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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0552.PDF
DEFENCE F-22 cost overruns 'higher than US Air Force estimated' AREVIEW BY THE US Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has concluded that cost overruns on the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 programme could exceed US Air Force projec tions by $2 billion. An Air Force Joint Cost Estimating Team (JET) reported in December 1996 that the F-22 programme could overrun its bud get by $15 billion — $2 billion in development and $13 billion in production. The OSD review says that the overrun could be as high as $17 billion. The USAF maintains that an agreement with the contractor team, approved by the US Defense Acquisition Board in January, will eliminate the $13 billion in pro duction overruns by reducing F-22 unit price through initiatives, including production improve ments and multi-year procure ment. The development shortfall is to be covered by delaying the pro duction ramp-up. "The $15 billion overrun is if we did nothing," says Lockheed Martin. A USAF Affordability Im provement Model (ALM) team was scheduled to report on the cost- reduction initiatives at the end of February. The AIM team was appointed after the JET report to look in detail at the initiatives pro posed to eliminate the $13 billion production-cost growth. These were previously termed "Tier 1" and "Tier 2" initiatives, and were intended to cut $6 billion and $7 billion, respectively, with Tier 1 being "...the easier things to do", explains the USAF. These have now been combined under the cost-reduction initiatives studied by the AIM team. • NEWS IN BRIEF • SAUDI F-16 DELAY Saudi Arabia has dampened hopes of an early order for 70-100 Lockheed Martin F-16s to replace Northrop F-5s, saying that it is not ready for such a purchase. RAAF stays with Adour on Hawk PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE PAUL PHELAN/CAIRNS THE ROYAL Australian Air Force (RAAF) has opted to stay with the Rolls-Royce/ Turbomeca Adour engine for its planned fleet of British Aerospace Hawk 100 lead-in fighters, rather than switch to the alternative ITEC F124 powerplant roposed byAlliedSignal. Its decision follows BAe Aus tralia's (BAeA) recent submission of an independent evaluation of both engines. "BAeA ran the com petition and the RAAF evaluated their response...it was a very fine call," says the Australian De partment of Defence. Various factors are thought to have influenced Australia, includ ing adherence to the lead-in fight er programme's original timetable and the avoidance of any high level of risk, which could affect deliver ies and cost. The RAAF wants to take deliv ery of its first 12 Hawks between June and December 1999. BAe and R-R have now to begin negotia tions with the air force on finalis ing the system specification and concluding a contract. R-R has offered Australia four versions of its 26kN (5,9001b)- thrust Adour Mk871 engine, with a range of optional improvements from which to choose (Flight Inter national, 26 February-4 March). Apart from the baseline Mk871 engine, as fitted to Malaysia's and Oman's Hawk 100s, there are the options of adding a Hamilton Standard full-authority digital- engine-control (FADEC) system, new life-enhancing hot-section materials or incorporating both. The US Navy is already looking at fitting the FADEC to its F405 version of the Adour, which powers the T-45 Goshawk trainer, as well as extending the use of single-crys tal alloys from the engine's low- pressure turbine to aft high- pressure turbine and nozzle guide- vanes for extended durability. R-R hopes that the Australian decision will sway other potential Hawk operators. Some countries have been watching the RAAF pro gramme before deciding. These include Canada and South Africa, which are understood to have been given a copy of the Australian request-for-tender document. • US Air Force F-16s drop JDAMS in early weapons test OPERATIONAL US Air Force pilots have dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) in an early look at the performance of the weapon, now under development by McDonnell Douglas (MDC). The JDAM is a tailkit which adds global-position- ing/inertial-navigation guidance to 900kg bombs. During the so-called integrated- systems experiment at Nellis AFB, Nevada, 22 JDAMs were built-up, tested and loaded on to USAF Lockheed Martin F-16s for six bombing missions. MDC JDAM programme manager Charlie Dill- ow says that the bombs exceeded the 13m design accuracy, achieving a precision of about 10m. The test was intended to provide informa tion to support a decision on low- rate initial production. MDC and the USAF are contin uing development and operational testing of the JDAM on the F-16, and trials on the US Navy's MDC F-18 have just begun. Testing on the Northrop Grumman B-2 is to begin in March. Development of a JDAM tailkit for 450kg bombs is runningabout a year behind that of the baseline weapon, and initial testing will be conducted on the F-16 as a surrogate for the Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22. • BMW Rolls-Royce presents prop BR700 BMW ROLLS-ROYCE has revealed details of the BR700- TP turboprop engine, its proposed powerplant for the European Fu ture Large Aircraft (FLA). The 7,460kW (10,000shp) en gine is to be based around the BR700 core already used in the BR710 turbofan which powers Gulfstream Vs and Bombardier Global Expresses. The core has a ten-stage high-pressure compres sor, an advanced combustion chamber and a two-stage high- pressure turbine. BMW R-R is leading a team of European com panies in developing the engine: Hispano Suiza of France, Ger many's ZF Luftfahrttechnik and Rolls-Royce MAEL of the UK. • RAF VC10 refuels C-130J during tests LOCKHEED MARTIN HAS completed initial aerial-refu elling tests with the C-130J Hercules 2 transport. Two flights were conducted in February, during which a C-130J-30 was refuelled by a Royal Air Force British Aerospace VC10 tanker. On the first test, 2t of fuel was transferred from the VC10 as the C-130J was manoeuvred within the probe-and-drogue connec tion envelope. On the second flight, 14t of fuel was transferred. With the first flight of the first Royal Australian Air Force C- 130J-30, Lockheed Martin is now flying six aircraft in the Hercules 2 test programme. 14 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5 - 11 March 1997
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