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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 0014.PDF
DEFENCE FIGHTER DEVELOPMENT STEWART PENNEY / WARTON First production Eurofighter is ready to fly as test programme looms Operational test and evaluation and pilot training for first RAF aircraft to take place at BAE Systems' Warton site BAE Systems is due to fly the first production standard Eurofighter, IPA 1, next month, with the first aircraft for the UK Royal Air Force likely to fly in April. IPAl was due to fly in August 2000 under the terms of the production contract signed in February 1998. Ross Bradley, BAE Eurofighter managing director, says the four- nation consortium must have IPA 1 in the flight-test programme by April for the ambitious develop ment and delivery schedule to remain on course. IPA 1 and the RAF's first aircraft are in final assembly at BAE's Warton factory in northwest England. Bradley says IPA 1 could have flown earlier, but it was decided to wait and fly an aircraft that could join the flight-test programme immediately. There have been development issues, he adds. IPA 1 will fly with entry-into-service PSP 1 software and capability level, rather than being grounded to upgrade systems. The first RAF aircraft will be delivered to a unit formed at Warton for operational test and evaluation, and to train the air force's first Eurofighter pilots. Germany, Italy and Spain will fol low a similar pattern, operating their initial aircraft from the national Eurofighter partner com panies, EADS Germany, Alenia and EADS Spain, respectively. IPA 2 at Alenia and IPA 3 at EADS Germany are also due to be flown in March, although IPA 4 at EADS Casa and IPA 5 at BAE will not fly until April 2003 and April/May 2003, respectively. The RAF will locate its opera tional evaluation unit - 17 Sqn - at Warton from 2003-4, eventually basing 12 aircraft at the BAE air field. Initial pilots and groundcrews will be trained by BAE. In 2004, 29 Sqn will become the Eurofighter operational conversion unit, training pilots for the aircraft. By 2005, Eurofighters will be deliv ered to full PSP 3 level, able to per form same-mission air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. The RAF will declare its first two Eurofighter squadrons to NATO in 2006. ELECTRONIC WARFARE Growler funds sought Boeing and Northrop Grumman are asking the US Navy to contribute pre- development funds to the proposed EA-18 electronic attack aircraft pro gramme so that risk-reduction and flight validation can continue using a modified F/A-18F The USN has identified 10 areas of risk associated with the EA-18, for merly the F/A-18G Growler, which it wants Boeing and Northrop Grumman to address. These include testing for noise and vibration with the ALQ-99 jammer pod under the wing; wing flutter; electromagnetic interfer ence (EMI); crew vehicle interface; and repackaging of the LR-700 receiver from the Northrop Grumman EA-6BtofittheEA-18. Boeing and Northrop Grumman have spent around $1 million of their own money to flight test a two-seat F/A-18F development aircraft, mount ing three ALQ-99 pods, together with underwing tanks and Raytheon AIM- 120 and AIM-9 air-to-air missiles. The aircraft has flown to Mach 0.8 and between +3g and -1.5g with no effect on or from the pods. There are plans for more flights in 2002 to extend the envelope to transonic speed. Some work has already been per formed on the ground with windtunnel testing, and consulting with around 300 aircrew on the design and effec tiveness of the EA-18's two-seat vehicle interface design in place of the current four-seat EA-6B. EMI testing has been conducted on the aircraft's digital flight control system to ensure protection from jamming, and the part ners would like to extend this to include full chamber testing of the air craft. The EA-18 team would also like to equip the F/A-18F with proposed wingtip antennas in place of the AIM-9 missiles. These would connect with the LR-700 receiver, which would be altered to sit behind the fighter's Raytheon Active Electronic Scanned Array (AESA) radar The EA-18 and post-2005 F/A-18Fs would be equipped with the new radar, which features a narrow-band noise jam ming capability. The radar will not initially be inte grated with the LR-700. The USN's focus is on minimising new develop ment costs to around $1 billion by grafting the EA-6B's new ICAP 3 suite with the EA-18. Follow-on develop ment could include a redesigned jammer pod, integrating the LR-700 with AESA, possibly expanding its capabilities to replace the ALR 67(V3) radar warning receiver and replacing the US-113 communications jammer. HELICOPTERS First flight for re-engined UH-TY Bell's first remanufactured UH-1Y utility helicopter made its maiden flight on 21 December at the firm's flight research centre in Texas. The helicopter is now scheduled to move to the US Navy's Patuxent River test centre, and join the first rebuilt UH-1Z Super Cobra for further testing. Bell is due to deliver two more AH-1 Zs and a second UH-1 Y. The UH-IY has been re-engined with General Electric T700 turboshafts that also power the Cobra, and will share features with the AH-1Z. The US Marine Corps plans to modernise 100 of its UH- 1N and 180 AH-1 W helicopters. MILITARY TRANSPORT Italy bows out of A400M deal Italian participation in the Airbus A400M military transport pro gramme has been killed off by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi after he sided with the defence and industry ministries in a battle with other government factions that supported the project. The decision has no discernible impact on attempts to launch the programme as OCCAR, the European armaments procure ment organisation, has signed a contract with Airbus Military to buy 196 transports. The deal fell short of an actual launch, as the agreement remains dependent on German parlia mentary approval to fund the purchase of 73 aircraft. 12 1-7 JANUARY 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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