FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2002
2002 - 3376.PDF
DEFENCE MISSILE DEFENCE UK likely to agree to US request for facilities UK defence secretary Geoff Hoon has signalled that the UK is likely to support any request from Washington DC to use facilities in northern England as part of the US missile defence programme. Speaking at the London- based Foreign Policy Centre last week, Hoon said: "Developing the capacity to defend against the threat of ballistic missile attack is in the interest of the UK, just as much as it is in the interest of the USA." The Ministry of Defence says Hoon is opening the missile defence debate in the UK ahead of any possible request from the USA, particularly because recent US tests have been successful. UK facilities that could have a missile defence role include the RAF Fylingdales ballistic-missile early warning radar station and the Menwith Hill intelligence collection station, both in Yorkshire. Hoon says: "The USA has not yet decided whether they need to use bases in the UK for this architecture. They have not asked us for such use, but clearly they may do so. We need therefore to consider the security issues that would arise. "Not least among these is whether, and how, any UK involvement and participation in their developing systems will affect the security of the UK and of Europe." Hoon adds that the UK government agrees that ballistic missiles pose a serious threat and that proliferation is a concern. Although the MoD says there are no immediate plans for a UK missile defence system, Hoon says that, as the threat grows, "we [may] need to decide to add a further capability to our current range of responses by acquiring missile defences for the UK and for Europe as a whole". INDUSTRIAL PARTICIPATION PETER LA FRANCHI / CANBERRA Airbus offers work share to hasten A400M deal Australian government considers transport options under reworked acquisition plan Airbus Military is pushing for an Australian government commit ment to acquire A400M transports within the next 18 months in return for a "level one" work share of 5-10% over 25-30 years. The proposal, which is modelled on Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter industrial participa tion, was made by Airbus Military officials during industry briefings in Australia this month. Airbus Military's proposal comes as Australia enters the final phases of reworking its 10-year Defence Capability Plan, with additional airlift emerging as a core require ment. The Australian government is also considering whether to exer cise its options for additional Lockheed Martin C-130Js, which expire on 1 January, 2003. Australian defence minister Robert Hill acknowledges the need for more transport capability, possi bly including a new heavy airlifter, while senior Royal Australian Air Force officials have voiced their support for an A400M-class aircraft. Airbus Military marketing direc tor David Jennings says Australia is being offered "part of this action at the top level, but in return for a rapid decision to join the pro gramme". He adds: "What I mean by rapid is within about an 18- month timescale. We can keep some of these work packages open. We can offer a level one responsi bility in terms of work packages to Australian industry." Jennings says the most likely model for Australian industry par ticipation would be to select a prime subcontractor through which all domestic supplier arrangements would be directed. "We can see a work package in the order of 5-10% for Australia depending what the initial [RAAF] order would be." Australia's revised 10-year acqui sition plan is due for release in the first quarter of 2003, but some data may be revealed in December. PRECISION MUNITIONS PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC US Army: thinking inside the box Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are awaiting a US Army decision on full- scale development of the NetFires/ Missile in a Box (MIB) concept as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)-funded Loitering Attack Missile (LAM) and Precision Attack Missile (PAM) demonstration concludes next year. The army is expected to release a NetFires/MIB pre-system develop ment and demonstration (SDD) request for proposals to be funded during the coming financial year. Industry sources expect the $42 mil lion risk-reduction contract to be awarded by January, and to run in parallel with the DARPA demonstra tion until it concludes at the end of fiscal year 2003. It is still unclear whether the army will continue to split work between Lockheed Martin's LAM and Raytheon's PAM, along the same lines as the demon stration programme, or if one con tractor will develop both missiles. Both missiles are 180mm (7in) in diameter and designed for a 15- cell, Humvee-mounted, vertical launcher. But each company has a unique container/launcher unit. Up to 40,000 PAMs are required, compared to 10,000 winged LAMs. The former will have a control lable-thrust pintle motor from Aerojet, which can be controlled depending on launch mode, desired range, duration and target, and a high-bandwidth datalink for in-flight targeting updates. This technology has been the focus of the DARPA-funded work, culminat ing in guided launches next year. Development still to be funded as part of SDD includes a dual uncooled infrared and semi-active laser seeker, automatic target recog nition and dual blast/fragmenta tion and shaped-charged warhead. The army wants to field the weapon around the same time as the Future Combat System in 2008. LAM is intended to complement PAM by loitering over a battlefield seeking targets with a laser detec tion and ranging system. Targeting data is then relayed back to PAMs. Raytheon's PAM is being developed in tandem with Lockheed Martin's LAM 16 19-25 NOVEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
