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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0014.PDF
DMFSNCE NEWS IN BRIEF • MLRS FOR SOUTH KOREA The US Department of Defense intends to sell South Korea 271 Lockheed Martin Vought Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) rocket pods, 29 MLRS launchers, practice rounds, and tactical vehicles worth an estimated $624 million. The deal represents the first pur chase of the surface-to-sur face weapon by South Korea. • HUNTER TEST Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and TRW have suc cessfully carried out a 16h flight test of the E-Hunter long-endurance variant of the basic IAI Hunter. The E-Hunter will be demon strated to the US Army early this year. The E-Hunter dif fers from the basic Hunter in having an extended wing span and an "all wet wing". Nautilus laser gun to be deployed in 1998 THE PROTOTYPE of the Nautilus laser gun may be deployed in northern Israel as early as 1998. TRW and the US Department of Defense are close to concluding a S90 million devel opment contract for the system. Israeli companies will act as sub contractors to TRW, and the Israeli Government will fund one- diird of the development cost. The prototype is likely to be deployed against Russian-made BM-21 rockets used by anti-Israeli groups in southern Lebanon. The Nautilus prototype has been designed as a mobile system and will consist of three trailers. The Israeli companies which will be involved in the programme say that the beam will have a "first- shot" kill capability. Rafael will concentrate on devel oping a compact carbon-dioxide laser generator. The MBT weapons division of Israel Aircraft Industries will develop sensors and fire-control elements, and Tadiran will work on communications and and control. 3 Sweden approves order for third Gripen batch ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH THE SWEDISH parliament has approved an order for a third batch of SaabJAS39 Gripen fighter-bombers. The four-squadron order was cleared on 13 December as part of Sweden's new five-year defence strategy, but the exact number of aircraft has not yet been fixed. According to Saab, Batch 3 is likely to consist of 40-60 aircraft, to be produced between 2003 and 2006. The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) says that precise numbers and equipment will be the subject of negotiations with industry over the next six months. According to Saab, the new batch will be a mixture of sin gle-seat and two-seat JAS39B training aircraft, and a new power- plant "...may be an issue" in the forthcoming talks. The Eurojet EJ200, the Snecma M88, or an upgraded version of the Sweden has made its Gripen order into a triple Gripen's 80kN (18,000lb)-thrust General ElectricAblvo Aero RM12 turbofan engine have all been discussed. The last aircraft from the first batch of 30 JAS39s was handed over to FiYIV on the same day, fol lowed by die first Batch 2 aircraft delivery on 19 December. The delivery of the 30th Batch 1 aircraft completes the order agr - eed in June 1982 between Industriegruppen JAS and FMV. The second batch of 110 aircraft, including 14 two-seat JAS39Bs, was ordered in June 1996. • F-18E/F flight tests resume after GE cures compressor FLIGHT TESTING OF the McDonnell Douglas (MDC) F-18E/F Super Hornet has re sumed after engine manufacturer General Electric developed a cure for a compressor failure in die F414 which halted flying in November Flight International, 4-10 De cember, 1996, PI 4). GE has reverted to an earlier design of fixed sta tor vane on stages 3 and 6 of the compressor, after dis covering that a modification had caused fatigue cracking. The orig inal vane has holes drilled in the trailing edge, but diese were elimi nated when the vane was redesigned to improve efficiency. Apparently the holes improved fatigue resistance, GE says. The company is re-installing the original vanes in F414s powering five F-18E/Fs at the Navy's Patuxent River, Maryland, test centre. The remaining two devel opment aircraft are still at MDC and are now scheduled for delivery to Patuxent in January. The first aircraft to be returned to flight testing is the Fl, a two- seater, which will be used for initial sea trials to begin, on schedule, early in 1997, MDC says. • South Korea seeks funding for Black Hawk production SOUTH Korea's armed forces are seeking funding in fiscal year 1998 to further extend licence-manufacturing of the Sik orsky UH-60P Black Hawk heli copter at Korean Air's Aerospace division. The Army is understood to be discussing ordering a third batch of between 60 and 80 UH-60 utility machines from Korean Air's Kimhae plant. Funding would be drawn from the military's 1998- 2002 five-year budget, which is set to rise by 12.9%, to $120.9 billion because of recent tension with North Korea. Korean Air has already delivered an initial batch of 81 UH-60s ordered in 1990 and is just over midway through completing pro duction of a follow-on batch of 57 additional helicopters. The com pany recently delivered its 100th helicopter and is to complete deliv ery of the second batch in 1999. About nine local South Korean manufacturers are involved in the UH-60 programme including Samsung Aerospace, which has responsibility for licence-produc tion of the helicopter's twin General Electric T700 turboshaft. The engine was originally built by Korean Air, before the contract was switched to Samsung. 3 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 1 - 7 January 1997
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