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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1743.PDF
PARIS FIRST NEWS Saab Aircraft celebrates major 340B order spree SAAB AIRCRAFT has landed significant orders for its 340B Plus turboprop from two of the largest regional operators in the USA. In addition, the Swedish manufacturer has almost com pleted a deal to sell a large num ber of Saab 2000s to one of the carriers. The biggest single order comes from long-time Saab 340 opera tor American Eagle, which is buying 25 additional aircraft to add to its fleet of 116 Saab 340A and B variants already in service. The deal covers 25 of the 50 options held by American Eagle for the aircraft. Of more long-term signifi cance for the manufacturer is the news from sources at the US car rier that it is close to sealing a deal to purchase a minimum of 15 53- seat Saab 2000s. Negotiations are expected to be completed in the next few weeks. American Eagle has held options on 40 of the air craft for some time. It is understood that the new aircraft are being acquired for growth reasons, and the move American Eagle is buying 25 more Saab 340s does not signal American Eagle's intention to start replacing any of its ATR fleet in the wake of the ATR 72 crash in 1994, which resulted in a temporary ground ing of the aircraft. Atlanta-based Express Airlines 1 is also adding to its Saab 340 fleet with an order for ten new air craft, to boost the services it offers to about 40 cities in 15 states as a Northwest Airlink carrier. Saab declines to comment on the orders, beyond pointing out that American Eagle option posi tion on the 340 and 2000 were public knowledge. The Saab 2000 deal in particu lar will be especially welcome for the Swedish company, which has not won a single order of the type this year. The firm-order book stands at 39 aircraft, of which 15 have been delivered — including the first aircraft for French carri er Regional Airlines and Air Marshall Islands. The Saab 340 backlog stands at 82, and total firm orders for the aircraft are now 445. • GIVs offered to replace IIS forces' Rivet Joints GULFSTREAM Aerospace is proposing that the Pentagon replace its ageing fleet of Rivet Joint RC-135 electron ic-intelligence-gathering air craft with militarised Gulf- stream rV-SP business jets. Although Rivet Joint RC- 135s (specially configured Boeing 707s) performed well during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 in Iraq, they are expen sive to operate, require extensive support and are 30 years old. The firm says that a plan to re- engine the aircraft operated by the US Air Force's 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing with General Electric/ Snecma CFM-56 turbofan engines has merit, but will be costly. Company officials note that the Swedish air force has already replaced Sud Aviation Caravelles with EC-20 Gulfstream IVs for high-altitude signal intelligence- gathering missions. The US Navy picked the G-IV to replace Boeing EA-3 electronic-warfare trainers, but funding constraints caused the USN to abandon the procure ment and instead use modified Lockheed P-3s. A C-20G, the USN's long- range operational-support air craft, was displayed at the show for the first time. It features a quick-change cabin for cargo, 26 passengers, or a combination of both. A medical-evacuation inte rior is now available. • A Gulfstream IV-SP is being turned into a hurricane hunter by E-Systems as part of a $34 mil lion US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract. Aside from being used to predict the expected path of hurricanes, the modified aircraft will be used as a high-altitude research aircraft. When the GIV-SP is fielded in July 1996, it will be the only aircraft to be operated by the US Government which is dedicated to collecting environmental data in the upper troposhere. Future missions could in clude weather research, global climate studies, validation of satellite data and development of remote sensors. 3 Sextant avionics for Mi-35M SEXTANT AVIONIQUE has joined forces with Russian design bureau Mil and manufac turer Rostvertol to modernise and upgrade the Mi-35M helicopter. The work includes equipping the helicopter with night/adverse weather-combat capability. Sextant, which will lead several Thomson-CSF units involved in the programme, is to develop and integrate a new avionics suite for the Mi-35M. The system will display all flight-control infor mation and perform navigation, observation, detection and fire- control functions. Rostvertol and Mil are respon sible for systems integration, and for the testing and certification of the upgraded version of the helicopter. • Silver Arrow unveils two UAVs SILVER ARROW, the Israeli unmanned-air-vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, has unveiled two new systems at the Paris air show. The Darter is aimed at front-line combat units, while the Colibri is for training UAV operators. The Darter has a wingspan and length of just under 4m. Its claimed mission radius is 90km (50nm), with lOh endurance. The UAV is launched by a vehicle-car ried bungee launcher and is para chute-recovered. The smaller Colibri has been developed to enable the training of UAV operators in all the sec tions of an unmanned-platform flight envelope. Silver Arrow has also announced the development of an upgraded version of its Hermes- 450. The new Hermes-750 is scheduled to be flown in January 1996.The aircraft will have a max imum take-off weight of 750kg and an endurance of over 30h. • Leading defence-electronics producer Elbit, which has a 50% holding in Silver Arrow, has announced separately that it is to form a UAV division to develop mission systems. J 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14 - 20 June 1995
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