELOVICH IN MOSCOW The Russian air force is to continue evaluating Mik- oyan and Yakovlev trainer air craft to meet the requirement to replace its Czech-built Let L-29 Dolphins and L-29 Albatros. A decision in favour of the Mikoyan MiG-AT or the Yakovlev Yak-130 had been expected by mid-year. The competitive procurement will now continue to a fly-off phase. The air force commission states that "...both projects in a technical sense are on approxi mately the same level". Although the initial statement favoured the Yakovlev design, both companies have received air force approval to continue prototype development and carry out a competitive fly-off. The Yakovlev team is receiv- NEWS IN BRIEF MiG EXPERIENCE Israeli air force pilots have flown Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrums of the Romanian air force. An Israeli air force gener al and three squadron com manders each flew the MiG-29, with full access to its systems. Israel has a special interest in the MiG-29, which is opera tional in Syria and Iran. EGYPTIAN SH-2s The Pentagon plans to sell ten upgraded Kaman Aerospace SH-2 anti-submarine-warfare helicopters to Eygpt, in a deal worth an estimated $380 mil lion. The SH-2F LAMPS Mk-1 helicopters are surplus US Navy equipment which will be upgraded to the SH-2G configuration. ing assistance from Aermacchi of Italy, while Mikoyan has formed a partnership with French companies Snecma and Sextant Avionique. Snecma will be delivering the Larzac 04R20 engine, while Sextant Avionique provides the avionics to Mikoyan. The air force says: "In the current conditions of sharp defence cuts, it may well hap pen that there will be no money for the design and development of either of these jet trainers. Luckily, both of these projects have attracted interest from for eign firms, which are ready to invest in development and organise their realisation." Opposition has arisen over Mikoyan's decision to fit a French engine into a Russian aircraft, competing for a major Government order. The air force acquisition commander, Lt Gen Stanislav Nazarenko, says: "For such a country as Russia, it is not easy to agree to install a foreign engine on our aircraft." The trainer-replacement pro gramme is symptomatic of the parlous state of defence procure ment. According to Elena Novikova, chief accountant of Russia's State Committee for Defence Branches of Industry, in the first six months of the year output has dropped in physical and financial terms by 59.9% and 42.9%, respectively. • 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 -12 My, 1994
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