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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1262.PDF
Directory: military aircraft aircraft can be competitive as the so-called "heavy turboprops" such as Embraer's Super Tucano and Pilatus's PC-21 will not have the cost advantage of previous turboprop trainers. All this activity results from a blurring of the traditional divisions between basic, advanced, and operational training. As air forces attempt to reduce costs, they are seeking to shift some training from the operational conversion unit to the advanced level, and from the advanced fly ing school to basic training - if the advanced trainer can be used to teach generic opera tional skills, it will always be cheaper to fly and maintain than a frontline aircraft. Similarly, a basic trainer should be less costly than its advanced brethren, as long as it has the per formance to provide realistic training - hence the latest higher powered, faster, more capa ble turboprop-powered trainers. Activity in the trainer world is driven by emerging requirements. Many of these have appeared because the average age of the world's trainer fleets is over 20 years. This same driver is responsible for a surge of activity in maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) development. In addition to the UK's ill-starred BAE Nimrod MRA4 programme, the USA is seeking a P-3 replacement, as is Japan - with initial study work keeping Boeing and Lockheed Martin busy in the USA, while in Japan the indigenous P-X programme is under way. In Europe, Germany and Italy have a slow- moving requirement to replace their Dassault Atlanta, with interest from US companies as well as a proposal from an EADS/Alenia team to use the Airbus A321 as a platform, which will mirror Boeing's use of the 737 as a basis for some military roles. However, the cost of new MPAs is too high for many countries, so, as with combat aircraft and trainers, those companies offering missions system upgrades are finding a significant market. Combat aircraft, mean while, are in the midst of a significant capability leap forward. Saab's JAS39 Gripen, Dassault's Rafale and Boeing's F/A-18E/F have entered service, while the Eurofighter Typhoon should start this year. In the USA, the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F/A-22 Raptor is edging closer to service. In the longer term, the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is in develop ment for service entry late this decade. These aircraft are quantum leaps ahead of the fighters they replace. Meanwhile, many of the aircraft that will share the frontline with these new types are being upgraded to ensure they remain viable until at least the early years of the next decade. Many of these upgrades are minor; others are major undertakings. The UK's upgrade of the Panavia Tornado to GR4 standard is one such, with the avionics bear ing almost no relation to those in the the GR1, apart from residing in the same fuselages. This reuse of old fuselages equipped with new systems is becoming de rigeur in combat aircraft. Most new fighters have a continual upgrade path mapped out to at least the mid dle of the next decade, a method pioneered by Lockheed Martin with the F-16, with each new "block" adding new avionics and systems capabilities, while the airframe has changed little. A pilot who flew the F-16 when it entered service in the mid-1970s will have no problem recognising the aircraft from the outside, but the cockpit would be alien. Gone are the mechanical instruments, usurped by multi function colour displays, while the aircraft's capabilities would be unrecognisable. But, once the new generation of aircraft are designed and in service, will there be a role for the aircraft designer, or will aerodynamicists and structures engineers be replaced by soft ware developers and computer designers? CONVERSION FACTORS 1hp/shp = 0.745kW 1nm = 1.85km 1ft = 0.3m 1kN = 2251b 1kt = 1.85km/h 1kg = 2.211b 1 litre = 0.264USgal GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AAM air-to-air missile AEW airborne early warning AEW&C airborne early warning and control AGM air-to- ground missile ASW anti-submarine warfare ASuW anti-surface warfare ATM air traffic management AWACS airborne warning and control system CNS communications, navigation, surveillance COMINT communications intelligence CTOL conventional take-off CV carrier capable Dasa DaimlerChrysler Aerospace DoD US Department of Defense ECM electronic countermeasures ELINT electronic intelli gence ESM electronic-support measures EW electronic warfare FADEC full authority digital engine control FCS flight control system FBW fly by wire FLIR forward-looking infrared GE General Electric GPS global positioning system HOTAS hands on throttle and stick HUD head-up display IAI Israel Aircraft Industries IFF identification friend or foe INS inertial navigation system IR infrared IRST infrared search and track ISAR inverse synthetic aperture radar JASDF Japan Air Self-Defence Force JHMCS Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System JMSDF Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force JASSM Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile JDAM Joint Direct Attack Munition JSOW Joint Standoff Weapon JTIDS joint tactical information distribu tion system LGB laser guided bomb LO low observable medevac medical evacuation LRIP low rate initial production MESA multirole electronically scanned array MFD multifunction display MPA maritime patrol aircraft MTI moving target indicator P&W Pratt & Whitney P&WC Pratt & Whitney Canada RAF UK Royal Air Force RAAF Royal Australian Air Force RFP request for proposals RN UK Royal Navy R-R Rolls-Royce RTIPradartechnology insertion programme RWRradarwarningreceiverSARsynthetic aperture radar satcom satellite communications SIGINT signals intelligence SLAR side-looking airborne radar STOL short take-off and landing STOVL short take-off vertical landing TACAMO take-charge and move out TCAS traffic alert collision avoidance system TIALD thermal imaging airborne laser designator TV television USAF US Air Force USMC US Marine Corps USN US Navy WCMD Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser AERMACCHI Aermacchi, Via P Foresio 1, PO Box 101, Venegono Superiore 1-21040, Italy. Tel +39 (331) 813111; fax +39 (331) 813 152; www.aermacchi.it M290TP Redigo Aermacchi purchased the Redigo from Fin land's Valmet (now Patria Finavitec) in 1996 and moved production to Italy. It continues to market the turboprop trainer. As well as the side-by-side basic trainer, which first flew on 1 July 1986, a maritime surveillance version with a wing-mounted radar pod has been developed for the Mexican navy. The company has outlined survey aircraft and target tug variants. Aermacchi joined Yakovlev to develop the Yak/AEM-130 trainer technology develop ment programme, a deal triggered by a Russian air force requirement. The Yak-130 first flew in 1996. In 2000, the two began separate YA-130-based development pro grammes. Yakovlev and Sokol continue with the Yak-130 (see entry). Aermacchi is preparing to roll out the first M346 advanced jet trainer in late May/early June. After roll-out, the aircraft will undergo ground trials before its first flight, planned for November. The M346 has a 9.72m-span wing, reduced from the YA-130's 10.64m, and is 0.4m shorter than the earlier aircraft. Aermacchi has also redesigned the "duck nose", to allow integration of a radar, and the cross-section has been slimmed. The YA-130's Russian systems have been replaced by Western equivalents, including the demonstrator's analogue FBW, replaced by a Teleavio quadruplex digital FCS. The structure is new, much of it machined instead of fabricated. Combining a smaller, lighter airframe and engines with increased power boosts the fully fuelled aircraft's thrust-to-weight ratio to 0.85 compared with the YA-130's 0.48. The M346 will retain the high angle- of-attack performance of the YA-130, which reached 41° during its 300 flights. The M346 has Honeywell 6,2451b-thrust F124-200 engines replacing the demonstra tor's two Russian Klimov RD-35s. The second aircraft is due to fly in late 2004. Aircraft three should fly about one year later and will be production represen tative. The M346 test programme is 36 27 MAY - 2 JUNE 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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