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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1047.PDF
V-FENCE Russian air force faces deep crisis ALEXANDER VELOVICH/MOSCOW Aircraft obsolescence, spares shortages and procurement problems are leading to a serious downgrading of the Russian air force's combat capability, accord ing to a senior air force official. The air force's plight was detailed by deputy commander-in- chief Col Gen Mikhail Soroka at a Russian parliamentary hearing. Soroka told the hearing that, in the last two years, the air force had cut the number of in-service aircraft by 40%. "This cannot be compensated in forthcoming years by quality growth of aircraft and weapons," he added. According to Soroka, half of the inventory consists of outdated aircraft. By 2000-5, only about 20% of the current fleet will remain operational — the remainder will have to be retired because they will have reached the end of their lifetimes. Ground equipment at military airbases is also deteriorating. Only 30% of 209 operational military air fields can be used at night and for bad-weather flights, while 133 need major repairs and reconstruction. While the Russian armed forces need to procure between 250 and 300 aircraft a year to maintain their combat capability, in 1994 only 32 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters were purchased. The air force says that it is receiving between only 30% and 35% of the necessary spares, with the result that its mission-readi ness rate is between 30% and 50% in operational units. Fuel shortages have hit flight hours hard: the average in the air force is 30-50h a year per pilot. In 1995, for the first time, the defence-acquisition budget does not allow for the delivery of a single aircraft. Compared to the past year, the budget for mili tary aviation has been reduced by'68%. Leonid Shkadov, deputy head of Central Aero/Hydrodynamics Institute, has said at parliamen tary hearings that many research- and-development projects have been cancelled, including Mik- oyan's fifth-generation advanced fighter, "Object 1-42", although this has been denied by Analatoly Belosvet, acting head of the Mikoyan design bureau. Object 1 -42's first flight has been repeatedly delayed. • NEWS IN BRIEF • ISRAEL LAUNCHES OFFEQ3 Israel launched its Offeq 3 intelligence satellite on 5 April. The satellite is intend ed to form part of a ballistic- missile early-warning system. The Offeq 3 was built by Israel Aircraft Industries and was launched into its low- Earth orbit by an advanced version of the Shavit three- stage launcher. A high-reso lution optical payload and other sensors are carried. El Op developed the optical sensor and Tadiran devel oped the data link. RAFtoloseWE177 THE ROYAL AIR FORCE will lose its nuclear capabil ity in 1998, nine years earlier than planned, with the with drawal of the WEI77 tactical free-fall nuclear bomb. The bomb is being replaced by a variant of the submarine- launched Trident missile to give the Royal Navy what the UK Government terms a "sub-strate gic" nuclear capability. The UK Ministry of Defence will say only that the WEI77 is being withdrawn from service because of "good progress" with the Trident. Maintenance issues are also likely to have played a part in the decision, however. J Attack Black Hawk revealed SIKORSKY HAS RELEASED pictures of a previously classi fied attack variant of its UH-60 Black Hawk tactical-transport helicopter developed by the US Army for its special-forces operations. The MH-60L has a undernose-mounted Hughes AAQ-16 forward-looking infra-red sensor and laser designa tor. As pictured, the MH-60L is fitted with four Hellfire laser- guided missiles, two mini-guns, two 30mm cannon and a rocket pod. Phoenix gets a reprieve THE .MUCH-DELAYED GEC-Marconi Phoenix reconnaissance and targeting unmanned air vehicle has been given a one-year stay of execution by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD). The MoD was forced to review the GEC-led £227 million pro gramme because it was six years late, with several technical prob lems still to be resolved. The scope of the review (Flight International, 25 January-3 February) included the option of cancelling the Phoenix pro gramme immediately and procur ing an alternative system. Roger Freeman, the minister for defence procurement, re vealed in a Parliamentary written answer on 5 April that GEC is being given a year to overcome the outstanding problems with the system. "We have decided that an addi tional programme of work on Phoenix should be undertaken to resolve the remaining technical difficulties. This programme of work, which will last about one year, will be undertaken at the contractor's expense," said Freeman. He made it clear, however, that the MoD maintains the sanction of cancelling the programme should GEC fail "...to demon strate satisfactory progress". The latest in a litany of prob lems which have bedevilled the development of the Phoenix is that of recovery damage. The novel method of recovery for the UAV relies on it being parachute- landed upside down on its frangi ble hump. Trials, however, revealed that considerably more than the fran gible hump was being damaged, with an unacceptably high cost penalty being involved. GEC is now proposing to incorporate a car-style air bag to absorb the impact of landing. While continuing with the Phoenix, the UK MoD will con tinue in parallel to examine poten tial alternative systems, including the Israeli-developed Hunter. J 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12 - 18 April 1995
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