FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0534.PDF
UK shortlists helicopters RAMON LOPEZ/DALLAS BELL AND EUROCOPTER helicopters have been short listed following a six-week UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) fly-off as part of its £300 million ($450 million) tri-service helicopter training-school competition. The fly-off, carried out at RAF Shawbury, examined the Bell 206 and 412, the Eurocopter AS350A Ecureuil, BK117C1 and AS365 Dauphin, the McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems (MDHS) MD- 500 and Explorer, the Enstrom TH28 and the Schweizer 330. The UK MoD evaluation has narrowed the compliant-bid plat forms down to the Bell and Eurocopter offerings, although the European-built Dauphin is believed to have been ruled out. The MoD is to centralise its tri- service helicopter training needs in tandem with contracting out the operation to die private sector. Three teams — Shorts, Hunting (with Bond) and FRA (with Bristow and Serco) are competing for the ten-year contract. Bell and Schweizer officials are aware of the outcome of the fly- off, although MDHS and En strom believe that their aircraft remain in the running. All three consortia are understood to have submitted compliant and non- compliant bids. Bell will battle it out with Eurocopter for UK contract The MoD requirement is thought to be for between 3 7 and 41 single-engined machines and between eight and 11 twin- engined helicopters to replace Aerospatiale Gazelle and Westland Wessex helicopters used by the three services for training. The Bell 206 has been offered by all three teams, according to sources close to the competition, while the 412 has been proposed by FBS and Shorts. Hunting and Bond tendered the BK117 as its submission to meet the MoD's twin-engine requirement. The three competing teams were free to bid whatever number and types of helicopters they believe can effectively provide 32,000h of ab initio and advanced training over a ten-year period. It remains conceivable that a non- compliant bid could be selected if costs becomes determining issue. The MoD could announce a decision by June, although it is also possible that the decision will be held to be bundled in with at least three other major procure ment announcements to be made to Parliament in late July. • Spain follows US C-130 update lead OtFTNCf USAF to outline upgrade plans TNDUSTRY IS TO be briefed JLthis month on US Air Force proposals to upgrade its Fair- child A-10s, Lockheed Martin F- 16s and F-l 17s and McDonnell Douglas F-15s, under its fighter- configuration plan (FICOP). The FICOP has been revised for 1996. An earlier plan was deemed to be unaffordable with in the upgrade funding expected between 1998 and 2003. Industry sources say that the priority for FICOP 96 is reduced cost of ownership, with increased combat capability coming sec ond. The plan is expected to pre sent a menu of upgrades for each aircraft and mission. It is considered likely that the upgrades will be staggered so that the funding can be spread over several years. Earlier versions of the plan had envisaged upgrading F-l6s as signed to night-attack missions with low-drag internal-targeting systems. This would consist of a nose-mounted infra-red sensor integrated with the radar, to replace the LANTIRN targeting pod. It is now considered likely that the USAF will opt instead for a low-drag, second-generation, ver sion of the LANTIRN pod now under development by Lockheed Martin. F-15s and F-16s are apparent ly earmarked to receive the Link 16 tactical datalink system. The favoured option is believed to be the NATO multi-function infor mation-distribution system ter minal under development by a GEC-Marconi-led team, but TRW is offering a repackaged version of its communication/- navigation/identification system for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22, called the integrated mod ular avionics. Another FICOP option is thought to be the joint helmet- mounted cuing system (JHMCS), which is planned to be operational on the F-l5 in mid-2000 and on the F-16 in mid-2002. Development of the JHMCS is scheduled to begin before the end of 1996. • 18 SPMN IS TO UPDATE ITS 12 Lockheed Martin C/KC- 130Hs with new avionics devel oped for the US Air Force's programme to upgrade C-130s and Lockheed C-141s. CASA is managing the pro gramme, with Lockheed Martin responsible for integration and AlliedSignal Aerospace supplying the avionics. The first Spanish air force C- 130 is already at Lockheed Martin's Marietta, Georgia, plant, and is scheduled to be flown by the end of 1996. Subsequent air craft will be upgraded by CASA. The upgrade includes a new digital automatic flight-control system, 150 x 200mm liquid-crys tal displays, control/display units, mission computers, flight-man agement system, air-data comput ers, identification friend-or-foe transponder and a radar. Spain is the first export cus tomer for the upgrade, developed under the USAF's C-130/C-141 autopilot replacement programme (ARP), intended to increase avion ics reliability by a factor of ten, says John Borghese, director, avionics systems business enter prise, at AlliedSignal Guidance & Controls. Spain is the first C-130 cus tomer for the liquid-crystal dis plays, which will be installed in C- 141s only under the USAF's ARP upgrade. Borghese says that the displays are designed to fit in the C-130 also, but the USAF does not have the funds to install them. The first C-130 upgraded by ARP prime contractor Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems was flown in January, and the first updated C-141 is scheduled to be flown in April. Eight different C- 130 configurations will be flight- tested before the USAF begins kit installation, he says. Kit produc tion is to begin in May for some 650C-130sandl00C-141s. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 6 - 12 March 1996
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
