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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1989.PDF
• The US Air Force has awarded a Lockheed Martin-led team contracts worth up to $45 million over five years to provide unscheduled maintenance, including wing spar-cap repair, for C-130 transports. Work will be performed by Lockheed Martin Aircraft & Logistics Centers at Greenville, South Carolina; MTC and Pemco Aviation in Birmingham, Alabama; L-3Sparin Edmonton, Alberta; or Aerospace Integration and Crestview Aviation in Crestview, Florida. • Computer Sciences has secured a deal worth up to $122 million over five years to provide continued advisory services to the US Department of Defense's Joint Theater Air and Missile Defence Organization. • Israel Military Industries is to supply 70 ITALD air-launched decoys to the US Navy for $12.8 million. • Raytheon is to produce 11 AIM-120C5 air-to-air missiles plus six instrumented rounds for Australia under a $10 million contract. • Northrop Grumman is to provide a national military command-and- control centre for Slovakia under a US Air Force contract. The centre is scheduled for handover in February 2005. • The UK's Raytheon Systems is to supply 128 GPS-aided inertial naviga tion systems for integration with Raytheon's Paveway II bomb guidance kit. • SAIC is to study using multiple laser sensing modes in conjunction with other sensors to identify difficult tar gets for the Active Unmanned Vehicle Phenomenology pro gramme. The US Air Force Research Laboratory contract is valued at $8.7 million. • VT Aerospace has received a con tract worth up to £2.4 million ($4.3 million) to support opera tions at the UK armed forces' northern air weapons ranges. • ITT Industries is to develop a digital radar warning receiver for integration with the AVR-2 laser warning receiver under a US Army contract. • The Omani air force has selected Rolls- Royce Turbomeca RTM322S to power its 20 NH Industries NH90 tactical transport helicopters. DEFENCE TRIALS PETER LA FRANCHI / CHICAGO USAF to test UAV 'sense and avoid' optical system Flight through non-segregated airspace is part of USAF drive to cut notification times The US Air Force's unmanned air vehicle battlelab is preparing to demonstrate an optical sense and avoid system as part of a broader programme to reduce notification times for military unmanned air vehicle flights in US national air space from up to 60 days to three to seven days. The military UAV systems opera tion validation programme (USOVP) is also planning a UAV file and fly demonstration between December 2004 and March 2005. Extra support for the programme will be provided through the USAF's operational assessment trials of Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk over the next five months. A military project, the USOVP programme is being conducted sep arately to the joint industry/NASA Access 5 group effort to secure US Federal Aviation Administration approvals for routine file and fly operations of high-altitude un manned air vehicles in US airspace. The USOVP initiative covers all classes of UAV, with planning work under way since late 2003. The UAV battlelab sense and avoid demonstration will use opti cal sensors developed by Defence Research Associates and the Air Force Research Laboratory's sensors directorate. The system comprises three optical sensors, each with a 220° horizontal and 30° elevation field of view and derived from a missile approach warning system. The concept is being explored as a near-term operational sense and avoid system for the USAF's General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAVs. The sensors have been undergo ing flight testing at Wright-Pat terson AFB, Ohio aboard a manned UAV surrogate and will now be moved to an unmanned platform for a demonstration flight through non-segregated airspace from Ind ian Springs to Nellis AFB, Nevada. No dates have been set for the flight. Matt Belmonte, chief of the UAV battlelab's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance division, says the field of view offered by the sen sors is expected to meet FAA stan dards. This will be explored during the proposed demonstration flight. HELICOPTERS VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / KAZAN Military version of Ansat rolled out Kazan Helicopters has rolled out the first military example of its Ansat light utility helicopter, which has been selected to meet a pilot training requirement within the Russian air force. First state funding was provided earlier this year, with the air force to acquire an initial batch of the air craft under an allocation in Russia's 2005 defence budget. The air force says it needs the Ansat to replace Mil Mi-8 transports used at its flying schools since the withdrawal of the Mi-2 trainer. The air force selected the 3,500kg (7,7201b)-class Kazan design over a rival Ka-226A proposal from Russia's Kamov. Powered by Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207K engines, the mili tary trainer features dual flight con trols, redesigned doors, an enlarged nose cone and avionics provided by Russia's KB Avionika and RPKB Ramenskoye. Future production examples could be powered by Russian Klimov VK800 or ZMKB Progress AI-450 engines. Kazan expects the Ansat to receive CIS AP-29 type certification in December after completing the last 80 sorties in a 600-flight certifi cation programme, says company general director Aleksandr Lavrentiev. The development pro gramme has so far totalled Rb500 million ($17 million), with a further RblOO million required to complete certification activities. Five Ansat prototypes have flown since 1999, and four production examples are in final assembly at Kazan, scheduled for completion by year-end. Kazan has already signed deals to supply the South Korean government with at least five Ansats as part of a state debt repay ment, while Russia's state ministry for emergencies and UT Air say they will sign contracts once certification for the type is secured. Development of the Ansat light utility helicopter has so far cost $17 million 22 12-18 OCTOBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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