FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1998
1998 - 2958.PDF
DEFENCE Sukhoi develops new multirole naval two-seat Ranker variant /elop sea Flanke Sukhoi introduced the operational Su- i 3 and talked about another variant IAI unveils tank firing laser homing missile ISRAEL AIRCRAFT Industries (IAI) has developed and tested a barrel-launched laser hominganti- tank weapon (LAIIAT) which is being offered to the US military and Israeli Army to allow tanks to engage helicopters and armoured vehicles. The Israeli company has teamed with General Dynamics Ordnance Systems division in mar keting the advanced anti-armour weapon worldwide. The laser-designated LAHAT missile, which incorporates a tan dem warhead, was designed by IAI s MBT division to be fired from 105mm and 120mm tank guns. IAI says die missile would be effective against armoured vehicles and slow-moving helicopters. A tank crew would use standard rounds for line-of-sight targets and die LAHAT for top-attack of more distant targets in day/night engage ments. The tank's laser rangefinder would be replaced with a laser des ignator. No modification to the tank's main gun would be required for missile firings. IAI says it has successfully com pleted a flight test of the LAHAT against a stationary tank. Production can begin once final engineering and manufacturing development work is completed, programme officials say. The US Army briefly deployed the Shil lelagh tank-gun-fired missile on the Sheridan light tank with mixed results, and the Russian Army uses a radio-command anti-tank missile in its T-64 and T-80 tanks, known as the Kobra and which has an anti- helicopter variant. • NEWS IN BRIEF I • KUWAITI MIRAGE SALE Kuwait is planning to sell 15 Dassault Mirage F-l fighter planes, say army sources quoted in the local media. France, Belgium and Brazil are mentioned as possible buyers. Kuwait has already sold its fleet of McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks as part of a modernisation pro gramme based around a pur chase of Boeing F/As. ALEXANDER VELOVICH/MOSCOW THE SUKHOI design bureau is developing a new two-seat side-by-side multirole naval fighter based on die Su-27IB prototype, claims the bureau's gen eral director, .Mikhail Simonov. The new model will have a coni cal, rather than a flattened "platy pus" nose, housing a multimode radar. The Su-27IB (also designat ed Su-32FN, or Su-34)has an elliptical antenna optimised for ground mapping. The prototype Su-27IB (T-10V), which was built using an Su-27 rear fuselage and wing, was previously referred to by Sukhoi as the Su-27KU (Jtorabl uchebnie: ship-based trainer) and was seen on television in the early 1990s mak ing an approach to the carrier Tbilisi (later renamed Admiral Kuznetsov). Subsequent references to side-by-side Su-27 strike vari ants have all described the land- based aircraft, even though the Su-32FN was designed for the roles of naval strike and even anti submarine warfare. The existence of the project was disclosed by Simonov at the Zhukovski flight test centre on 21 THE US CONGRESS is being asked to approve the release of the Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin Longbow millimetre wave radar to Singapore in support of the Boeing AII-64D Apache bid for the Sin gapore air force's new attack heli copter, to be decided soon. Singapore is pressing the USA to release the fire control radar as part of any deal to purchase the AH- 64D. The system has not yet been cleared for sale to any South-East Asian country, and it is understood the request to release the Longbow to Singapore is meeting some resis tance in Washington. Sources in the USA describe the delay as more "bureaucratic" than October, during a presentation to mark the official operational status of the Sukhoi Su-33 single-seat naval fighter. One squadron of Su-33s is based on the Admiral Kuznetsov, and home based at Severomorsk in northern Russia. The announcement may have been timed to coincide with the visit of an Indian delegation to Moscow in November. Russia is believed to be negotiating with India over the possible sale of the Kiev-class carri er Admiral (iorshkov. Rusvooruzhenie, the state anus export agency, has proposed equip ping the vessel with a modernised flightdeck and a navalised MAPO political, and that, given Singa pore's strategic importance, it is likely to be approved. There is, however, insufficient time for the stamtory notification period before Congress recesses this year and clearance of a second letter of offer will slip until early 1999. Singapore has indicated diat it wants to make a final selection by March 1999. Congress has already approved an initial letter of offer in response to Singapore's request for pricing on eight AH-64Ds and 12 options. The USA had originally proposed a "roadmap", leading to an eventu al release of the Longbow and, in the meantime, providing Singa pore with system training and early supply of the radar in the event of MiG-29K fighter variant. Press reports have accused Rus vooruzhenie of favouring MAPO against Sukhoi recently. The jour nal Kommersant Daily says that Rusvooruzhenie failed to supply documentation and security- money in sufficient time to allow Sukhoi to offer the Su-27 for the Greek fighter contest. (irecce officially invited Sukhoi to tender and even extended the deadline for the firm to bid. Kom- mersant quotes an anonymous Rusvooruzhenie official as saying that Russia will offer iMiG-29s to Greece regardless of Sukhoi's par ticipation or absence. • conflict (Flight International, 13-19 •May, P24). The Singapore air force already maintains a detachment of Boeing CH-47D Chinook heli copters at Grand Prairie, Texas, and the USA is proposing extend ing this arrangement to encompass training on the MI-64D. The Apache has emerged as the leading candidate after a logistics planning conference in August. Also competing is die multirole HCP version of the Eurocopter Tiger. Eurocopter is at a possible disadvantage in that the French army is not due to take its first Tiger HAP machine until early 2003, six months behind the first proposed delivery date to the Singapore air force. J Singapore aims to pull US strings for Longbow 22 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 28 October - 3 November 1998
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
