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Aviation History
1998
1998 - 0072.PDF
US Army has to slow mine detector work ASUBSTANTIAL budget cut, along with poor test results, has forced the US Army to slow development of the Airborne Stand-off Mine Detection System (ASTAMIDS). The US Army had planned to pick one of four contenders in January to begin 33 months of ASTAMIDS engineering and manufacturing development (EMD). Production of at least 85 systems for the US Army would have followed. The ASTAMIDS would be used to survey minefields accurately from manned aircraft and unman ned air vehicles. Northrop Grum- man's passive-infra-red (IR) de velopment compares heat and shape profiles of a buried mine with the US Army's catalogue of mines made worldwide. Raytheon's bid is based around a dual-mode laser IR sensor. Two hyperspectral systems were also tested. Industry officials say that none of the candidates met the criteria needed to enter the EMD. The Northrop Grumman device, for example, was evaluated in Bosnia late in 1997, but it failed to pro duced the desired test results. The airborne mine detector was unable to handle the overgrown mine fields it encountered. It is believed that the system could deal with freshly laid mines, which are not concealed by high vegetation. Meanwhile, die US Congress cut the US Army's fiscal year 1998 ASTAMIDS request in half, and directed that the money be spent only on basic research. The U^S Army will now try to raise the detection probabilities through system enhancements. • NEWS IN BRIEF • TOPOL M IN SERVICE Russia has declared opera tional the first two of a planned 270 Topol M, RS-12M Variant 2 (SS-27), intercontinental ballistic missiles with the Strategic Missile Forces Tamanskaya unit, at Tatishchevo. Slump jeopardises proposed Indonesian deal with Russia PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE INDONESIAN contractual negotiations with Russia to pur chase 12 Sukhoi Su-30MK fighters have run into difficulty because of the country's rapidly deteriorating economic situation. Russian efforts to seal a deal to sell $500 million-wordi of fighters and helicopters to die Indonesian military are being undermined by the slump in the rupiah's value. The Indonesian currency has lost more than 70% value against the US dol lar since the weapons purchase was announced in August 1997.' "The Russian deal is coming apart, and the only way it can be sal vaged is for the amount of barter content to be increased, " says a local defence source. Indonesia had originally been proposing to finance up to 70% of the deal, with counter trade arranged through local agent PT Dwipangga Sakti Prima. Jakarta is now understood to want to reduce further die proportion of hard- cash payments, from 30% to 15%, in favour of a larger barter content. The move would also help allay pressure from the International Monetary Fund for spending cuts. Russia in turn has indicated diat it is interested only in caking mar ketable commodities and, in partic ular, crude palm oil. Indonesia an nounced plans to order Su-30s after abandoning plans to buy nine embargoed Pakistan Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs in the face of US congressional opposition. It also said that it would be acquiring eight Mil Mi-17s after earlier failing to get US approval to acquire surplus Bell UH-lHs. The army, in the meantime, is trying to get around die ban with secondhand commercial Bell 212s. It is looking for up to 2 8 helicopters and is understood already to have secured diree from South America and another seven from Europe. 3 The Su-2STM is being put on the table for Poland Moscow offers Poland Su-39 licence production ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI/MUNICH TALKS ARE UNDER way between Russia and Poland on possible licensed production of the Sukhoi Su-39 strike aircraft by Polish manufacturer PZL-Mielec. Moscow is pushing the project as a means of settling its state debt to Poland, according to Russian media reports. Meetings have been held with defence officials and rep resentatives of Solidarity, the rul ing parry in Poland, says die Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. The Su-39, which carries the Russian air force designation Su- 25TM, is an advanced all-weather anti-tank variant of the basic Su-2 5 with improved avionics, naviga tion, and targeting systems. The aircraft can also be fitted with a pod-mounted Phazotron Kopyo-25 pulse-Doppler radar. Sukhoi has been considering whether to modify die aircraft nose to allow the radar to be carried internally, although this would mean relocating the television, laser range-finder and Schkval tar geting system. The Polish air force has a long standing requirement for a close- support aircraft, leading to dom estic proposals such as the ambi tious PZL-Okecie PZL-230F Skorpion and the PZL-Mielcc \1- 99 Orkan, a derivative of Mielec's 1-22 Iryda jet trainer. This require ment, however, has taken a back seat to talks on the purchase of up to 100 new multi-role fighters. Senior sources at Mielec confirm that Sukhoi representa tives visited the plant in 1997 to dis cuss potential technical co operation. Mielec is not now in volved in any firm talks on the Su- 39, however, an aircraft which it sees as a rival for the proposed com bat derivatives of the Iryda. "In any case, the aircraft would have to be modernised for NATO compatibility, which is a terrible job," claims one source. A request for proposals for a new Polish air force fighter could be created this year. Leading candi dates are the Boeing F/A-18, Dassault Mirage 2000-5, Lock heed Martin F-l 6 and SaabJAS39. Russia has also offered licensed production of the MAPO MiG- 29M tighter in Poland, but the Russian proposals have always been viewed with scepticism because of political reluctance to maintain defence ties with Moscow, com bined with Poland's desire to be in the first wave of ex-Gommunist states accepted into NATO. Russia, however, believes that its debt to Poland makes its offers attractive, as the country would struggle to pay for a significant force of Western fighters. • 18 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 14 - 20 January 1998
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