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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0824.PDF
Directory: military aircraft AT-63 Pamp The former FMA had produced the IA-63 Pampa jet trainer, but funding difficulties prematurely closed the line. In September 1999, a 20th Pampa was delivered, built from spares. Upgrade of the renamed AT-63 was launched in July 2000 with an order from the Argentinian air force, while earlier aircraft are to be upgraded using the same Elbit systems - including new MFDs, mission computer and communications. The new-build AT-63s, together with 10 remanufactured aircraft, were scheduled to be delivered to the Argentinian air force by June 2005, but the country's financial crisis caused the programme to be halted in 2003. The Argentinian government will now provide $201 million during 2004 and a further $504 million by 2007, of which 58.3% will be in US dollars and the remainder in Argentinian pesos. The new five-year deal covers the manufacture of six AT-63 advanced trainers at a unit cost of $9.75 million, along with a further six airframes intended for export. LOCKHEED MARTIN ALENIA TACTICAL TRANSPORT SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, PO Box 748, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, USA. Tel +1 (817) 777 2000; fax+1(817)763 4797 C-27J Spartan II The C-27J has been developed as an Alenia/ Lockheed Martin joint venture, using systems from the C-130J to update the G222 twin-turbo prop transport. First flight from Alenia's Turin factory was in September 1999. New features include Honeywell avionics and R-R AE2100 engines driving Dowry six-bladed propellers. Civil certification was received in 2001 with military clearance following in December that year. The first of 12 Greek aircraft are due to enter service in 2004 and Italian air force aircraft LOCKHEED MARTIN/BOEING LOCKHEED MARTIN ALENIA TACTICAL TRANSPORT SYSTEMS Aircraft Mission Powerplant Max power (shp) Wing span (m) Wing area (m2) Length (m) OEW (kg) MTOW (kg) Max load (kg) Range (km) Endurance (h) Hard points Cruise (kt) MMO Ceiling (ft) Crew/passengers Internal fuel (kg) Fuel, opt ext Air refuel? C-27J Spartan II tactical transport 2xR-R AE2100D2 4,645 28.7 82 22.7 17,500 30,500 9,000 5,560 9.2h 4 - M0.64 30,000 Feb-46 9,400 1,000kg Yes Mission Powerplant Max thrust wet (lb) Wing span (m) Wing area (m2) Length (m) OEW (kg) MTOW (kg) Max load (kg) Range fuel (km) Endurance (h) Hardpoints Cruise (kt) MMO ^_^^ Ceiling (ft) Crew/passengers Internal fuel (kg) Fuel, opt ext (litre) Air refuel? supercruise M2 50,000 1 9,096 Yes is due to enter service in 2005. The aircraft is being offered to meet a US Army requirement to replace the current C-23B Sherpa fleet of tactical transports. LOCKHEED MARTIN/BOEING Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, PO Box 748, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, USA. Tel +1 (817) 777 2000; fax +1 (817) 763 4797; www.lmaeronautics.com F/A-22 Raptor Procurement of the F/A-22 (the aircraft was renamed from F-22 in 2002) stealth fighter is still far from certain as a cost-benefit analysis has been ordered by the White House Office of Management and Budget after problems with avionics software stability. Production was approved in 2001 dependent on key milestones being achieved, but by then the incoming Bush administration had launched a major defence review, which cut production numbers to 295. This has now dropped to 276 to allow the USAF to pay for extended testing to solve the software glitches under a £38.8 billion production cost cap imposed by the US Congress. The initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) phase of the programme was stalled until the mission software is declared stable but the programme moved forward in April 2004 to operatioinal testing. The first development F-22 flew on 7 September 1997. The Raptor has demonstrated "supercruise" - sustaining speeds exceeding Mach 1.5 without afterburner - operation at 55,000ft and use of thrust vectoring at high angles of attack. By the end of 2003 Lockheed Martin had delivered 21 Raptors, including eight engineer ing and manufacturing development aircraft, eight operational test and evaluation aircraft and four Lot 1 production aircraft. Around 40 Lot 1, 2 and 3 aircraft are in various stages of construction. The USAF has received its first LOCKHEED MARTIN/NORTHROP N/BAE SYSTEMS Aircraft Mission Powerplant Max thrust wet (lb) Wing span (m) Wing area (m2 Length (m) OEW (kg) MTOW (kg) Max load (kg) Range (km) Endurance (h) Hardpoints Cruise (kt) MMO ^^ Ceiling (ft) Crew Internal fuel (kg) Fuel, opt ext (litre) Air refuel? Comments Yes Dimensions vary between variants. Power is approximate. examples for evaluation and training at Nellis AFB and Tyndall AFB, with the first operational base at Langley AFB being prepared. Plans still call for the 50 Raptors to achieve initial operating capability at the end of 2005 and an air-superiority aircraft with a secondary air-to-ground capability. The basic Block 4 air craft will be able to carry two 450kg JDAMs internally. The USAF's plans for transforming the F/A- 22's multirole capability is still evolving and depends on additional funding being made available or cuts being made in the number of aircraft purchased. Improvements for the air-to-ground version include a fourth-generation active electrically scanned array radar by 2006, an all weather air- to-ground radar in 2008 and advanced elec tronic warfare equipment by 2011. The F-22's main internal armament is four or six AIM-120 medium-range AAMs, two AIM-9 short-range AAMs and a 20mm cannon. LOCKHEED MARTIN/NORTHROP GRUMMAN/BAE SYSTEMS Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, PO Box 748, Fort Worth, Texas 76101, USA. Tel +1 (817) 777 2000; fax +1 (817) 763 4797; www.lmaeronau- tics.com F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lockheed Martin, with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, was selected for the 126-month, $19 billion JSF systems devel opment and demonstration phase in October 2001. P&W received a $6 billion contract for development of the F135 engine. Development will involve 14 flying prototypes and eight ground prototypes in three variants: conven tional take-off and landing for the USAF; carrier www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 25-31 MAY 2004 63
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