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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 2325.PDF
HEADLINES NH-90 delivery held up a year DELIVERY OF the first NH-90 military helicopter is likely to be delayed by a year from the expected 1999 han dover date, to accommodate "additional work and customis ing" for the four nations involved in the programme. The new date results from a recent agreement between prime contractor NH Industries and the four nations involved in the project (France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands) that a deci sion on production of the NH- 90 will be deferred by a year, to the end of 1997. Originally, the decision on pro duction of up to 726 NH-90s was due in late 1995, with the industri alisation decision following a year later. These are now being com bined, and delayed. "It allows extra time for the French Government to decide on its purchase," says NH Industries commercial director Alain Gautier. "It also gives us time to get the tooling right after the first flight in late 1995." The NH-90 development pro gramme remains fully funded, and on schedule, with Eurocopter Deutschland delivering the all- composite centre fuselage of the first of five NH-90 prototypes on 20 September. The first of three "core-system" prototypes is being assembled by Eurocopter France, while the mission system and naval proto types are being completed respec tively by Eurocopter Deutschland and Italy's Agusta. By the end of November, the complete prototype NH-90 fuselage will have been assem bled at Eurocopter France's site in Marignane, bringing together the cockpit, built by Aero spatiale, centre and rear fuse lages (Deutsche Aerospace) and tail (Fokker). Agusta has begun manufacture of the gearboxes and drive shaft, which will be added early in 1995. Agusta is also responsible for the iron bird avionics test-rig. • Unisys to lead P-3 avionics upgrade project for USN UNISYS HAS been selected to lead a programme to upgrade the avionics of US Navy Lockheed P-3C Orion maritime- patrol aircraft. Unisys Electronic Systems will be prime contractor for the Si 15 million anti-surface-warfare improvement programme (AIP), and will supply the information processing and display system, with Lockheed Aircraft Service handling aircraft integration and systems installation and Texas Instruments (TI) providing improved sensors. The AIP upgrade will standard ise the P-3C fleet with the TI APS-13 7 radar and add synthetic- aperture ground-imaging capabil ity to all aircraft. Electronic support-measures will also be standardised with an upgraded version of the Loral ALR-66. A long-range electro-optical sensor already fitted to some P- 3Cs will be introduced across the fleet, as will be the ability to carry Hughes AGM-65D Maverick air- to-surface missiles. The AIP is one of three upgrades planned for the US Navy's surviving force of 247 P- 3C Update Ills. A contract for the corrosion-control sustained- readiness programme has yet to be awarded; E-Systems and Lockheed are competing. Lockheed will update the P-3's radios under the communications -improvement programme. • Makung: application shelved because of lack of international routes Taiwan plans to let domestics fly international routes TAIWAN IS to scrap its two-tier airline-grading system and open up international routes to the island's numerous domestic carriers, says transportation and communication minister Liu Chao-shiuan. The move, which is subject to parliamentary approval, is in response to growing pressure from Taiwan's larger second-level airlines wanting to break out of the country's overcrowded and intensely competitive domestic market and operate scheduled overseas services. International routes have been restricted to "Grade A" carriers China Airlines, Mandarin Airlines and EVA Air since the opening up of Taiwan's aviation-transport market six years ago. The remaining seven "Grade B" airlines could only apply for international rights after three years of incident-free domestic operations and a further two years of overseas charter flights. The Government, however, recently shelved applications from TransAsia Airways and Makung Airlines, both of which had qualified for Grade A status, because of a shortage of interna tional routes. EVA Air, at the same time, has been seeking permission to compete on domestic routes. Many airlines are sceptical about whether revoking the grad ing system will make any real dif ference, given Taiwan's international political isolation. "Every time the transport min istry tries to get new international routes, it proves impossible," says an airline source. He adds: "We have at least five airlines with full international capability, but are unable to get enough routes to share among the existing three overseas carriers, let alone five." • Loganair buy-out bid collapses THE PROPOSED manage ment buy-out of UK region al carrier Loganair has collapsed because of a shortage of funding, leaving the Scottish airline in the Airlines of Britain Holdings (ABH) group. The carrier has, meanwhile, begun operating as the latest British Airways-franchised regional operator, but ABH, which has long-time BA rival Sir Michael Bishop as its chairman, says that is a separate issue. ABH says: "We have always said that the buy-out and the British Airways relationship were unconnected. While the BA arrangement inside ABH is not ideal, in terms of providing some of the very thin routes in Scotland, it is beneficial." • 6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 28 September - 4 October 1994
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