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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 0825.PDF
version for the USN; and short take-off and ver tical landing (STOVL) for the USMC and UK RAF and Royal Navy. First flight is scheduled for 2006, with pro duction deliveries due to start in 2008. The sys tem development and demonstration (SDD) phase has been extended by a year amid con cern over weight issues affecting the STOVL version and overall funding of the programme. The Pentagon is looking to spend an extra $5 billion on the SDD phase and first flight has slipped to Augsut 2006. The Pentagon remains committed to the originally planned delivery and in-service dates, but some slippage now seems inevitable. Present planning calls for the USA and UK to take 3,002 JSFs, but the USAF has signalled it might have a requirement for STOVL versions that could change the numbers of each version to be produced. International interest in the programme continues to develop, with Singapore joining as a security co-operation par ticipant. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Turkey and the UK are already involved in theJSF effort. The Lockheed Martin JSF resembles a scaled- down, single-engined F/A-22. The STOVL vari ant's propulsion system has an R-R-developed lift fan shaft-driven by the main engine. The lift fan provides a flow of cool air balanced by an R-R three-bearing vectoring nozzle on the propulsion engine. MITSUBISHI Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 16-5 Konan 2- chome, Minato-ku, 108-8215, Tokyo, Japan. Tel + 81 (3) 6716 3111; fax: +81 (3) 6716 5800; www.mhi.co.jp F-2 Formerly known as the FS-X, the F-2 is a Mitsubishi-developed derivative of the Lockheed Martin F-16, powered by the GE F110- 129. The aircraft first flew in October 1995 and four prototypes were used for flight testing. The Japan Defence Agency (JDA) declared the F-2 ready for deployment in September 2000, and the first aircraft was delivered for opera tional service that month. The JASDF requires 83 single-seat F-2As and 47 two-seat F-2Bs, and by late last year some 71 one were on order and 47 had been delivered. Development problems included cracks in the wing during static testing, and excessive loads at the base of the fin during high subsonic flight. Flight testing slipped by around a year. Costs rose significantly, with the aircraft costing three to four times as much as a basic F-16. The unit cost for initial production aircraft is esti mated at $100 million. The F-16 was selected in 1987 as the basis of the FS-X. Changes include a 25% bigger compos ite wing and a larger radome housing a Mitsubishi-developed active array radar. The F-2A is taking over the F-l's ground attack/maritime strike roles, armed with ASM-1 and ASM-2 anti- MITSUBISHI Aircraft Mission Powerplant Max thrust dry (lb)/wet (lb) 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 Internal fuel (kg) Fuel, opt ext (litre) Air refuel? Fighter/attack 1 xGE F110-129 17,200/29,000 11.13 34.84 15.52 12,000 22,100 9,000 - - 13 - M2 50,000 1 3,842 5,677 Yes ship missiles. Japan plans to install from 2006 a locally developed forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor on its fleet of F-2 support fighters. Mitsubishi is proposing development of an air-superiority variant to replace JASDF F-4EJ Kais from around 2010. This would require upgrades to the radar and avionics to allow the aircraft to carry more air-to-air missiles. The two-seat F-2B is intended to replace Mitsubishi T-2/2A trainers. Fuji and Kawasaki, as well as Lockheed Martin, are major airframe subcontractors. NORTHROP GRUMMAN Northrop Grumman, 1840 Century Park East, Los Angeles, California 90067-2199, USA. Tel +1 (310) 553 6262; fax +1 (310) 201 3023; www.northgrum.com B-2 Spirit The B-2 stealth bomber was declared operational in April 1997 and all 21 aircraft built are now in USAF service. It was used operationally for the first time during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, when raids were launched from the home base of Whiteman AFB, Missouri. The six B-2s that took part dropped more than 454,000kg of GPS- guided munitions, mostly JDAMs. In last year's Iraq war B-2s were forward deployed for the first time to the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, where special climate-controlled shelters were set up to protect the aircraft from the cli mate. Since the final B-2 was rolled off the produc tion line in 1998, the focus has been on upgrad ing the fleet to a common and more capable Block 30 configuration. This was accomplished in early 2001. Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are devel oping an active array radar, which has revived interest in a Block 40 package. Upgrading the APQ-181 radar with an AESA will improve bombing accuracy and change its Ku-band fre quency to avoid interference with commercial signals from 2007. The all-new antenna will be fitted to the current radar. Already in the pipeline are the Link 16 datalink, integrating the 227kg (5001b) JDAM and JASSM. During 2003, B-2s dropped 80 5001b JDAMs and GBU-28BS as part of the on-going upgrade effort. Longer-term improvements include swap ping the B-2's 1980s-vintage proprietary avion ics for a commercial off-the-shelf plug-and-play capability, and electronic digital engine control. E-2 Hawkeye Northrop Grumman received an order for 22 improved E-2C Hawkeye 2000s for the USN and France in mid-1999, which will keep the pro duction line open until 2006. Deliveries began in October 2001 at a rate of four a year, with 11 handed over by January 2004. Three more E-3C and five TE-2C trainers were ordered in the sec ond multi-year contract awarded in 2004. The third and final E-2C was delivered to the French navy in February 2004. The Hawkeye 2000 incorporates an open architecture mission computer, advanced con troller workstations with enlarged displays, co operative engagement capability (CEC) data dis tribution system, and satcom. It is planned to upgrade 54 earlier Group 2 aircraft to Hawkeye 2000 standard, starting in 2003-4. Five earlier aircraft have been equipped with computer and workstation components for testing. CEC trials started in April 1998. The system provides a link between the E-2, other airborne sensors, satel lites and shipboard radars. Reliability and maintainability improve ments bring the E-2's subsystems into line with the Hawkeye 2000's AEW systems improve ments. Lockheed Martin's ALQ-217 ESM will be introduced. Full-scale development of a further upgrade - the E-2C Advanced Hawkeye - was contracted in August 2003 when the US Navy award a $1.9 billion systems development and demonstra tion contract to Northrop Grumman. It will include a new L-3 ADS-18 UHF antenna that will rotate mechanically, but also scan electron ically. It will also be able to slow or stop rotation while continuing to scan electronically. The project is aimed at improved perfor mance in countering look-down clutter over land and in littoral areas, plus a doubling in range of the current Lockheed Martin APS-145 radar. Advanced Hawkeye will also have a GATM-compatible glass cockpit which will pro vide a fourth tactical display. The programme is due to be complete by 2012 and will feature a new communications suite to improve integration in network-centric warfare concepts. The first of three ex-Israeli E- 2C begun being delivered to the Mexican navy for anti-drug interdiction work during early 2004. E-8 JSTARS Northrop Grumman delivered the 16th E-8C 64 25-31 MAY 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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