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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2712.PDF
CONTRACTS DEFENCE • Boeing has received a $7.5 million contract for long-lead items to convert another three Spanish navy AV-8B Harriers. • NLX has selected Seos to supply up to eight 220° x 45° field-of-view cross-cockpit displays for the US Navy's Lockheed Martin P-3C simulator upgrade programme. • Simula Safety Systems is to supply cockpit airbag systems for 75 US Army Sikorsky UH-60A/L Black Hawks under a $26.5 mil lion contract. • Aurora Flight Sciences has received two fol low-on contracts from Northrop Grumman to build composite V-tails, aft fuselages, nacelles and fairings for the Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle. • Northrop Grumman is to begin low-rate initial production of the large aircraft infrared counter- measures (LAIRCM) system under a $23.3 million US Air Force contract for four to equip Boeing C-17s. • General Electric will build 30 module kits to improve the reliability of T58 engines powering US Marine Corps Boeing CH-46Es under a $15.5 million low-rate initial production contract. The kit replaces the engine's gas path. • The University of Mississip pi is working on the fusion of seismic/acoustic and high-reso lution ground-penetrating radar sensors to detect buried land mines under a $15.7 million US Army research contract. • L-3 Communications' Link Simulation and Training division has received a $10 million US Navy contract covering Boeing F/A-18A/B/C/D aircrew trainer upgrades and training system products. • Lockheed Martin is to produce 1,332 GBU-10 Paveway II laser-guided bomb kits under a $18.6 million US Air Force contract. • L-3 Communications is to supply the tactical common datalink (TCDL) for the US Army's Hunter Standoff Killer Team technology demonstration. The TCDL will be installed in the Boeing AH-64D attack heli copter, AAI/IAI Hunter unmanned air vehicle and Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter for the four-year military utility assessment and two-year extended user evaluation. MARITIME PATROL VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW Sukhoi to enter S-80 for Malaysia's MPA contest Russian defence ministry is other potential customer for regional turboprop Malaysia has asked Sukhoi to sub mit a proposal for a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on the S-80 regional turboprop. The coun try is seeking a maritime patrol capability to bolster four Raytheon Beech King Airs and Lockheed Martin C-130s, which are not equipped with a mission system. An S-80 MPA would have a lOh endurance and be based on the planned armed variant equipped with the Strizh surveillance and weapon-aiming system. Sukhoi says Malaysia is inter ested in an S-80 MPA as the turbo prop is built at the KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-am-Amur, in Russia's Far East, a region with which Malaysia wants co-operation programmes. Malaysia has also studied the Beriev Be-103 twin- piston amphibian, produced by KnAAPO, for licence production. Malaysia has also been offered EADS Casa, L-3 Communications and Thales mission systems to be fitted to the C-130s or the country's EADS Casa/Indonesian Aerospace CN235Ms, while Alenia has offered the MPA variant of the ATR 42 (Flight International, 16-22 April). The only airworthy S-80 made its first flight in September last year and has since made 30 test flights, says S-80 chief designer Gennady Litvinov. Four airframes are in final assem bly at KnAAPO. These differ from the prototype in having a 1.4m longer fuselage. The first will be completed by the third quarter of next year for structural testing while two airworthy aircraft will be completed by the end of 2003, and one in 2004. The certification programme calls for 900 flights to be completed in 2004. Sukhoi's other potential military customer is the Russian defence ministry which is evaluating the aircraft against the llyushin 11-112V and RSK MiG-110, as well as a new Myasishchev design. The Russian military version is likely to be powered by the l,860kW (2,500shp) Klimov TV7-117S in place of the l,300kW General Electric CT7-9B on the civil variant. Litvinov says the l,120kW NPO Saturn TVD-1500 was dropped from consideration as it is under powered for the stretched version. The only airworthy S-80 made its first flight in September last year SURVEILLANCE India plans fleet of radar balloons India is to purchase from Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) subsidiary Elta several phased-array radars to be carried by tethered balloons. The radar will be downsized ver sions of Elta's Green Pine system, which was developed for the 1A1 Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile system. India recently received a single ground-based Green Pine (Flight International, 9-15 July). India will use the systems to bol ster its early warning capability along its border with Pakistan. The balloon-carried configuration will give a constant detection capability against aerial targets. Pakistan is proposing to acquire six Lockheed Martin Aerostat bal loon-mounted radars. Rafael will supply the balloons, capable of carrying the 3,000kg Elta systems, to India and will also act as prime contractor. The balloon version of Green Pine is Elta's first attempt at using its phased-array technology in downsized systems. Meanwhile, the Israeli air force is deploying a second Arrow system in central Israel. The move is the result of the growing tension between Iraq and the USA. Iraq is expected to target Israel with its Scud tactical ballistic missiles dur ing the first phase of any hostilities. The Arrow battery is being located in Ein Shemer, north-east of Tel Aviv. The Green Pine radar has been deployed with other ele ments to follow shortly. • The Israeli air force is to modify some older Boeing F-15A/B/C/Ds and Lockheed Martin F-16s as alter native platforms for heavy guided weapons, such as the Rafael/ Lockheed Martin Popeye/AGM-142 Have Nap, now carried by ageing McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms. The air force's upgraded F-4-2000 will remain in service until the end of the decade, but work has started to make the more modern aircraft into suitable platforms. 24 10-16 SEPTEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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