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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1984.PDF
CONTRACTS • Jordan has requested eight additional Sikorsky UH-60L Black Hawks in a US foreign mili tary sales deal valued at $22 million. • US Congress has been notified of the potential $298 million sale of 30 mod ernised target acquisition and designation sights/pilot night vision sensors to the Netherlands to upgrade its Boeing AH-64Ds. • Northrop Grumman has received a $160 million Boeing contract for MESA active-array radars to equip four 737 airborne early warning & control aircraft for delivery to Turkey between July 2007 and June 2008. • Under a contract potentially worth $7.5 million, Orbital Sciences is to supply a suborbital rocket for the US Air Force's MTD-3B ballistic-missile technology demonstration in 2006 to test an advanced high speed Earth penetrator. Three previous launches in 1995,1997 and 1998 have demonstrated GPS-aided tracking and guid ance technology. • Rockwell Collins is to begin expansion of the Boeing CH47F's PowerPC/ ethemet-based avionics to inte grate the joint tactical radio system and improved data modem under a $6.4 million US Army contract. • CPU Technology is to develop an enhanced central air data com puter for the Lockheed Martin F-16A/B/C/D using commercial system-on-a-chip technology. • Middle River Aircraft Systems is to produce thrust reversers for General Electric CF6-80C2 engines selected to power at least 44 Japanese C-X next- generation cargo transports. • Heroux-Devtek is to supply the landing gear for Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk unmanned air vehicle under a C$6.6 million ($4.8 million) con tract. • Canada's Magellan Aerospace is to manufacture the outer combustor case diffuser assembly for the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alter native engine for the Joint Strike Fighter under a C$0.9 million pre- development contract. • US Navy Reserve Lockheed Martin C-130T crews are to train at CAE's Tampa, Florida, simulator centre under a contract poten tially worth $12 million. DEFENCE SENSORS STEWART PENNEY / LONDON General Atomics plans long-range, lighter SAR Manufacturer is also developing a roll-on/roll-off system for UH-60 Black Hawks General Atomics is developing longer-range and smaller, lighter versions of its APY-8 Lynx synthetic aperture radar (SAR). A maritime surveillance version of the sensor is also in development. The Ku-band, 100mm (4in) reso lution Lynx is in service on General Atomics Predator unmanned air vehicles as well as US Army fixed- wing platforms. Lynx has a moving target indicator (MTI) mode in addition to the SAR capability. Dr John Rawls, General Atomics vice-president Lynx systems group says SAR's all-weather capability has driven development, while another design driver is ease of use. He says Lynx was designed to be upgradeable "and grow capabilities with Moore's Law", using improved processing power to either reduce size and weight, increase range or allow use with faster aircraft. The existing Lynx weighs 52kg (1151b) with the smaller version 40kg, says Rawls. General Atomics has designed the electronics ele ment of the new version and flown the package and is left with the lower risk transmitter work to per form, he says. The lightweight ver sion is aimed at tactical UAVs with the UK's Watchkeeper programme and emerging US Army require ments being key targets. The long-range - doubled to 75km (40nm) - version is being developed in anticipation of the need for the MQ-9B Predator B, which will have a hunter-killer role, needing a longer-range sensor to provide increased stand-off ranges, says Rawls. Weight will increase to 90kg. The maritime version is aimed at a US Coast Guard Deepwater demonstration set for next year. Rawls says the generic motion compensation algorithms critical for SAR have been modified to account for ship motion. The company has used the algo rithms to post process radar data and is now working on developing the real-time capability, says Rawls. General Atomics is also working on a roll-on/roll-off Lynx system for Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks. The self-contained system will pro vide the US Army with a tactical adjunct to the strategic Northrop Grumman E-8 JSTARS radar-sur veillance platforms, says Rawls. Trials with the system, related to the Future Combat System pro gramme, used the system's tactical common datalink to control the radar from the ground, although the operational system will also have on-board personnel. General Atomics has also dis cussed Lynx with Raytheon, which is developing the UK's ASTOR radar-surveillance aircraft. Improved processing allows Lynx to see tanks further away PROCUREMENT UK funds CVF future carrier assessment phase The UK Ministry of Defence has signed contracts worth £50 million ($83 million) with BAE Systems and Thales UK to complete the assessment phase of the Future Aircraft Carrier (CVF) programme. The MoD selected BAE as CVF prime contractor in February this year, but specified the rival Thales carrier design. The two rival teams have now been combined into a single devel opment group, which has been working on the assessment phase since March. The assessment phase lasts until March next year, and will include design work and trade off studies, says BAE. There will also be further risk reduction work. The company adds that the carrier design will "evolve, but not fundamentally". It is expected that some equip ment will also be selected, while another aim is to agree the build strategy. Both bidders propose building the two ships in sections at differ ent shipyards around the UK. The section split of the two designs, however, are different. A key trade-off during the assess ment phase will be the final size of the CVF. Although the designs are for 60,000t ships with 48 air craft air groups, it is expected the final design will be slightly smaller, with perhaps a 35-40 air craft air group. 22 16-22 SEPTEMBER 2003 FLI GHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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