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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0014.PDF
RAF close to Hawk upgrade plan DOUGLAS BARRIE/LONDON New back end should solve Hawk fatigue problems THE ROYAL Air Force is on the brink of approving a return-to-works programme for over half of its British Aerospace Hawk T1/1A advanced trainers. The project, estimated to cost more than £100 million ($162 mil lion), will see die aircraft's rear and centre fuselage sections replaced with items manufactured to the lat est Hawk 60-series engineering standard, according to the RAF. The aim of the programme is to almost double the aircraft fatigue index (FI), a measure of the air frame's life, from 105 to 200FI. The rework is in the project- definition phase, says the RAF. A decision on whether to proceed to full development and into produc tion is imminent. Rear-fuselage patch solutions have been examined to address the fatigue problem, but replacement has been deemed a more cost- effective option. Many of the RAF's Hawk fleet are already close to the 105FI mark. Without the modification pro gramme, the RAF would be faced GUY NORRIS/SEATTLE BOEING HAS completed the first full-mission simulation demonstrations for its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) design and has trans ferred assembly of a major airframe module to the former McDonnell Douglas (MDC) fighter plant in St Louis, Missouri. The company is "on target" for roll-out ofthe firstX-32Aconcept- demonstrator aircraft in late 1999, says Boeing JSF deputy pro gramme manager Fred May. "The first parts are being manufactured and we have a number of tools in place here in Seattle and in St Louis. We should be starting assembly of the modules in mid year," he adds. The JSF programme is already benefiting" from Boeing's recent merger with MDC, he says. "We're using MDC's expertise and with increasingly difficult fleet- management problems as aircraft reach their FI limit and are with drawn from service. The RAF's training concerns have been exacerbated by prob lems with the availability and main tenance of Hawks at its training base at RAF Valley, in Wales. Hawk maintenance was priva tised, with the contract being awarded to a consortium of Brown and Root and Marshall Aerospace (BRAMA), but problems have led the forebody is being designed and manufactured in St Louis. They're also involved in the integrated propulsion and control work and they are doing major work in the manufacturing and design areas, as is Boeing North America [former ly Rockwell)," May asserts. The forebody was originally scheduled to be built in Seattle, along with the other major modules, the mid body, aft body (tail) and wing. It all works on the screen: now everybody waits for the real thing to renegotiation of the contract. Sources close to the discussions suggest that BRAMA and the RAF recognise shortfalls in their respective approaches to the con tract. The RAF was optimistic about the number of Hawks it thought would be available for Valley, while BRAMA has strug gled to recruit adequate numbers of engineering staff. As part of an interim solution, the RAF ,may draw in additional Hawk airframes from other units. The RAF has a baseline require ment beyond 2000 of some 120 Hawks. The schedule calls for the first reworked aircraft to enter ser vice in 2000. As a result, fleet num bers could drop below the baseline figure for a period during 2000. Along with the modifications to the 80 aircraft, the RAF is also con sidering its needs for a new-build Hawk, fitted with a glass cockpit. Sources suggest that, on top of the 80 reworked aircraft, the RAF is looking for around 50 glass- cockpit Hawks, with an in-service date of as early as 2003. • Boeing uses simulations to advance JSF programme ) "We have also put together a full-mission simulation,which we have just run for the first time, and we will be using that over die next four years to help validate the whole concept," says May. The simulator is located at die Developmental Center at Boeing Field in Seattle, and is being used to demonstrate three critical JSF technologies: onboard/offboard data fusion; single-seat cockpit and pilot-vehicle interface; and fight ing capability. The dome simulator is running real-time mission sce narios provided by die US Department of Defense. The simulation is die first of four sequentially scheduled simulator- based demonstrations due to occur during the current concept- demonstration phase (CDP). The results from tests run on a separate handling-qualities simulator, which is being used to define con trol laws, will form part ofthe full- mission simulation. The first complete demonstra tion was run with pilots from all four services due to buy die JSF - the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. For this reason, Boeing - like its JSF competitor, Lockheed Martin - is also defining a multi-service operational aircraft, known as the preferred weapon-system concept, for the next phase of the pro gramme, covering engineering and manufacturing development. Under the current CDP phase, two X-32 demonstrators are being assembled for first flight during the second quarter of 2000. One of the few major decisions remaining, the choice of aircraft platform for mission-avionics tests, will be taken "early in 1998", says May. "We have to have an aircraft flying by late 1999," he adds. • 12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 7 - 13 January 1998
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