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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 2127.PDF
Thailand finds aircraft bargains in Germany THAILAND IS buying 50 Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jets advanced trainers/light strike air craft from the German air force for the knock-down price of 1 million baht ($27,000) each. Although the aircraft are cheap, anodier 60 million baht will have to be spent on each one to make it air worthy. The first aircraft could enter service by December. Thailand, hit hard by the Asian economic crises, requires the air craft to replace elderly Rockwell OV-10C Broncos, Fairchild AU- 23 Peacemakers and Aero L-39 Albatros used in the border surveil lance/light strike role. These air craft are based close to the area where the neighbouring Mynamar army has recently been mounting cross-border raids. Germany received 175 Alpha Jets between 1979and 1983,which it used in the light strike role rather than for training until 1995. Most of the aircraft have since been mothballed, although some were supplied to Portugal. • CONTRACTS ++ Israeli electronic warfare spe cialist Elisra has won a $6 million order, with a potential $9 million fol low-on, to supply its SPS-65(V2) self-protection system to the Canadian Forces, which will retrofit the system to Bell CH-146 Griffon utility helicopters. ++ Lockheed Martin Information Systems has won a $267 million, 10-year contract to operate five US Air Force C-130 Hercules aircrew training schools. Reflectone will upgrade C-130 operational flight trainers and provide logistics sup port for the simulators. ++• Czech component manufacturer Jiklavan has won a $150,000 contract to supply airbrake parts forthe JAS39 Gripen from Saab/British Aero space. ++• Raytheon has won a $7 million contract to supply five Improved Fresnel Lens Optical Lan ding Systems (IFLOLS) to the US Navy. IFLOLS is the primary visual landing aid on US Navy carriers. General Electric pushes on with JSF powerplant development GUY NORRIS/LOS ANGELES GENERAL ELECTRICS Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) JSF-F120 engine team has signed a $440 million contract with the JSF programme office covering Phase III of the alternative engine devel opment effort. The contract, consisting of $ 115 million covering the firm require ment for Phase III and an option for $325 million, covers engine development work from October 2000 to September 2004. It helps keep alive die GE-led team's bid to provide an alternative to Pratt & Whitney's JSF119 powerplant which has been selected as the lead engine for both JSF concept demonstrators. Like the JSF119 engine which is based on the core of die Fl 19 in production for die Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 - die JSF-F120 is a derivative of die YF120 developed for the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition. The JSF-F120 team, which expanded last mondi to embrace Philips Machinefabriek (PMF) of die Nedierlands, includes Allison Advanced Development (AADC) and Rolls-Royce. PMF will lead a consortium of Netherlands, Danish and Norwegian companies to join in die design, development and manufacture of parts of die propulsion system. GE is developing a multistage blisk compressor, radial augmentor and dual control system, as well as an advanced exhaust system. R-R is developing a higher flow, three- stage, long chord hollow titanium blisk fan. AADC and GE are joint ly developing a coupled turbine sys tem. This consists of an integrated high pressure/low pressure counter-rotating turbine system. The contract award for Phase III follows die recent successful com pletion of the JSF programme office's critical design review or die JSF-F120 core and the release of initial components for hardware tests. Major component tests scheduled for this year include die advanced turbine at GE and die combustor at AADC. The con tract, which also includes further subsystem and component tests, is expected to lead to full engine tests for die winning JSF airframe con tractor in die first half of 2 003. • Boeing has completed die first test phase on die vehicle manage ment system (VMS) for die X-32 JSF demonstrator aircraft. The VMS operates die flight controls, environmental control system and odier subsystems and is being test ed on a full-scale test rig similar to diat developed for the 777 com mercial aircraft programme. • Indian trainer programme gets go-ahead INDIA HAS given the go-ahead to the Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) HJT-36. The aircraft will replace ageing HJT-16 Kiran basic trainers in service with the Indian air force. HAL chairman Krishnadas Nair says the company has been given die green light and already received Rs 1.8 billion ($42 million) for the production of two proto types, flight test and certification. First flight will be by late 2002, with service entry two years later. The Kiran reaches the end of its service career in around 2005. "It will be HAL's fastest development programme," says Nair. A mock- up was displayed at the Aero India 98 show in Bangalore. More than 200 HJT-36s are required at a fly-away cost of Rsl80-190 million per aircraft. Nair says the HJT-36 will be lighter, have fewer components, improved fuel consumption as well as improved reliability and main tainability compared to die Kiran. India is pressing ahead with development of the HJT-36 HAL has yet to select an engine. The competitors are the 3,9701b- thrust (18kN) Viper 632 and the 4,3601b-thrust Viper 680 from Rolls-Royce, the 3,1701b-thrust Snemca/Turbomeca Larzac 04 and the 3,5001b-thrust AlliedSignal TFE731. Vipers are used onKirans and die air force has an overhaul site at Kanpur. R-R says that while die Viper is a cheaper engine, its higher fuel consumption counts against it. Competition for other equip ment is fierce, with Marconi Avionics from the UK, Israel's Elop and France Sextant Avionique offering systems. Emmanuel Menanteau, Sextant Avionique India director, says the company is offering its Topflight avionics system including head-up display, multifunction displays, navigation system and air data computer. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 21 - 27 July 1999
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