FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1996
1996 - 3192.PDF
DEFENCE NEWS IN BRIEF • PERUVIAN FULCRUM Peru has taken delivery of a squadron of Russian-built Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters, a move which could fuel a new Latin American arms race. The aircraft's arrival comes as the USA considers lifting the embargo against selling advanced US-made fighters in the region. Peru bought the 12 fighters from Belarus for an undisclosed price. The sale was made despite protest from the USA. • HERCULES CRASH I A US Air Force Reserve Lockheed HC-130 crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the Northern California coast on 22 November. One of the 11 people on board was rescued after it went down with en gine trouble during a training mission. The aircraft's home base was Portland, Oregon. • HERCULES CRASH II The 17 August crash of a US Air Force Lockheed C-130 transport near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Airport was caused by the crew's failure to monitor the aircraft's position and flightpath rela tive to high terrain sur rounding the airfield. The military transport was oper ating in support of the White House. All eight crew- members and a US Secret Service security specialist were killed when the aircraft hit a mountain after take-off. It was transporting a com munications van to New York's JFK International. The aircraft was assigned to Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas. • SEA KING COMPLETE Westland has completed a AS58 ($46 million) avionics and structural upgrade of six Royal Australian Navy Sea King Mk50/50A maritime utility helicopters. The 27- month upgrade programme is intended to extend the operational life of Australia's Sea King fleet until 2008. South Korea may bring forward its AEW plans PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE SOUTH KOREA COULD advance its planned airborne early warning (AEW) programme by 12 months, in response to criti cism of the military's surveillance capability and its failure to detect recent North Korean incursions. According to local industry sources, initial funding for an AEW procurement may now be brought forward to fiscal year 1997. A final decision is expected this month, when the South Korean National Assembly is due to approve the next defence budget. The Republic of South Korean Air Force (RoKAF) had originally planned to issue a request for ten ders in early 1997 and make a final system selection the followingyear. Discussions now focus on provid ing financing for the acquisition of the first two AEW aircraft in 1997 and funding the remaining two platforms in 1998. A total of four machines is required to support a single AEW orbit over the South Korean penin sular. In an effort to shorten the evaluation process, the country's Ministry of National Defence has to date invited only three preferred companies to submit proposals. Boeing is offering its new 767- based airborne -warning-and-con- trol system (AWACS), already ordered by neighbouring Japan. Israel Aircraft Industries is also proposing a 767 platform, but fit ted with the Elta Phalcon phased- array AEW radar, while Ericsson of Sweden has teamed with Saab to offer the Erieye system mounted on the Saab 2 000 turboprop (Flight International, 30 October -5 November, P5). For AEW support the RoKAF now relies on US Air Force Boeing E-3 AWACS aircraft based on Okinawa, Japan. The recent dis covery of an abandoned North Korean submarine on the South Korean coast, the defection of a Mikoyan MiG-19 fighter across the border and incursions by sur face warships, have caused alarm in capital Seoul over South Korean military preparedness. • Safety fears put back UAV's first flight tests THE FIRST FLIGHT of the AlliantTechsystems Outrider tactical unmanned air vehicle (TUAV) has been delayed by a month because of safety concerns. The US Department of De fense's UAV Joint Programme Office says: "The delay is primarily to allow additional risk-mitigation efforts to ensure a safe first flight." The Outrider's initial test flight had been set for early November, six months after receipt of a $53 million, 24-month, advanced-con cept technology-demonstration contract. Six TUAV systems — with four air vehicles and sensors per system and eight attrition vehi cles —will be built and flight tested. A contract option calls for low- rate initial production of the same number of systems and air vehicles. With the options, the total value rises to more than $87 million. Full production calls for 73 TUAV sys tems for the US Army, Marine Corps and Navy. In beating eight other bidders, Al liantTechsystems proposed a heavy- fuel-engine-powered drone. • 757 prepared for F-22 testbed role BOEING HAS FLOWN ITS FLIGHT-TEST 757 to Wichita, Kansas, for modification into an avionics development testbed for the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 air-superiority fighter. The 757 will be fitted with an F-22 forward fuselage, under con struction at Lockheed Martin's Marietta site in Georgia. The aft section of the same fuselage will be used for ballistic tests. The nose section will house the Northrop Grumman APG-77 radar, on which tests will begin following completion of the modifica tion in August 1997. A "sensor wing" — containing the F-22's electronic-warfare, communication, navigation and identifica tion sensors—will also be installed on the crown of the fuselage behind the flightdeck. This is scheduled for installation around August 1998, with avionics testing due to begin the following October. The wing, which simulates the positions of sensors on the F-22 wing, will have an 8.5m span. The extended nose will increase overall length by almost 2.7m. Boeing says that the 757, the first built, will also be used for "piggyback" avionics tests for its Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 -10 December 1996
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
