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Aviation History
2004
2004-07 - 0036.PDF
DEFENCE UAVs USAFaimsto accelerate Predator B The US Air Force wants to speed up the General Atomics MQ-9 Predator B programme to meet its demand for an armed un manned air vehicle capable of holding targets at risk for exten ded periods. The move could lead to the service fielding the Predator B with less capability than originally envisaged, then launching a spiral development programme modelled on that under way for the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk. "The latest guidance is to accelerate the capability. We want what [General Atomics] can give us now, because the demand is there," says Maj John Ritter of the USAF Air Combat Command's directorate of requirements. General Atomics was awarded a $15.7 million contract in late 2002 to deliver two commercially devel oped Predator Bs for operational tests in 2005. Powered by a Honeywell TPE331 turboprop, the 4,550kg (10,0001b) gross weight MQ-9 is designed to carry 1,360kg exter nally- six GPS- or laser-guided 225kg bombs - with a 16h endur ance in combat configuration. This compares with 12h for the 1,000kg gross weight MQ-1 Predator A armed with just two AGM-114 Hellfire laser-guided missiles. The Predator B's cruise speed is 200kt (370km/h), against 70kt for the piston-pow ered MQ-1. Whereas the $3.3 million MQ-1 is a surveillance UAV with armed capability, the $6 million MQ-9 is intended as a hunter- killer with surveillance as a secondary mission, says Ritter. Fire control will be based on the 0.1 m-resolution General Atomics APY-8 Lynx synthetic-aperture radar, with ground moving-target indication, and a Raytheon elec tro-optical/infrared sensor. The Predator Bs that General Atomics will deliver for opera tional testing will only be able to drop GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs on pre programmed targets. ELECTRONIC WARFARE PETER LA FRANCHI /ADELAIDE Updated jamming suite set for RAN's Learjet 35 "Smarter Crow" to replace interim system this year in support of fleet training Raytheon Australia is fitting out a Learjet 35 business jet with an advanced stand-off electronic-war fare jamming suite that will enter operational service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) later this year. The system will be used to support fleet training. Provided as part of the RAN's Electronic Warfare Training System outsourcing programme, the new aircraft will replace an interim Learjet 35-based system that entered operational service in 2002. This featured a single EWsT Chameleon II digital radio frequency memory (DRFM)-based jammer, but was restricted to engaging only one tar get at a time. Raytheon has dubbed the new aircraft the "Smarter Crow", which will carry an EWsT RSS8000P radar threat simulator linked to a Cham eleon IIIB DRFM system supporting two independent RF channels and a noise jammer. This combination will allow simultaneous engage ment of up to three targets. Other new techniques introduced with the airaaft include "PR prediction", a means of projecting false target returns into space ahead of the car riage aircraft, rather than behind. Other mission equipment to be installed on the platform includes a Rockwell Collins USQ-113 dual- RAYTHEON ELECTRONIC-WARFARE TRAINING SERVICES SPECIAL-MISSIONS MODIFIED LEAR 35 10 1112 11 13 14 7 15 16 17 Navigation GPS and DGPS ARC-210 Chameleon receiver USQ-146 receiver - two antennas VHF-1 HF Beacon C/D-, E-H & l/J-band electronic attack Marker beacon ADF Radar altimeter 12 IFF transceiver communications jam mer integrated with an ARC-210 radio system, a Rockwell Collins USQ-146 Rubicon communications jammer, an Elisra AES-210 electronic support measures (ESM) suite and an ALE-43 chaff dispensing system. The aircraft's nose will also be modified to support a four-horn electronic attack antenna array, with a new tail radome also installed to support a similar four-anay configu ration. Receive antennas for the communications electronic-attack and Chameleon systems will be 13 Communication electronic- attack transmitter 14 Chameleon receiver and DF-430 15 DME 16 Forward-quarter AES-210 ESM 17 Starboard tip-tank - DPT-2B RATS and antenna. Port tip-tank - weather radar 18 VOR/ILS1and2 19 Aft-quarter AES-210 ESM - wideband receiver 20 C/D-, E-H- & l/J-band electronic attack located in the aircraft belly ahead of the wing root and along the top of the fuselage. The ESM system anten nas will be attached to the aircraft's existing wingtip pods. Raytheon Australia received a contract to meet the RAN's 10-year electronic-warfare training needs in December 2001. The company will also provide maintenance support for the Learjet 35 platform under the agreement, which also covers the provision of some training ser vices to the Royal Australian Air Force and the Australian Army. AIRBORNE COMMUNICATIONS France funds airborne relay study France's DGA procurement agency is funding development of an air borne communications node suit able for integration with manned aircraft, unmanned air vehicles and airships for radio relay and broad cast applications. Now around six months into its three-year demon stration phase, flight trials will take place with an EADSSocata TBM 700 turboprop in early 2005, says EADS Defence Electronics France, which is heading the project. The flight trials will involve air craft operations up to an altitude of 30,000ft (9,100m), although EADS says the system could be used at heights up to 60,000ft. The work does not include integration trials with France's future Eagle medium- altitude long-endurance UAV, which is viewed as a possible host platform for the system. A maximum data transfer rate of 20Mb/s will be demonstrated during the test phase, although a production-standard sys tem will be capable of managing a throughput of lOOMb/s. In addition to its battlefield utility and reduced cost compared with satellite-based systems, EADS says the communications node will have great utility during a crisis, where it could be fielded over an area deprived of fixed communications equipment. The company says the Malaysian government has shown strong interest in acquiring the sys tem for use with airships. 34 2-8 MARCH 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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