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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 2638.PDF
DEFENCE SHS*? GEC demonstrates the ECR McDONNELL DOUGLAS (MDC) says that a soon-to- be-completed study for the US Air Force will show that the F-1SE Strike Eagle's service life, which is certified for 8,000 flight hours, can be extended to 12,000h. A second evaluation is expected to show that the F-15C/D's life can also be lengthened. Retirement of F-ISs was set to begin in 2015, but offi cials believe that they could contin ue flying for an additional decade. MDC is therefore proposing that 12 5 newer F-15C/Ds be given limited air-to-ground roles to sup plement the more capable F-15E Strike Eagles. The US manufacturer is devel oping new avionics for the F-15, including an advanced display/core processor and programmable communications/navigation/iden tification system, using funding from the company and the US Department of Defense. MDC expects to have wrapped up flight-testing of an F-l 5 equip ped with the Litton precision direction-finding (PDF) system by the end of September. The Congressionally ordered flights are designed to evaluate the F-15's ability to locate and attack enemy radars. Short of providing suppression of enemy air-defence missions, the PDF could be used by F-15 pilots to keep track of hostile radars. The PDF may also be used to upgrade Grumman EA-6B elec tronic-warfare aircraft as part of the Joint Emitter Targeting System programme. • 90 to Eurof ighter nations DOUGLAS BARRIE/LONDON GEC HAS FLOWN high-ranking Government officials from the four Eurofighter partner nations in the UK Defence Research Agency's BAC-One Eleven testbed for the ECR 90 radar, in a move aimed at demon strating that the radar meets key performance requirements. The officials included Christian Biener, systems manger for the EF2000 in the German Govern ment's weapons-procurement di vision, and his counterparts from Italy, Spain and the UK. The flight, which took place in September, was aimed at impress ing upon the partner nations that "maturity requirements" for the ECR 90 multi-mode pulse-Dop- pler radar, developed by a GEC- Marconi-led consortium, are now being met. Meeting these criteria on the radar is vital if production invest ment on the EF2000 is to proceed. Problems with radar/radome inte gration had been causing concern among the partner nations. Political sources close to the Eurofighter programme say that, during the 15 Omin flight, the radar was successfully demonstrated in several air-to-air modes against Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado targets, as well as GEC's own cali brated target. The radar being flown was effec tively a pre-production standard ECR 90, although it was not believed to have had the "fix" in tended to fully resolve the radar/- led radome issues. Daimler-Benz Aerospace held senior design responsibility for the radar until earlier this year and has designed a radar antenna modifica tion to overcome what it describes as "flashback". This resulted from radar energy being reflected by the inside wall of the radome. The first flight of an ECR 90 on a prototype EF2000 is due to take place at the beginning of No vember. The radar will be fitted to Development Aircraft 5. Before the production-invest ment phase of the programme can begin, the German Government also has to find a resolution to its continuing problems of defence- procurement funding. So far Volker Riihe, the German defence minister, has failed to finalise the level of funding for the aircraft in the 1997 budget alloca tion. Talks are continuing. • IPTN teams with Hawker on RAAF Caribou replacement IPTN HAS signed a memoran dum of understanding (MoU) with Hawker Pacific, Honeywell, and its Canberra-based Australian representative Aerospace Tech nical Services (ATS), to work on the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) de Havilland Caribou replacement, Project Air 5109. The Indonesian manufacturer will be offering an upgraded ver sion of its IPTN 235-220, to be designated the -330 model, with power, avionics, aerodynamic and propulsion enhancements. The group also plans to develop a multi-role proposal under which it would offer the Australian Defence Force a single-type option to replace up to four other ageing types. These include the RAAF's Douglas C-47 Dakotas and Haw ker- Siddeley 748s, and the Aus tralian Army's fixed-wing fleet. The group identifies a total potential market for up to 70 air craft, and it will be pushing the eco nomics of single-type logistics and maintenance/engineering sup port, which has attracted interest in Australian defence circles. ATS says that its proposal would be based on "major production" in Australia. Honeywell will be involved in avionics supply, sys tems design and integration. • BGT scores two successes with IRIS-T missile seeker test engagements IRIS-T launch success boosts project-definition work GERMAN MISSILE house Bodenseewerk Geratetechnik has carried out two test engage ments of its IRIS-T imaging-infra- red (IIR) seeker and guidance system at high off boresight angles of engagement. In both cases, the target drone was hit. The IRIS-TIIR seeker and guidance subsystems were married to an AIM-9 Sidewinder body for the tests, with a German air force McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom as the launch aircraft. The nine-month project-defini tion phase of the missile pro gramme, which involves six nations, was launched at the begin ning of August. Germany is the lead nation in the programme to develop an AIM-9 replacement, in concert with Canada, Greece, Italy, Swe den and Norway. The development phase of the IRIS-T seeker programme is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of 1997, with Ger many set to provide 50% of the required funding — if the Government is able to avoid mak ing defence-budget cuts. • 18 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 October 1996
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