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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0086.PDF
DEFENCE NETWORK WARFARE GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC Teams set to bid for battle management system Several tenders expected for $500 million deal to develop "backbone" for the MC2A Lockheed Martin has teamed with Raytheon to bid for development of the battle management, command, control, computers, communica tions and intelligence (BMC4I) subsystem for the US Air Force's planned Multi-sensor Command and Control Aircraft (MC2A). Boeing and Northrop Grumman are also expected to bid for the five- yeai, $500 million contract to develop the BMCi "backbone" for the MCA, which will initially suc ceed the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System and may replace the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, as well as RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic-intelli gence and EC-130 Compass Call information-warfare aircraft. The BMC4I is a "network-centric, real-time collaborative battle man agement system" that will enable airborne operators to perform time- critical targeting using sensors onboard and offboard the MCA, says Lockheed Martin. Although the initial Spiral 1 MCA is focused on the ground moving-target indi cation (GMT1) mission, the open- architecture BMCT is intended as the backbone of the planned Spiral 2 airborne moving-target indica tion (AMTI) version and potential Spiral 3 Rivet Joint/Compass Call replacement. Boeing's 747-400ER has been selected as the platform for the MCA. Northrop Grumman, teamed with Boeing and Raytheon, will be weapon system integrator (WSI) for the Spiral 1 version. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are also teamed to develop the active-array airborne ground surveillance radar for the Spiral 1 MCA under the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Programme (MP-RTIP). Industry responses to the US Air Force's MCA technical require ments document were submitted in early January, and a final request for proposals for the BMCT portion is expected in March or April, lead ing to a contract award by mid year. The exact split of responsibil ity between the WSI and BMCT contractors is still being debated, says Lockheed Martin MCA vice- president Mike Schoultz. If its team wins, Lockheed Martin will provide the systems architec ture, integration and programme management. Raytheon will pro vide communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems, unmanned air vehicle con trol, onboard and offboard sensor control, and information assurance. SAIC will lead the modelling and simulation required to validate the system; L-3 Communications will provide network-centric collabora tive targeting; and Alphatech will support radar exploitation. Although the MP-RTIP radar will have air-to-air capability, the USAF says the Spiral 2 MCA will need a separate AMTI sensor. Power req uirements mean Spiral 2 will almost certainly be a dedicated AMTI air craft, while the still-undefined Spiral 3 MCA will also be a distinct ver sion because of the difficulty of combining sensors and jammers on one platform. The USAF has established an ini tial requirement for up to five Spiral 1 MCAs, with an operational capa bility in 2011-12. SYSTEMS Boeing picks MASS for 767 The military airborne surveillance system (MASS), a military enhanced traffic alert and colli sion avoidance system developed by Phoenix-based ACSS, has been selected by Boeing for the 767 Global Tanker Transport Aircraft (GTTA). The award overturns the selection of a Honeywell system, and is viewed by ACSS as a victory for the joint L-3 Communi cations and Thales company. Contract details are sparse. MASS will help control forma tion flying and tanker rendezvous as well as "co-operative member" operations. Developed with the US Air Force's global air traffic management programme office and MIT's Lincoln Laboratories, the system can support up to 50 members and perform several types of surveillance. Boeing Wichita is also recom mending MASS for its joint 767- based UK tanker bid, while ACSS is studying a derivative for military helicopter applications. MASS is based on automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast technol ogy, while the ACSS co-operative member functionality is a soft ware change to the TCAS 2000 orPCAS computer and the Mode S/IFF transponder. PROCUREMENT Ireland selects Pilatus PC-9M for crew training The PC-9Ms will replace elderly Aermacchi SF260WEs Ireland is acquiring eight Pilatus PC-9M trainers in a deal valued at €60 million ($63.2 million). The Swiss-built aircraft was selected over Embraer's Super Tucano and the Raytheon T-6. The Irish Air Corps will take delivery of the first turboprop-pow ered aircraft in March 2004 with the last due to be handed over in June. The aircraft will be based at the Air Corps' base at Baldonnel near Dub lin. The package also includes a ground-based training system and integrated logistics support. Although the PC-9s will be pre dominantly used as trainers, they will be lightly armed and could be used during security operations. The PC-9Ms will replace elderly Aermacchi SF260WEs. Irish pilots will continue to receive elementary training on Cessna 172s while a Beech Super King Air will still be used for multi-engine training. Ireland initiated a search for trainers last year after it abandoned a plan to acquire Sikorsky S-92 heli copters for troop transport and search and rescue. The acquisition was cancelled as part of €40 million ($42 million)-worth of defence cuts and faced a legal challenge from Eurocopter, a losing competitor. Oscar Schwenk, Pilatus president and chief executive, says the trainer market is slow, with no ongoing competitions. 16 21-27 JANUARY 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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