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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2043.PDF
DEFENCE MARITIME PATROL PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC USN faces aircraft shortfall unless replacement is found But overseas players EADS and BAE Systems are ruled out of prime contractor status, leaving them seeking partnerships with prospective domestic bidders The US Navy wants to kick-start the Multi-mission Maritime Patrol aircraft (MMA) programme as soon as possible by issuing indus try with a request for proposals (RFP) before an analysis of alterna tives (AoA) is completed. The move is intended to avoid any further delay in replacing its 250 ageing Lockheed Martin P-3C Orion and EP-3E Aries lis. Although the USN's ongoing AoA is not scheduled to be com pleted before the end of this year, Naval Air Systems Command is seeking Department of Defense permission to make an immediate start on finding a manned P-3/EP- 3 replacement. The Navy would like to award a one-year risk reduc tion contract by January to one or more bidders ahead of selecting a final contractor in April 2003 to begin full scale development. This is predicated on winning MMA funding in the fiscal year 2004 budget, the submission cycle for which starts in the third quar ter of 2001. "The urgency is that there is going to be significant ero sion in the number of P-3/EP-3s by the end of the decade. Every year we lose puts a strain on our remaining inventory. We don't want to lose another year," says Cdr Al Easterling, MMA deputy programme manager. Although the AoA covers a range of systems, including long-endurance unmanned air vehicles and space-based surveil lance, there is a consensus emerging that a manned system will form a major part of MMA, claims the navy. The navy specifies a derivative of an existing commercial or mili tary aircraft - such as the Boeing 737 or Lockheed Martin Orion 21, and not a clean sheet design - that must be able to accommodate the same payload and equipment as today's P-3C, which could include a proportion of its avion ics and sensor suite depending on funding. The USN wants the first squadron to be operational by 2010-12, by which time more than 80 P-3/EP-3s will have been retired. Easterling adds: "We don't believe it is possible for anyone but a domestic to be prime con tractors." This leaves BAE Systems and EADS looking for a US partner from the line-up of prospective local bidders comprising Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. SURVEILLANCE BAE extends F0AEW work BAE Systems is seeking study contracts from the UK Defence Procurement Agency that will extend work on its Future Organic Airborne Early Warning (FOAEW) proposals, which would keep the team together and ensure smooth progression to the next project stage. Study contracts awarded to BAE and Thales Defeijpe Systems earlier this year con clude in December. FOAEW will provide the AEW for the UK's aircraft carriers. It is due to receive approval to proceed to development in March 2003. BAE FOAEW chief systems engineer Bob Catterson says: "We would like to help the customer between the end of the [current] studies and 2003." He adds: "If we ge^a follow-on contract it would ideally be seamless." JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER X-35B to fly this month Lockheed Martin plans to begin flight testing its X-35B Joint Strike Fighter short take-off and landingJSTOVL) concept demonstrator on 19 June at Palmdale, California. For the first test "we will load the aircraft to a thrust-to-weight not greater than one" and run the engine to full power, says programme general manager Tom Burbage. Weight will be reduced for the second "hop", when the X-35 should lift 5ft (1.5m) into the air, and again for the third test, when the aircraft is expected to lift off, hover at 20-50ft, then touch down. Having proved the ability to safely land the aircraft vertically, Lockheed Martin will then begin STOVL flight testing in earnest at Edwards AFB, California, before moving to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, in mid- to late July. Boeing was expected to resume STOVL testing at Patuxent River last week after flying its X-32B from Edwards. CONNECTING THE WORLD CONNECTORS • CONTACTS • TOOLS • ACCESSORIES ARRAY Connectors Galley/Buffet Connectors Airbus Approved Crimp & Solder RMS Connectors Mil-C 26500 Series Boeing Qualified BACC45's/BACC63's MS24264R's/MS24266R's Distributors of Mil-Spec & Commercial Connectors and Accessories •INTRO- CORPORATION Call us for Line Card, Catalogs and Cross-Reference Charts 12252 S.W.I 31 AVE. MIAMI, FL33186 USA TEL: 305-251-8995 FAX: 305-251-0253 —L_ ^p www.flightinternational.com ISO 9002 CERTIFIED info@introcorp.com WWW.INTR0C0RP.COM
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