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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 0070.PDF
H£ADUN£S Pakistan orders more F-7MG fighters, plans upgrades PAUL LEWIS/ISLAMABAD PAKISTAN PLANS to order around 50 improved Chengdu F-7MG fighters from China, as the air force moves ahead with the upgrade of its existing F-7P and Dassault Mirage IH/5 fighters and the delivery of more secondhand French aircraft. The Pakistan air force (PAF) is looking for F-7s to replace its two , remaining squadrons of elderly Nanchang F-6s, which its plans to phase out in the next three years. A final go-ahead for an F-7MG order hinges on completing flight trials of the fighter's improved radar. Chengdu has updated the F-7 with the installation of the multi- mode pulse-Doppler Super Skyranger radar in place of the ear lier GEC-MarconiType 226 rang- ing-only system. Pakistan has test flown the radar twice and has asked Marconi Electronic Systems to refine the system for low-level (below 1,500 ft (460m)) use, which was not part of the original Chinese PLA air force specification. Alenia is proposing an improved +/-20 deg scan version of the Fiar Pakistan will boost F- 7 fleet with new purchase Grifo 7 radar for the F-7MG as an alternative. The new version would address the +/-10 ° azimuth limita tions of the current Grifo 7 devel opment. Pakistan plans to upgrade 100 of its F-7Ps with the new radar by 2000. Grifo 7 flight trials have been underway since 1996, but were delayed as the Italian company struggled to miniaturise the system to fit the F-7. "What we were look ing for was a radar-off-the- shelf.....a simple adaption of a fully developed radar, but that didn't happen." says an official. A larger Grifo M version of the radar is being test flown on a Pakistani Mirage III and has also been the subject of software and hardware delays. The programme is near to completion and the PAF hopes to begin modifying 3 3 ex- Australian air force Mirage HIEA/DA from mid-1999. The initial phase, completed in June last year, entailed fitting the aircraft with a new Sagem head-up display, navigation/attack avionics and hands-on-throttle-and-stick controls. The PAF plans a similar upgrade plus an enhanced night attack capa bility for around half of the 40 Mirage IIIEF/DF fighters being acquired from France. • NEWS IN BRIEF • JSOW AWARD The US Navy has awarded Raytheon a $ 134 million con tract for full rate production of the AGM-154A Joint Stand Off Weapon (JSOW) and low rate initial produc tion of the AGM-A54B. The deal includes provision for over $600 million of follow- on production options over the next three years. JSOW is a glide bomb designed to allow strike aircraft to attack ground targets outside air defence range. The navy and US Air Force plan to buy around 11,800 AGM-154As and 4,800 AGM-154Bs. Raytheon delivered the first low rate production batch of AGM-154As. • LOT EXPANDS Lufthansa Technik (LHT) has opened a 4,000sq3, main tenance hangar at Stuttgart Airport in Germany. The building replaces a smaller facility that is closing to allow expansion of the airport's passenger terminal. The DM IS million hangar will be used to perform line maintenance work on the 20 aircraft that night-stop at the airport daily. Dasa moves closer to France after foiled BAe merger DAIMLERCHRYSLER Ae rospace (Dasa) has admitted that it was poised to unveil a merg er with British Aerospace (BAe) last December before GEC offered a tie-up with its UK rival. The German newspaper Handelsblatt quotes the company as saying: "We had everything pre- pared,right up to the press confer ence." The deal is on hold as the two UK companies continue talks on their own tie-up to create a £16 billion entity. Observers expect an announcement this month. Following the last-minute hold up in the planned Anglo-German merger, Dasa and the French com pany Aerospatiale are moving to advance an amalgamation. Some reports say Thomson-CSF, who itself has been talking about a merger with GEC's Marconi Electronic Systems, is also involved. Talks have already taken place at chairman level, say reports. Aerospatiale, BAe and Dasa have been in three-way talks about cre ating a single European aerospace and defence company since 1997. The UK and German companies recently opted to push ahead with a merger on their own while the French Government moved towards merging Aerospatiale into Matra Hautes Technologies and reducing its state holding in the operation to below 10%. In the continuing unfolding of European merger manoeuvring, Dasa has admitted that talks with French industry have intensified this month but denies pressuring BAe to consumate a bilateral tie- up. "It's a move from the French side," says Dasa. The French Government denies pressing for talks with Dasa to be re-opened. Defence minister Alain Richard says,however, "we have let Dasa know that if they want to talk things over with us, we will be there". Meanwhile Aerospatiale, which will also soon include Dassault Aviation, has described its last year as a fully state-owned manufactur er as "pivotal", and has confirmed that the merger and the accompa nying partial privatisation is on schedule for the "first half of 1999". The company broke all records for orders in 1998, with its highest total ever, at Fr86.8 billion ($15.8 billion), against Fr74.7 billion the previous year. The figure was a 42 % growth on the forecast, main ly because of Airbus orders. The ATR regional aircraft business suffered a major decline, however, with just 21 orders during the year against53 in 1997. Deliveries were unchanged at 35 aircraft, leaving the group with a falling backlog. The Eurocopter helicopter business saw sales fall to Frll.8 billion against Frl3.9 billion he previous year, while missiles sales increased, setting a new record atFr7.2 billion - Fr2 billion up on 1997. • 8 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20 - 26 January 1999
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