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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0124.PDF
NEWS IN BRIEF M PORTUGUESE PMAWS The Northrop Grumman AAR-54 imaging ultra-violet Passive Missile Approach Warning System (PMAWS) is to be installed on Portu guese air force Lockheed Martin C-130Hs. The terms of the contract have not been disclosed. This contract cov ers the C-130Hs being used in air operations in Bosnia- Herzegovina. Deliveries are planned for the third quarter of diis year. Additional orders to equip remaining Portu guese C-130Hs are expected. • XF-2 TRIALS The Japan Defence Agency's Technical Research & De velopment Institute (TRDI) has begun operational con figuration testing of the Mit subishi XF-2 support fighter, fitting the aircraft with underwing fuel tanks and wingtip air-to-air missiles. The TRDI's Gifu centre has now taken delivery of all four flying prototypes, including two tandem-seat XF-2Bs, and it has completed about 150 flights. • SPECIAL OSPREY Bell Boeing has been award ed a $490 million contract to begin engineering and man ufacturing development (EMD) of the CV-22 special- operations variant of the Osprey military tilt-rotor. The contract calls for the joint venture to design, inte grate and install special- operations-unique systems, including terrain-following/- terrain-avoidance radar, and additional fuel tanks, in the baseline V-22. The MV-22 EMD aircraft 9 will be rem ami fact u re<l into a CV- 22 production-representa tive configuration in 1999. Flight-testing of the special- operations variant run up until 2002. The MV-22 EMD aircraft 8 will be used for ini tial development and testing of the radar and additional fuel tanks. Ah-launched version of the Alfa (on inboard pylons) is shorter, has new ventral intake Reconfigured Alfa is revealed DOUGLAS BARRIE/LONDON RUSSIAN CRUISE-missile design house NPO Mashin- ostroenia is offering a redesigned variant of its Alfa submarine- and ship-launched stand-off missile for the air-launched role. The first version of the Alfa was shown "mounted" under the cen tre weapons station of a Sukhoi Su-27IB, for use in the maritime- strike role. It now appears, howev er, that this version was the ship/submarine-launched variant. Sukhoi has recently shown a model of an Su-27IB, optimised for maritime strike and dubbed the Su-32FN, with four medium- range air-to-surface missiles on the inboard wing stations. Although similar in basic layout to the ship-launched Alfa, the air- launched variant is notably short er, with the engine intake much further forward on the fuselage. Russian sources have identified the missile as the Alfa. It is also believed that the two variants have different powerplants. The ship- launched version has a ramjet, while the air-launched variant has a turbojet. The latter, therefore, has a lower supersonic cruise speed. It is thought that the missile can be used against marine and land targets, using an imaging radar for terminal guidance. The design bureau gives the weapon a maxi mum range of 300km (160nm). The status of the Alfa develop ment programme remains unclear. NPO Mashinostroenia has previ ously admitted that it was strug gling to fund the programme, and had been looking for an export cus tomer to finance the project. NPO Mashinostroenia is also developing the Yakhont (SS-NX- 27) ramjet-powered anti-ship mis sile. The status of this project is also uncertain, but it may have been a competitor to the Novator Alpha/ Onyx (SS-NX-26) anti-ship mis sile being developed for the Rus sian navy's next-generation attack submarine, the Severodvinsk. • Pentagon approves US Marine Corps UH-IN upgrade THE US MARINE Corps has awarded Bell Helicopter Textron a $134 million contract to initiate a UH-IN light-utility- helicopter modernisation pro gramme in preference to buying the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk. The project was held up by the Department of Defense (DoD) in October 1996, when further mili tary-helicopter commonality stud ies were ordered. Sikorsky Aircraft had been lobbying for the USMC to scrap the UH-IN upgrade in favour of new UH60 Black Hawks. The USMC has been adamant in seeking DoD approval for its H-l upgrade, in which 180 AH-1W attack helicopters would receive four-blade rotor systems and upgraded cockpits. A further 100 UH-INs would receive the same type of four-blade rotor sys tems as those on the AH-1 W, and General Electric T700 engines. Sikorsky's unsolicited offer was part of a scheme for multi-service UH-60 procurement. Company officials argued that aircraft com monality would yield greater sav ings in the long run. The concept would have stretched Black Hawk production into the next century. Pentagon officials hoped to define better the benefits of multi service Black Hawk procurement. In the end, officials decided to leave the decision to the US Navy, which allowed the USMC to proceed with the so-called 4BN upgrade. The issue was debated within DoD circles for much of 1996. A Pentagon study concluded that the AH-1W/UH-1N upgrade was more cost-effective than USMC purchase of marinised McDonnell Douglas AH-64D Longbow Ap ache gunships and Black Hawks. A second DoD evaluation said that cost estimates for the UH-60 and UH-IN favoured the Huey upgrade. A USMC study deter mined that a UH-60/AH-1W mix would need more money and per sonnel than suggested alternatives. In October, the US General Accounting Office issued a report claiming that the DoD could save over $700 million if the USMC had to scrap the 4BN upgrade. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 15 - 21 January 1997
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