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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0068.PDF
The MAPO MiG-AT is emerging as Russia s preferred jet trainer MiG-AT poised for service DEFENCE Czechs offered F-18 parts deal MCDONNELL Douglas (MDC) has offered to place production of parts for its F-18 in the Czech Republic, if the central- European nation selects the air craft as its new fighter. F-18 parts would be produced by Czech air craft manufacturer Aero Vodo- chody, under an offset agreement, accompanying the sale or lease of F-18s to the Republic. xMDC has already offered Poland final assembly of the F-18 at PZl-Mielec, if it selects the US fiighter. The company is also talk ing to Skoda Plzen in the Czech Republic about commercial offset work. Hungary is also considering die F-18, and MDC is discussing offset possibilities, some of which may involve die Danubian mainte nance centre. The US company says that it will offer the Czechs offset work even if, as seems likely, they decide to lease, rather than buy, new fight ers. The Czech air force completed an evaulation of the F-18 in the USA in November 1996. • The Philippine air force has completed a US evaluation of the F-18 undergoing flight-simulator training at MDC and flying a US Marine Corps F-18D two-seater at the US Navy's China Lake, California, test centre. • NEWS IN BRIEF \ • RAYTHEON UPGRADES Raytheon Electronic Sys tems has received US Army contracts totalling $379 mil lion to upgrade Hawk and Patriot air-defence missile systems for Egypt, Germany, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. • KFIR TALKS Ecuador is negotiating the purchase of additional Kfir fighters from Israel Aircraft Industries (LAI). Ecuador is already operating one squadron of Kfir C-2 fight ers. LAI has already asked for US approval for the deal. THE RUSSIAN AIR FORCE will place an order for ten VPK MAPO MiG-AT advanced jet trainers within the next 12 montJis, according to Russian press reports. If confirmed, the move is the clearest indication yet that the MiG-AT is emerging as the air force's preferred jet trainer over the rival Yakovlev Yak-130. According to press reports, defence officials claim that the air craft will be delivered to the air force in the latter half of 1998, shortly after die trainer is certifi cated. A Russian air force decision in favour of the MAPO trainer would end Yakovlev's interest in military-aircraft design, leaving it as a sports-aircraft and airliner- design house. The Russian air force has an out standing requirement to replace its Czech Aero L-39 Albatros trainers which, since the break-up of the Warsaw Pact, have become increasingly expensive to operate. Neither MAPO nor Yakovlev were available for comment. Rus sian sources suggest, however, that in recent months it has become increasingly clear that the MiG- AT is the preferred choice. MAPO is also understood to have exerted considerable political influence in attempting to secure the order. MAPO expects a further two prototype MiG-ATs to join the first aircraft in the flight-test pro gramme early this year. A fourth airframe is likely to be used the fatigue-test rig. The MiG-AT has taken on in creasing importance for MAPO, with other combat-aircraft pro grammes being shelved by the air force. Work on the MiG- 29M advanced Fulcrum variant and the design house's fifth-gen eration fighter, the Object 1.42, have been halted. Funding from a MiG-AT pro curement would be used to prime other combat-aircraft develop ments. MAPO is now attempting to develop further the MiG-29 with a thrust-vectoring derivative, dubbed the MiG-35. It might also attempt to fly one of the 1.42 prototypes as an advanced demonstrator, with some of the avionics and weapons being used on the MiG-3 5. • grade. Some of the latter are to be based at Hopsten, Germany, for European acclimatisation training. The first ten aircraft flying to Holloman have been drawn from all the air force's five Phantom- equipped interceptor wings. The F-4 training squadron, for merly the 1st German air force training squadron, has recently become part of the air force's new Tactical Training Command USA, which also includes the Holloman- based Tornado training squadron. Forty-eight Tornados are sched uled to be based at Holloman by the turn of the century. Q German air force sends F-4F Phantt THE GERMAN AIR force is to send ten McDonnell Douglas F-4F Phantoms to Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, on 14 January, in a move towards upgrading its US-based F-4 training squadron. The F-4Fs will replace F-4Es now used by the service for training at the base. A further 14 F-4Fs will follow by the end of this year. Eight of the F-4Es now at Holloman are owned by the German air force, while the others are US property. All will be scrapped once replaced. The F-4E is similar to the basic F-4F, but the German air force believes that the dissimilarities introduced by the Improved Combat Efficiency (ICE) upgrade — including navigation upgrades, the integration of the Hughes APG-65 radar and AIM-120 AMRAAM missile capability — are too great. Eight of the 24 F-4Fs which will eventually go to Holloman will have the full ICE upgrade, while the remainder will have only the improved navigation system. In total, 110 of the German air force's 149 F-4Fs are being upgrad ed to ICE standards, while the rest will get only the navigation up- Phantoms to Holioman FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 January 1997
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