FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1994
1994 - 2697.PDF
SURVEILLANCE From scrap to black MARTIN STREETLY/LONDON Few, if any, of those who witnessed the first flight of the Boeing 707 in July 1954 could have imagined that, 40 years later, it would still be the primary platform for several nations' most sensitive systems. The 707 continues to be the most popular basis worldwide for "special-mission" aircraft, although its slightly later competitor, the McDonnell Douglas DC-8, is now becoming significant in die market as well. Perhaps even more surprisingly, the 707/DC-8 conversion The Boeing 707 is 40 years old, but continues to dominate in electronic surveillance market looks likely to continue to grow, with up to 20 additional aircraft coming on stream by the end of the decade. The versatility and longevity of its basic air frame is reflected in die diversity of roles now undertaken by the venerable 707. Its applica tions include: air-to-air refuelling; airborne command; signals-intel ligence (SIGINT) gath ering; airborne early warning (AEW); air-to- ground radar surveil lance; electronic-warfare (EW) training; range monitoring; and photo graphic/electro-optical reconnaissance. More than 50 707s, along with three DC-8s, are now in service in these roles, or on order. Of diese, almost half of them are electronic-sys tems aircraft. The 707 conversion market has so far been dominated by four com- Prototype Elta EL/L-8300-equipped Boeing 707 (bottom) almost certainly forms the basis of Spain snevi Santiago SIGINT platform. When installed, the operator stations (top) take up a considerable portion of the aircraft's main cabin panies: E-Systems and Northrop Grumman of the USA; Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI); and South Africa's Grinaker System Technologies (GST). E-Systems' Greenville division has been intimately concerned with the US Air Force's RC-135 strategic SIGINT-aircraft pro gramme since 1959. It has built on this experi ence in firmly establishing itself in the export market for SIGINT aircraft, based mostly on 707 airframes. E-Systems is believed to have begun work on its first 707-based export system in 1975, when it won a contract to outfit one of the Imperial Iranian air force's fleet of 14 707- 3J9C tanker/transports witfi a combined elec tronic-intelligence (ELINT) gathering and photographic-reconnaissance system. A sec ond airframe was subsequently converted. These aircraft are understood to have had 13 operator positions, an ELINT subsystem capable of detecting and classifying emitters, and an oblique and vertical camera subsystem for "surveillance photography". The conversions involved extensive struc tural modification and reinforcement, includ ing the installation of a range of antennae on die aircraft's wings and fuselage; a retractable direction-finding (DF) array under the belly; a new inertial-navigation system (INS); and modified cabin-environmental systems. These aircraft were reportedly used operationally during the Iran-Iraq War, which began in September 1980. One aircraft (bearing the Iranian air force serial number 5-8307) received a major overhaul at the Swissair main tenance site at Zurich in the mid-1980s, but the present status of the aircraft is uncertain. DATA-COLLECTION SYSTEM Greenville secured a second major 707 export contract in 1976, for the design and installa tion of what it describes as a "tactical airborne data-collection system" in three Israeli air force 707-300-series aircraft. These aircraft are tasked with die real-time collection, analy sis and processing of electronic-signal data. The original system architecture included 11 minicomputers and "more dian 100" micro processors serving up to 19 role-dedicated operator positions. Greenville's work on these aircraft also involved the installation of an extensive under- 38 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 November 1994
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
