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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 3632.PDF
Airborne early warning Air Vice Marshal Norman Gray sits in his office in the Defence Headquarters in Canberra, point ing at an artist's impression of the Boeing Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft on the wall above his conference table. The subject is the com munications antenna farm that will cover most of the aircraft. "The biggest thing about the aeroplane," he says, "is that it doesn't look like the pic tures. Artists are never very good at putting on things that make the aeroplanes look a bit ugly." The picture, he says, "has some of the antennas". Over near his desk there is a large model of the aircraft. This, Gray says, has none of the communications antenna array included at all. When the prototype Wedgetail is rolled out in 12 months from now, Gray says, the contrast between the smooth lines of the artist's impressions and that of the model makers will be more than apparent. The Wedgetail, he says, might be the largest member of Australia's raptor bird family, but the new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) platform "is a bit more like a porcupine". "You've got a string of antennas along the top, there is a bunch of antennas along the bottom. There are even antennas on the engine nacelles and of course there are the ESM [electronic support measures] antennas on the wingtips and on the top of the tail." As the head of airborne surveillance pro jects in the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Gray has overseen the Wedgetail programme since contract signature in December 2000, and he and his team of 80 project officials have at least another three years ahead of them. The two-year effort so far, he says, is paying off. Breaking a bad run In marked contrast with a near-constant record of disasters on most major Austra lian defence acquisition projects over the past decade, Wedgetail is an average six months ahead of schedule. "I could just say it is brilliant management on my part," Gray jokes, but he is well aware that plenty of challenges remain. Gray's comparison of the aircraft to a por cupine has a metaphorical significance, as Wedgetail is a make-or-break acquisition for the Australian Defence Forces. If Gray's team continues to get it right, the Royal Australian Air Force will get two and possi bly three extra aircraft on top of the four-air craft programme. Similarly, Boeing and radar supplier Northrop Grumman bolster prospects for the same AEW&C solution in the international market. With an approved budget cap of A$3.5 billion ($1.9 billion), the project is already one of the most expensive military acquisi- The Boeing 737- based Wedgetail will sprout more antennas than this artist's impression suggests ADVANCE WARNING The $1.9 billion Wedgetail airborne early warning and control project, running six months ahead of schedule, is make or break for the Australian Defence Forces PETER LA FRANCHI/CANBERRA tions an Australian government has ever committed to. If it goes wrong, it could destabilise Australia's defence spending plans well into the next decade. Handling porcupines is clearly a measured art. The Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft com bines Boeing's 737-700 Increased Gross Weight airliner - essentially a Boeing Business Jet - and the Northrop Grumman Multirole Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar. The programme is structured around two build phases, each comprising two aircraft, with a third and possibly a fourth phase dependent upon whether the government gives approval to take up the additional aircraft options. The deadline for the first two extra aircraft is next June. Gray says the gains on the development schedule are being seen in most of the mis sion-system segments. "We keep telling peo ple it is hard to put an actual figure on the total project because, as you can imagine in something this complex, there is a range of parallel activities all running at different rates. [However] we have been through the bulk of the design reviews. The first hard ware is being made and all the software [development] is under way." Boeing Commercial Airplanes rolled out the first two green aircraft in early November, six months earlier than planned. The lead aircraft was formally handed over 32 10-16 DECEMBER 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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