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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0430.PDF
DEFENCE Lockheed studies unmanned F-16 GRAHAM WARWICK/ATLANTA LOCKHEED MARTIN IS proposing a demonstration of automatic in-flight refuelling as the first step towards developing an unmanned tactical aircraft based on die F-16. Modified F-16s are being stud ied to meet emerging US require ments for a new class of aircraft called uninhabited combat air- vehicles (UCAVs) One concept under study is a long-endurance defender based on an F-16 with a large wing and con- formal fuel-tanks, and hypersonic missiles for tactical-missile de fence, or the Hughes AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles for cruise-missile defence. As a first step, Lockheed Martin is proposing modifying F-16s now in storage to provide a demonstra- Tbe pilot is surplus to requirements in unmanned F-16 developments tion and early operational-capabil ity. The long-endurance defender represents an interim step before development of an all-new UCAV. The company is also studying a smaller, unmanned, derivative of a stealthy, agile, tailless-fighter de sign as a potential all-new UCAV. Lockheed Martin says that the strongest interest is in using UCAVs for suppression of enemy air-defences (SEAD), and the com pany is conducting simulations of missions involving unmanned F-16s armed with Texas Instru ments AGM-88 high-speed anti- radiation missiles. The UCAV F-16s are used to knock out air defences ahead of manned F-16s. UCAV control is from the ground, but could be from an aircraft. In the long-endurance-defend er concept, the modified F-16 could remain on station for 9h before being aerial-refuelled. The company is also studying concepts for in-flight re-arming. The auto matic-refuelling demonstration for which funding is being sought would involve a manned F-16 equipped to rendezvous automati cally with the tanker. • Northrop Grumman and Rafael upgrade Litening for F-18 bid NORTHROP GRUMMAN and Rafael of Israel are work ing to upgrade the Litening air borne laser designator and naviga tion pod in anticipation of a US Navy competition to equip McDonnell Douglas F-18E/Fs and refit F-18C/Ds. The upgraded Litening is being fitted with a third-generation for ward-looking infra-red (FLIR) system and advanced laser. The revised pod will be integrated in "April or May", says Litening pro gramme manager Norm Dyson. The pod is being developed by Rafael and the Combat Support Systems unit of Northrop Gram- man's Electronics and Systems Integration division. Flight testing is targeted for mid-year, when the pod will be integrated with an Israeli Lockheed Martin F-16. The pod will then be returned to the USA for planned demonstra tions and evaluations, including it is hoped, one for the US Navy on an F-18. The improved pod will feature a 3-5 micron FLIR in place of the current 8-12 long-wave FLIR, as well as improved diode- pumped laser. "We have not been given an export licence for the advanced FLlR," says Dyson, who explains that the upgraded Litening is only on offer within the USA. If funding for die US Navy pro gramme is received, the competi tion could seea a fly-off later during 1997. Other companies expected to bid for the multiple RFPs include Lockheed Martin, Loral, and GEC Marconi. • Germany agrees Eurofighter price GERMAN defence minister Volker Riihe and Eurofighter industrial partner Daimler-Ben/ Aerospace (DASA) have agreed an overall weapons system price for the Eurofighter EF2000. The price, including integrated logistics support, has been fixed at DM125.4 million ($79 million) — some 28% lower than earlier esti mates — bringing the overall cost of Germany's planned offtake of 180 aircraft to DM2 3 billion. While the Bonn Government still declines to confirm that the finance ministry is to help bail out the programme, which was hard hit by 1996's defence spending cuts, sources in Bonn say that Riihe has agreed a funding package with finance minister Theo Waigel. The finance ministry is to pay DM1 billion, divided equally over four years and starting in 1998, towards the programme. This still provides no clue as to how Germany will fill the 1997 funding gap. Riihe is expected to give the crucial and much-delayed go-ahead for the production investment phase of the pro gramme in the first quarter of this year, but has been unable to scrape together the DM390 million DASA insists it needs from the 1997 defence budget. J &;~ . P*-23 4 r^ J * -^^^^^••••••Mi^^^ "•art "v '<^^^^^tffl& ^n^M Kf -« Si? F-18F is landed on John CStennis THE McDONNELL DOUGLAS F-18F had its first US Navy aircraft-carrier landing on the USS John CStennis, the navy's lat est carrier, on 18 January. The aircraft is undergoing a two-week series of initial sea trials as it enters the final year of a three-year flight-test programme. Production of the first F-18E/Fs ear marked for the Navy will begin this year. 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 29 January - 4 February 1997
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