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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 1046.PDF
NAVY LEAGUE MISSILES GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC US Navy hopeful of export first Next-generation Sidewinder and Joint Stand-Off Weapon could be choice of Canada and European customers The US Navy believes its new AIM-9X next-generation Sidewinder and AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), both produced by Raytheon, could secure their first export customers this year. European Lockheed Martin F-16 operators Denmark and Norway, and Boeing F/A-18 operator Switzerland, are expected to select new short-range air-to-air missiles this year, while Canada is consider ing JSOW for its F/A-18s. Raytheon will deliver the first production AlM-9Xs to the US Air Force and Navy next month, a year before the high off-boresight mis sile is declared operational on the Boeing F-15C and F/A-18C/D, said navy programme manager Capt Dave Venlet at the Navy League The US Navy is looking to integrate its proposed Boeing EA-18 elec tronic attack aircraft with unmanned air vehicles (UAV) and a distributive network offered by the US Air Force, as a decision nears on a replacement for the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler. meeting in Washington last week. But it is not scheduled to become operational on the F-16 until 2006, when the M4 mission-computer software update is fielded. The navy is proposing the USAF and other operators arm their F-16s with the AIM-9X ahead of the M4 tape becoming available. This would restrict the missile to exist ing AIM-9M acquisition modes, says Venlet, but would allow opera tors to take advantage of the imag- ing-infrared seeker's greater counter-countermeasures capabil ity and wider look angle once locked-on. A demonstration has been conducted on a US Air National Guard F-16, he says. Venlet says nine countries have been briefed on the weapon, The navy is also considering wiring the F/A-18F for the jamming mission as it is threatened with a cut in the number of planned Super Hornet orders. The US armed forces are working on a complementary set of recom mendations for fielding a new elec- including Belgium, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands and South Korea, "with two more coming". Navy JSOW programme man ager Capt Bob Wirt says Canada could make a decision in the next few months. Australia and several European and Middle Eastern countries have also been briefed on the glide weapon, which is already cleared on the F-16 and F/A-18. The bomblet-dispensing AGM- 154 A is in production, the anti- armour JSOW-B is entering opera tional evaluation and the hard-target penetrating JSOW-C is in development. Lockheed Martin, meanwhile, is working to obtain further export licences for the AGM-158 Joint Air- to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) tronic attack capability, rather than three separate, but duplicate, solu tions. These will be presented for a decision to the US defence secre tary Donald Rumsfeld in early June, and follow an analysis of alternatives, which failed to iden tify any single replacement system. While the navy is keen to retain a dedicated platform aboard its air craft carriers, this may meet only 80-85% of its needs. A UAV with stand-off cueing would be able to fly into hostile territory to jam or attack a target. "Whatever the DoD decides it will have to work with unmanned systems," says Paul Summers, Boeing director F/A-18 derivative programme. The USAF is believed to prefer a similar distributed architecture, employing a mix of UAVs and expendable decoys, alongside fight ers equipped with active electroni cally scanned array radars and large stand-off platforms. The USN and US Marine Corps' fleet of 122 age ing EA-6Bs, which provide jam ming for the USAF, is shrinking beyond initial international cus tomer Australia. The US Navy has rejoined the programme and will fund integration of the cruise mis sile on to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet beginning next year. Procurement of at least 500 weapons is to begin in 2007. The USAF plans to buy 3,700 missiles, including a number of extended- range JASSM-ERs. Greg Howard, Lockheed Martin director, strike weapons business development, says European F-16 operators and South Korea are interested in the basic JASSM, which has a range exceeding 400km (210nm) carrying a 450kg (1,0001b) unitary warhead. The weapon is to become operational on USAF F-16s next year. and must be replaced by 2015. Boeing has proposed a fleet of 180 EA-18s equipped with the Northrop Grumman Improved Capability (ICAP) III electronic countermeasures suite, due to enter service on the Prowler in 2005. Summers says this is based on the USN continuing to support the USAF, without which the numbers shrink to 110-130 aircraft. A USMC decision to retain its EA-6Bs until a jamming version of the Joint Strike Fighter emerges would eliminate another 20 aircraft. One possibility is that the USN may convert some two-seat Super Hornets to EA-18s and it has already costed manufacturing the fighter with the necessary wiring. A smaller EA-18 buy would push up unit costs and further exacerbate a recent Defence Guidance Planning proposal to cut planned F/A-18E/F numbers from 548 to 460. Negotiations for a follow-on multi- year procurement to the 222 now on order are on hold as a result, says Boeing. ELECTRONIC ATTACK PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC Boeing EA-18 and UAVs r decision looms on repla( The EA-18 would use the ICAP-III jamming pods may be integrated as replacement for Prowler 22 2-8 APRIL 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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