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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 2343.PDF
DEFENCE AGREEMENT Peru maps military aviation revival Country signs assistance deal with Russia, covering overhaul and modernisation of air force, army and navy aircraft Peru has signed a wide-ranging mili tary assistance agreement with Russia, aimed at recovering its defence aviation assets. The first phase calls for overhaul and modernisation of 22 fixed-wing and 43 rotary-wing aircraft in ser vice with the Peruvian air force, army and navy. The agreement takes effect this year and work will start on 16 air force Antonov An- 32s, followed by the overhaul and upgrade of 36 air force and army Mil Mi-17 helicopters and four navy Mil After a 21h non-stop flight from Edwards AFB, California, a proto type Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned air vehi cle landed in Germany on 15 October to launch a ground sur veillance demonstration for the German ministry of defence. The aircraft will be based for sev eral weeks at the Nordholz naval air base 60km (37 miles) north west of Hamburg, where, under the EuroHawk project, it will demon strate an electronic intelligence (ELINT) payload to show that it can meet Germany's requirement for a high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance vehicle. The work, which began as an industrial initiative in July 2000 between EADS and Northrop Grumman and became a bilateral US/German project in 2001, will also mark the first operations by a high-altitude UAV in Europe. The flight was the first use of a national certificate of authorisation (COA), recently awarded to the Global Hawk programme by the US Federal Aviation Administration. The COA requires only one approval for a cross-country flightplan for the UAV instead of one from each FAA regional office. Meanwhile, the US Navy has Mi-8T and three army Mil Mi-26 helicopters. The programme envisages upgra ding the air force's 16 Mil Mi-25 Hind assault helicopters to Mi-35 standard. The air force's MiG-29 Fulcrums and Sukhoi Su-25 fighters are also set for upgrading, although Russian arms export agency Ros- boronexport has signalled its will ingness to replace the Fulcrums with new MiG-29 airframes, taking Peru's 16 MiG-29S/UB fighters as part payment. completed contract negotiations with Northrop Grumman for two Global Hawks that will be used in a maritime demonstration in spring 2005 after agreement was reached on the airframe package. The navy considers the RQ-4 as a candidate for its Broad Area Maritime Surveillance programme. The service remains critical, how ever, of the Global Hawk's perfor mance during a maritime surveil lance demonstration staged in Australia in 2001, says Cdr Scott Orren, the navy's deputy pro gramme manager for UAVs. Peru's defence ministry has signed a similar agreement with France covering the overhaul and modernisation of its Dassault Mirage 2000P/BPs, which have suf fered low availability rates because of lack of funds and shortages of spares over the past five years - problems that have thrown Peru's military air arm into disarray and compromised its overall readiness. The resurgence of the Sendero Luminoso guerrilla faction has given greater urgency to Peru's That demonstration revealed the Global Hawk's limitations as a wide area surveillance platform, com pared with a focused reconnais sance asset, says Orren. The navy also baulked at the size of the air force ground crew, numbering up to 200 people, needed to process sensor data. "The navy just can't do that, especially on carriers," he says. "We need to look at making informational decisions on board versus off board. We've got to cut down on some of that traffic mov ing down the links," Orren says. upgrade, spares procurement and modernisation programmes. These have been further spurred by the imminent reinstatement of the Peru-US counter-narcotic Air Bridge Denial Programme, which this month is expected to welcome two radar-equipped Cessna OT-47B Citation lis under an $11 million scheme. The US government recently underwrote the moderni sation of 10 Peruvian air force Cessna A-37Bs, interception aircraft deployed against illegal flights. SALES Aero and Boeing row over staff cut demand A row has blown up between Czech Republic manufacturer Aero Vodochody and part-owner Boeing over the US company's demand that the workforce be halved due to the lack of foreign sales of the L-159 light fighter. Aero Vodochody has only 11 aircraft left to deliver of the 72 ordered by the Czech air force, with no immediate prospect of further orders. The hope was that the L-159 would achieve exports, with Greece and Israel the main prospects. Sales have not materi alised, however, and Boeing wants up to 1,000 redundancies at the Czech manufacturer Aero Vodochody president and board of directors chairman Antonin Jakubse insists that at least some workers should stay on in case contracts for the L-159 are concluded in future. Aero spokesman Viktor Kucera, how ever, declined to reveal how the company planned to fund the salaries of the employees it wanted to keep. The Czech government has extended a $300 million guaran tee to Aero but has decreed that it has until the end of 2004 to achieve international sales. GROUND SURVEILLANCE STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC Global Hawk lands in Germany to begin demonstration for MoD The RQ-4A prototype will demonstrate an electronic intelligence payload www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 21-27 OCTOBER 2003 17
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