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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 2734.PDF
French air force faces combat shortfall, says committee GILBERT SEDBON/PARIS FRANCE MUST increase the annual rate of production of the Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft if the air force's combat strength is to not to be further eroded, according to the defence commit tee of France's National Assembly. The country's Defence White Paper specifies that the air force's combat strength should not fall below 400 aircraft. The defence committee warns that with pre sent procurement rates the num ber of combat aircraft could fall to as few as 320. In its report on the 1995 defence budget, committee chair man Olivier Darrason says that, because the air force will only order 16 Dassault Rafales a year from 1998, "...at that pace and fig ure, the Armee de l'Air will inevitably be only 320 aircraft strong, in direct contradiction with the French White Paper." To attain the level specified in the Defence White Paper, Darrason says that orders for the Rafale should be increased to 20 a year. Darrason also expresses con cern over how the collaborative Future Large Aircraft project will be funded. "Today, the Rafale financial envelope is Fr4 billion [$770 million] per annum and, by More Rafales are 2000, it will be Fr8 billion per annum," he warns. According to the committee chairman, an additional sum of about Fr2 billion will have to be found for the FLA programme. "How are we going to appropriate FrlO billion, when today it is needed to bolster frontline strength already extremely difficult to raise Fr4 billion?" he asks. Darrason is also highly critical of proposals to cut air force per sonnel numbers at a time when both the French army and navy are increasing in manpower. • DRA pursues fly-by-light Harrier T4 THE UK DEFENCE Re search Agency's (DRA) vec- tored-thrust aircraft advanced flight-control (VAAC) Harrier is being equipped with a fibre-optic control system, to allow "fly-by- light" research. The aircraft, a converted two- seat British Aerospace Harrier T4, is being upgraded by the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield University with a full active-control-technolo gy (ACT) system. This Phase 2 upgrade will add a full-authority lateral/directional ACT system to the longitudinal axis ACT which was used in the VAAC Harrier's Phase 1 initial period of flight testing. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to use the Phase 2 upgrade as an opportuni ty to equip the aircraft with fly- by-light fibre-optic cables. Westland Helicopters assisted in fitting the fibre-optic cables, DRA throws new light on active-control technology which connect elements of the VAAC Harrier's vehicle-manage ment system. The fly-by-light addition to the Phase 2 upgrade will enable the air craft to be of greater use in researching high-speed digital-data exchange in next-generation con ventional, as well as advanced short take-off and landing, aircraft. This is of particular impor tance, as the increased use of com posites in aircraft could lead to a significant electromagnetic (EM)- interference problem. By using fibre-optic links, the weight of extensive copper wiring and EM shielding can be eliminat ed without increasing the aircraft's EM emission signature or suscepti bility to external interference. The VAAC Harrier refit pro gramme is on schedule, with com pletion and re-delivery of the aircraft to the DRA scheduled for October 1995. • DEFENCE USAF releases more details of revamped U-2S FURTHER performance details of the re-engined Lockheed U- 2S reconnaissance aircraft were revealed by the US Air Force as it accepted the first three revamped aircraft from Lockheed's Cali fornia-based Advanced De velopment Company, better known as the Skunk Works. A total of 37 USAF U-2Rs is scheduled to be re-engined with the General Electric F118-101 turbofan, an 84.5kN (19,0001b)- thrust non-afterburning power- plant developed from the Fl 18-100, which is installed in the Northrop Grumman B-2A. The more powerful engine replaces the original 75kN Pratt & Whitney J75-P13B turbojet, which has been used in various forms in the aircraft since its first reconnaissance flights took place in the mid-1950s. Lt Gen Thomas Griffith, commander of the 12 th Air Force and parent organisation of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, which operates U-2s, says that the re-engined U-2S will "...be a much more capable aircraft" than the U-2R. The extra power of the engine, plus its better thrust-to-weight ratio and 16% lower fuel con sumption, will enable the U-2S to be flown for up to 3h longer, "...so we can take a lot more pictures". The current maximum endurance is around 12h. The new engine is 555kg lighter than the J75, so the aircraft will be able to be operated 3,500ft (1,100m) higher than now possi ble, taking it closer to the 90,000ft ceiling of earlier-generation ver sions. In recent years, additional equipment has reduced the oper ational altitude to below 80,000ft in TR-1 and U-2 R versions. Maximum range is also extended by l,200nm (2,200km), enabling it to travel, it is believed, over 7,400km. All 37 USAF U-2s will be modernised by the end of 1998. Griffith says: "The U-2s are operating today at the highest peacetime level we've ever had, even higher than at the time of the GulfWar." • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 November 1994 15
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