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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0100.PDF
HEADLINES Indian fighter flies five years late STEWART PENNEY/LONDON TNDIA'S LIGHT Combat _L Aircraft (LCA) has flown for the first time, more than five years after the fighter was rolled out and 17 years after development started. New Delhi has also finalised a deal with Russia for the licence produc tion of 140 Sukhoi Su-30MKI multirole fighters. Developed by the Indian defence ministry's Aeronautical Development Agency, the LCA took off from the Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) airfield in Bangalore on 4 January, piloted by Wg Cdr Rajiv Kothiyal. During the flight, which lasted around 20min, the LCA reached 11,500ft (3,500m) and 215kt (400km/h). The aircraft is smaller than the Saab Gripen and is expected to have a maximum take-offweight in the 13t-class. Speaking after the flight, def ence minister Georges Fernandes said: "India has joined a club of seven to eight countries which have NEWS IN BRIEF • AIRBUS ORDERS FedEx is expected to finalise an order for up to 10 Airbus A3 80 freighters later this month. According to US media reports, the express package operator is discussing a deal for five orders and five options. The order, if con firmed, would give Airbus a second customer for the A3 80 freighter, which is yet to be formally launched. The deal would be a blow to Boeing which is attempting to launch the 747X, possibly on the back of a cargo airline order. Airbus also appears to have beaten Boeing to a deal with Taiwan's China Airlines for twinjers. Flight InternationaPs sister on-line service, Air Transport Intelligence, says the carrier is in talks for at least seven A330-300s to add to the A340s it acquired last year. Boeing is offering the 777. After 13 years of development, India's LCA has made its maiden flight the capability of making a super sonic fighter." Chief of the air staff, Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis, did sound a note of caution, however: "We have many more heights to be scaled to ensure that the LCA becomes a frontline fighter." Development was approved by the Indian Government in 1983, and the first prototype rolled out in November 1995. Indian officials speaking after the first flight sug gested the LCA could enter service in "six years". However, an Indian parliamentary committee decided last year that service entry is unlike ly before 2012-15. Reportedly, the programme has already con sumed Rs25 billion ($535 million) in funding. US sanctions following India's May 1998 nuclear tests con tributed to the delays. Lockheed Martin had been assisting develop ment of the fly-by-wire system, and General Electric provided the engines for the first two LCAs. The prototype flew with a GE F404-F2J3 engine, although this is due to be replaced by the 18,1001b- thrust (80.5kN) Kaveri being developed by India's Gas Turbine Research Establishment. Six test aircraft are planned, with the second and third due to fly this year. The third prototype is plan ned to be the first aircraft fitted with the Kaveri. The fourth and fifth aircraft are due to fly next year, and a two-seat version is scheduled to fly in 2003. The air force requires 200 fighters to replace MikoyanMiG-21 Fishbeds, which are receiving a major, but also long delayed, upgrade. At the end of last month, India and Russia concluded a $3.3 billion deal for the licence manufacture of 140 Su-30MKIs to be built by HAL over 15 years. Also signed was a deal for Indian production of the fighter's Lyulka Saturn AL-31FP engines, which are equipped with thrust-vector con trol nozzles. A number of Su-30s are already in service. • Brazilian senate gives go-ahead to F-5 work AFTERAFOUR-YEARdelay, the Brazilian senate has approved initial funding for the upgrade of the Brazilian air force's (FAB) Northrop F-5E/Fs. Slated at nearly $2 50 million-of which reportedly $75 million is earmarked for Embraer - the pro gramme covers 45 F-5Es and three two-seatF-5Fs,Modificationwork will be performed by Embraer. Israel's Elbit, which was origi nally selected in October 1998,will be systems integrator. The deal ran into trouble in November 1999 when Brazil's attorney general appointed an investigator to review alleged tendering and programme irregularities. Central to the upgrade are Elbit avionics and the replacement of the F-5'sSEIAPQ-153/159radarwith FIAR's multimode pulse-Doppler Grifo-F. Planning foresees single F-5E and F-5F testbeds but the funding delay has given rise to the possibility of a third prototype (an F-5E) to speed up the modernisa tion programme. Also included in the upgrade are hands-on-throttle-and-stick cockpit controls, a radar warning receiver and an electronic counter- measures suite. The first F-5BR should be delivered in late 2004. The upgrade mightnot be limit ed to the 48 F-5E/Fs in the FAB fleet. Because of the likely retire ment of Dassault Mirage IIIEBRs in 2007, the Brazilian defence min istry is negotiating with Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Taiwan to acquire a further 20-24 F-5E/Fs. If the talks are successful, these fighters will also be converted to F-5BR standard. • More jobs lost as Marietta plant cuts production costs LOCKHEED MARTIN Aeronautics has announced that it is going to be shedding another 675 jobs at its Marietta plant in a move to further reduce the non-recurring costs of C-l 30J Hercules and F-22 Raptor production. The job losses are the result of the company deciding to outsource fabrication of small machined parts, which it claims will produce savings of $25 million a year. This latest round of job cuts comes in the wake of the announcement in June 1999 of 2,000 lay-offs, and in January last year of another 800. The job losses are the result of the merger of Marietta's activities with Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth and Palmdale plants. Employment at the Georgia plant will shrink to 6,000 by mid-2 002. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 January 2001
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