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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 0163.PDF
DEFENCE US National Guard seeks funding PAUL LEWIS/WASHINGTON DC THE US ARMY National Guard (ARNG) is looking to the US Congress for additional funds to acquire more Boeing AH-64D Apache, BoeingCH-47F Chinook and Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters to close the yawning gap created by the accelerated retirement of its hand- me-down fleet of Bell UH-1, AH-1 and OH-58 helicopters. Under the US Army's Aviation Modernisation Plan, the ARNG will phase out its 3 00 AH-1 Cobras by October next year and 470 UH-ls two years after that. The ARNG, which comprises 49% of the army's aviation strength, is fac ing a shortfall in replacement machines and funding to mod ernise its remaining helicopters. According to Alberto Jimenez, ARNG aviation and safety division chief, the guard is short of 83 upgraded AH-64D Apache Long bows and needs 190 UH-60Ms in ARNG AH-ls are heading for retirement without a replacement in sight addition to the 60 already ear marked to complete replacement of the UH-1. The army has fund ing to modernise only 5 01 of its 742 Apaches, leaving the ARNG to soldier on with AH-64As. "We're going to have to develop a strategy to operate units at reduced levels as we transition out of AH-l/UH-ls,"says Jimenez. As the guard moves from Vietnam-era helicopters to more modern equip ment, additional funding will be needed to upgrade operational infrastructures and for major retraining, he adds. Similarly, the ARNG is not included in army plans to remanu- facture 300 Chinooks to CH-47F standard. The guard fears that unless it can modernise its AH-64s and 131 CH-47Ds, they will prove increasingly costly to support and more difficult to operate alongside USN kick-starts supersonic cruise and land attack missile technology LOCKHEED MARTIN has received $2.2 million from the US Navy to begin development of a solid fuel ramjet missile, which the company believes could even tually be fielded as a supersonic cruise missile and an Advanced Land AttackMissile (ALAM). The Solid Fuel Ramjet Missile Technology Programme is to develop solid fuel and low-cost carbon-based materials for hyper sonic weapons. The 18-month Phase I will demonstrate a solid fuel combustor and nozzle as well as low-cost material processing for high-temperature missile structures. The US Congress earmarked $2.2 million in fiscal year 2000 for the initial .phase, and set aside $4 million in FY01 for Phase II, during which a full scale model will be built and tested. Al Carney, Lockheed Martin director of naval programme development, says supersonic cruise is an ALAM technology option. * The USN recently awarded contracts to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Sciences and Raytheon to study concepts and costs for the development, and deployment of ALAM on warships from 2010. The four-month studies will assist completion of the USN's ALAM Analysis of Alternatives. "* Orbital was awarded its study contract based on high-speed missile concepts it submitted pre viously to the USN. "The ALAM concept study award is a significant step forward in our strategy to grow and diversify beyond space launch vehicles, ballistic missile targets and suborbital launch sys tems," says the company. Meanwhile, Raytheon has start ed engineering and manufacturing development of the Land Attack Standard Mssile (LASM), a modi fied SM-2 Standard air defence missile, as an interim solution to ALAM. The USN plans to convert 800 SM-2 Block II/IIIs to super sonic SM-4 LASMs. For ALAM, Lockheed Martin is expected to bid a navalised version of the US Army's ATACMS tactical missile system, perhaps with enhancements from the ramjet work. Raytheon will bid either another Standard Mssile develop ment or a new design. The final selection will depend on whether the USN deems ALAM to be a fire support weapon or a strike missile. Carney believes the solid fuel ramjet missile is also a candidate to replace the Raytheon subsonic Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile.Q the army's improved machines. Commonality of sensors and weapons across army aviation's order of battle will be lost, and the army and ARNG will need sepa rate training and logistics systems. Longer-term ARNG hopes rest on re-equipping its reconnaissance and light attack units with the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche. With the first produc tion machine not scheduled to enter service before late 2006, the guard is warning it may be forced to continue operating its 280 - and already elderly - OH-58A/Cs for another 12-15 years. The ARNG plans to make its case shortly to Congress as part of a wider army request for additional funding. The army estimates that to implement the aviation mod ernisation plan and recapitalise the fleet it needs up to $6 billion by 2013. "We've now got close to half that," says Maj Gen Joseph Berg- antz, US Army programme executive officer. • NEWS IN BRIEF • CZECH FIGHTER RFP OUT The Czech Republic has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for 24 or 36 supersonic fighters to replace the last of the country's Soviet-era com bat types. Bidders must respond by the end of May with the government aiming to make a decision by year- end. The government is seek ing industrial offsets worth 150% of the predicted CKr 100 billion ($2.5 billion) cost. At least 20% of the offset must be aerospace or defence related. See feature P32 • ELTA SAR FOR US NAVY The US Navy is planning to select Israel's Elta as the source provider of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) recon naissance pod for its Grum man F-14 Tomcat fighters. The EL/M-2060P comes in a standard l,1401itre (300 US- gal) drop tank. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 January 2001
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