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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2050.PDF
DEFENCE SURVEILLANCE JUSTIN WASTNAGE/BRUSSELS AMS joins Raytheon to bid for NATO AGS radar... NATO expected to award a $1.7 million concept definition phase in first quarter of 2004 AMS has joined the Raytheon-led team bidding to supply NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system. The BAE Systems/Finmecc- anica joint venture says it expects a non-disclosure contract signed last week to lead to risk-sharing over the next few weeks as Raytheon finalises the supplier list for its Co-operative Transatlantic AGS Solution (CTAS). Raytheon held talks with aero space firms from NATO nations last week in Brussels and is expected to publish a list "which complies fully with the rules on pro rata industrial participation" says vice-president integrated airborne systems, Dr Richard Anderson. AMS expects to be "a first level partner" and supply ground radar elements and sensor integration of the battlefield surveillance system, says Dr Gustavo Scotti di Uccio, AMS NATO account manager. Raytheon is stressing the greater range and altitude of its chosen plat form, the Bombardier Global Exp ress business jet, compared with the Northrop Grumman-led Transat lantic Industrial Proposed Solution (TIPS), which uses an Airbus A321. Raytheon has conducted around 95% of NATO-required capability testing through 300h of aerodyna mic tests on a Global Express modi fied for the UK's ASTOR project. Raytheon expects the CTAS air craft to have 9% less altitude and 30% less range than an unmodified Global Express. The CTAS is likely to have a 45,000ft (13,725m) ceiling, compared with 51,000ft for the business jet; and fly around 9,250km (5,000nm) compared with 12,400km, says Anderson. The 10,000ft greater altitude capability than the Airbus A321 would offset a smaller radar aperture on the business jet, adds Anderson. Raytheon will release final perfor mance data in November, when NATO receives completed studies from both prime contractors. Raytheon is to put forward two proposals using either eight aircraft flying two simultaneous orbits, or five Global Expresses combined with seven unmanned air vehicles (UAV). Raytheon will consider the Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk UAV - being bid by the rival TIPS consortium - as well as its pre ferred choice of the General Atomics MQ-9B Predator B drone. NATO is expected to award a €1.5 million ($1.7 million) concept defi nition phase in the first quarter of 2004, which will lead to a design and development phase worth €350 million prior to the €3.15 billion acquisition phase starting in 2007 for a 2010 entry into service. Raytheon will finalise the supplier list for the Co-operative Transatlantic AGS Solution in the coming weeks RECONNAISSANCE Sukhoi tests 24h-coverage M400 pod Sukhoi is testing an integrated reconnaissance pod that includes a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), infrared (IR) and electro-optic (EO) sensors and can provide 24-hour coverage from high or low level. The M400 pod was unveiled at last month's Moscow air show on the centreline of a Sukhoi Su- 30 multirole fighter. The pod can also provide "reconnaissance for the purpose of target designa tion to attacking units". In addition to multispectral sensors the pod is equipped with a wideband datalink to transmit images. The imagery is stored on an onboard data recorder. Claimed ranges are 70km (38nm) plus for photographic reconnaissance and at least 100km for the SAR. The latter's target resolution is 2m (6.6ft) while the IR and EO systems are 0.3m and a long-focus camera is 0.4m. The side-looking radar and long-focus cameras are removable from the pod. At the Moscow air show, Sukhoi also displayed a series of concept drawings of "Zond" unmanned air vehicles. Zond 1 bears a resemblance to the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk while Zond 3 appears to be an airborne early warning platform with a triangu lar radar-antenna on the spine. SURVEILLANCE ...as Northrop Grumman applies operational lessons to its bid Lessons learned from Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom are reinforcing the need for a mixed fleet of medium-sized manned and unmanned platforms as the solu tion for NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) need, believes the Northrop Grumman-led Trans atlantic Industrial Proposed Solu tion (TIPS) team. Among the critical lessons, the team says, are the need for the AGS system to quickly support expan sion of mission parameters, and the need for extended dwell capabilities. Differences in deployment of assets such as the US Air Force's Northrop Grumman E-8 JSTARS ground surveillance aircraft between the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns indicate the need for extensive capa bilities from day one of operations. Nine JSTARS were available on the opening night of the Iraq war, whereas only limited numbers were available in the opening phases of the war in Afghanistan. Both operations, however, saw rapid growth in the airborne ground surveillance mission. This included development of co-ordinated opera tions using manned and unmanned platforms, the use of strategic level unmanned air vehicles in tactical roles, and the expansion of battle field management support from senior theatre command down to individual ground units. "We never thought we would be working with groups such as [UK special forces] or post-war peacekeeping units," Northrop Grumman says. The TIPS team says both opera tions emphasised the high crew workload during battlefield manage ment, which forced the use of aug mented crews. This was particularly significant during the Afghanistan campaign because of the reduced number of aircraft initially available. Both operations emphasised the need for "platform stamina" with most NATO AGS missions requiring deployment outside Europe. The Northrop Grumman-led TIPS team is bidding for the NATO AGS requirement with a combination of Airbus A321s and RQ-4B Global Hawks equipped with the Trans atlantic Collaborative AGS radar. 16 23-29 SEPTEMBER 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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