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Aviation History
2000
2000 - 1634.PDF
If funding wrangles are resolved, the F-22 will be the USAF's most important fighter aircraft to the air force began in late 1997 and concluded in January 2000. Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina plans to pursue opportunities to overhaul and upgrade McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks acquired by Bolivia and Brazil. IA-63 PAMPA FMA previously produced the IA-63 Pampa jet trainer, but funding difficulties prematurely closed the line. In September 1999, a twentieth Pampa was delivered, built from spares. Efforts' are continuing to secure an order to restart production of an upgraded IA-63. H,NMI^l,',M;nl.'l,: ,;:!,',« Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, PO Box 748, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, USA; tel: +1 (817) 777 2000; fax: +1 (817) 763 4797; www.lmtas.com. F-22 RAPTOR PROCUREMENT of the F-22 continues to face hurdles, with US Congress stipulating a series of key milestones to be achieved this year for the programme to make the transition to production. Last year, Congress forced the first six low-rate initial production F-22s to be redes ignated production-representative test vehi cles. The number of F-22 s to be bought by the USAF had already been cut from 442 to 339 by the US Department of Defense's 1997 Quadrenniel Defence Review. The aircraft has demonstrated "supercruise", sustaining speeds of Mach 1.5+ without after burner, operation at 55,OOOft and the use of thrust vectoring at high angle of attack. Key milestones for 2000 include flight testing die Block 3.0 sensor-fusion software in the F-22 before a US Defense Acquisition Board meet ing set for December to decide whether to approve low-rate initial production. Odier milestones include flying four more development F-22s, completing static testing, beginning fatigue testing and completing 40% of the first life, MFD upgrades and radar testing. The Raptor is planned to enter service at the end of 2005, with a secondary air-to-ground capability. The basic Block 4 aircraft will be able to carry two 450kgJDAMs internally. An expanded multirole capability will proba bly be incorporated in Block 5 aircraft, set for delivery from 2006 onwards. The aircraft's main armament is four or six medium-range AIM- 120 AAMs, two short-range AIM-9 AAMs and a 20mm cannon. LOCKHEED MARTIN/NORTHROP GRUMMAN/BAE SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. PO Box 748, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, USA; tel: +1 (817) 777 2000; fax: +1 (817) 763 4797; www.lmtas.com. X-35 JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER LOCKHEED Martin received a contract in November 1996 to build two Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept demonstrator aircraft (CDAs), to be flight tested next year. Joining wirji Northrop Grumman and BAE, die team is assembling die CDAs at Palmdale, California. The Lockheed Martin JSF resembles a scaled-down, single-engined F-22 Raptor. Unlike the Boeing submission, which uses a direct-lift STOVL propulsion system, the X-3 5 has an R-R Allison-developed lift fan shaft-dri ven by die main engine, which provides a flow of cold air balanced by an R-R-supplied three- bearing vectoring nozzle on the rear of die sin gle P&WJSF119 engine. The X-3 5A is the CTOL version and will be converted to the STOVL variant. The X-35B will be the CV variant with larger wing and tail surfaces designed to provide carrier suitability. First flight of die X-3 5 A is expected in mid-year. Recent changes to the final design are an enlarged main wing to meet a higher f9g manoeuvre requirement, a redesign of the lift- fan nozzle from a D-shape extendible duct to a venetian-blind-type vane box and die incorpo ration of smaller, lighter air inlets. They have been redesigned from a two- to a diree-sided configuration for better high angle-of-attack performance. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 5-1 Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; tel: + 81 (3) 3212 3111; fax: + 81 (3) 3212 9860; www.mhi.co.jp F-2 FORMERLY known as the FS-X, the F-2 is a Mitsubishi-developed derivative of the Lock heed Martin F-16, powered by the GE Fl 10- 129. The aircraft first flew in October 1995 and four prototypes are in flight test. Production deliveries are due to start this year, against a requirement for 130 aircraft (83 F-2 As and 47 F-2Bs) to replace the JASDF's Mitsubishi F-1 support fighters. The Mitsubishi F-2 A/B programme has run into development problems with discovery of cracks in the wing during static testing by the Japan Defence Agency's Technical Research and Development Institute (TRDI). More recently, excessive load problems have been dis covered at the base of the fin during high sub sonic flight trials. Flight testing has slipped by around a year. The first squadron, due to have formed at Misawa AB in die first quarter of 2000, will now not receive aircraft until August this year at the earliest: 19 aircraft are due for handover by March 2001. Project costs have risen significantly, with the aircraft now three to four times as costly as a basic F-16. Unit cost for ini tial production aircraft are estimated at around $100 million. The F-16 was selected in 1987 as die basis of die FS-X project. Changes include a 25% big ger composite wing and a larger radome hous ing an indigenously developed active array radar. As will as fulfiling the F-l's ground attack/maritime strike roles, with the ASM-1 and ASM-2 anti-ship missiles, Mitsubishi is proposing die development of a dedicated air superiority version to replace F-4EJ Kais from around 2010. The proposed variant would require upgrades to die radar and avionics, to allow it to carry more air-to-air missiles. The F-2 is equipped with a Mitsubishi Electric active- array radar and a US/Japanese avionics suite. The two-seat F-2B is intended to replace FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 23 - 29 May 2000 59
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