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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0016.PDF
DEFENCE PROCUREMENT Brazil shelves F-X plans One of the first acts of new Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was to shelve the F-X BR fighter procurement until next year as the incoming administration concentrates on meeting an election pledge to battle famine in the country. Other programmes do not appear to have been affected and new Brazilian defence min ister Jose Viegas Filho says F-X has not been cancelled but delayed as part of the armed forces' commitment to Lula's fight against famine. Lt Brig Luiz Carlos Bueno, Brazilian air force commander, says he is not disappointed with the president's decision, and that the air force is "working with the government, not against it". Bueno says the move does not jeopardise other programmes such as modernisation of the air force's Northrop F-5Es and Alenia/Embraer AMX fighters. Air force sources say the recent selection of EADS Casa to provide 12 C295 tactical trans ports and modernise nine Lock heed Martin P-3B Orion maritime patrol aircraft are not at risk. Although the service entry of F-X fighters has been delayed further, the air force's 18 Dassault Mirage IIIEBR/DBRs will be retired in 2005 as planned. Filho says ongoing studies to lease or acquire used fighters to cover the capability gap will be re-evaluated. Local observers, meanwhile, suggest Lula's decision is merely political as no funds have been specifically allocated - and are consequently unavailable for Lula's hunger relief campaign. The purchase would be financed over seven to eight years. According to local political analysts, the decision was the best solution to defuse a poten tially harmful political issue at the start of the government's tenure. During his campaign, Lula vocally supported Embraer's Dassault Mirage 2000BR bid, while the air force's preference is for the Sukhoi Su-35 or Saab/BAE Gripen. DEVELOPMENT PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC US Marine Corps buoyed by H-1 upgrade solutions Overhaul irons out programme's aerodynamic, structural and avionics problems The US Marine Corps believes fixes are in place for the aerodynamic, structural and avionics problems that have plagued development of the Bell AH-IZ/UH-IY. The difficul ties forced a restructure of the $6.2 billion modernisation programme in order to avoid cancellation by the Department of Defense nine months ago. "We're confident in the pro gramme now. All five machines are flying and are well into testing, hav ing just completed envelope expan sion of the AH-1Z," says Col Doug Isleib, USMC H-1 programme man ager. Riding on this success is a funding request in the next budget for the first low-rate initial produc tion batch of six AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopters and three UH-1Y utility machines. A solution to the premature de- lamination of the AH-1Z yoke has been identified, says Isleib. The yoke will be reinforced using thicker plys and a new adhesive, while the rotor RPM has been increased by 3% to alleviate loads. The horizontal sta biliser travel has been made move able to offset automatically centre- of-gravity changes and reduce bending of the yoke. The stabiliser is larger and no longer has end plates. "We want to increase the life of the yoke and reduce operation and support costs. Bell and government engineers agree that after the changes, 80% of yokes still be on the helicopter after 10,000h and about 90% after 5,000h," says Isleib. After earlier software develop ment delays, the USMC says North rop Grumman is now meeting the delivery schedule. Block 2.3 is flying and will be upgraded to Block 2.4 in the third quarter for Phase 2B oper ational testing. This will provide a fully integrated suite, including the Thales Top Owl helmet mounted display, but not weapons, which will be included in the final Block 2.5, scheduled to be ready by the start of operational evaluation in August 2004. Thales delivered the first helmet to Northrop Grumman in November for testing at its sys tem integration laboratory. With the flight envelope com plete and new sequential software coming online, flight testing is shift ing to systems, including the auto matic flight controls, the Lockheed Martin Target Sight System and elec tromagnetic compatibility. Sea Trials are planned for later this year. MISSILE DEFENCE Arrow takes on multiple targets The Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile system's capability against multiple launches has been proved follow ing a test earlier this month. The 5 January test was the fifth test of the entire Arrow system, but the first in a series intended to eval uate Arrow's capability against the next generation of likely threats. It is also part of the Israeli/US Arrow System Improvement Programme. During the trial no targets were launched, but simulated threats were "injected" into the Elta Green Pine fire control radar (FCR). The FCR acquired the targets and the system's battle management command centre calculated a defence plan, before sending a mis sion command to the launcher. The latter was equipped with six interceptors, four of which were launched. The test interceptor was launched first and was followed by three short burning time motor interceptors used to check the mul tiple launch process. A low intercep tor trajectory was used to test its capability against such threats. Meanwhile, Boeing Missile Defense Systems president Jim Evatt is due to sign an Arrow 2 joint production agreement with IAI next month. The initial con tract will include the joint produc tion of 300 Arrow 2s. Boeing will be responsible for around 50% of the missile components. The 5 January test proved Arrow's capability against multiple launches 14 14-20 JANUARY 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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