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Aviation History
1974
1974 - 1111.PDF
FLIGHT International, I August 1974 and alignment and better rudder/ aileron interconnection. In the com petition with the A-7, all four pilots are reported to have preferred the LTV aeroplane for handling qualities. Aerospatiale/Kaman ASH agreement Aerospatiale and Kaman have agreed to submit joint proposals for the US Army's Advanced Scout Heli copter (ASH) design competition. The Army is formulating ASH specifica tions and is expected to issue requests for proposals in the near future, with a design competition following. If the Service decides to adopt an existing type a modified version of the Gazelle will be offered, and if a new design is required it will be a collaborative submission by the French and Ameri can companies. Development, produc tion and support would in either case be carried out at Kaman's Connecticut factory. A large number of ASHs will be needed from the early 1980s for reconnaissance and forward air con trol of the Armed Attack Helicopter or artillery. Westland builds 67 per cent of all Gazelles—not merely those ordered by the French and British armed forces —and it is not yet clear whether the British company would participate in possible production of Gazelles for the US Army. • The Gazelle entered operational service with the British Army on July 6. The first unit to be equipped is 660 Squadron, Army Air Corps, based at Bielefeld in North Rhine West phalia. The Gazelles, which are replac ing Sioux, will be used for reconnais sance, troop deployment, direction of artillery fire, casualty evacuation and anti-tank operations. Gazelle orders total 470, of which 99 are for the British Army. Super Etendard nears completion The first of two Dassault-Breguet Etendards being modified to Super Etendard standard at St Cloud is due to make its maiden flight ifl December, being followed by the second aircraft in March 1975. Production models are scheduled to be delivered to the French Navy from 1977. The Super Etendard has an im proved wing, an Atar 8K50 turbojet producing 1,2001b more thrust than the previous 8C model, Thomson-CSF/ EMD Agave radar, Kearfott/Sagem inertial platform and EMD digital computer. It will carry the AM.39 Exocet anti-ship missile. New Indian helicopter factory The Helicopter Division of Hin dustan Aeronautics' Bangalore factory was inaugurated on July 19; licence- manufacture of the Alouette III and SA.315 Cheetah will gradually move to the new premises. On the same occasion the Indian Minister of Defence Production announced plans to produce the Ajit developed ver sion of the Gnat, a new light heli copter and supersonic deep-penetra- 109 tion strike aircraft (understood to be an uprated Marut). The claim that construction of a prototype of the last- named type is at an advanced stage may be premature. • Prof M. G. K. Menon has been appointed scientific adviser to the Indian Defence Minister and will act as Secretary for Defence Besearch. He continues as Secretary of the De partment of Electronics and Chairman of the Electronics Commission. French prepare for canal opening France is strengthening her forces in the Territory of the Afars and Issas (formerly French Somaliland) in preparation for the re-opening of the Suez Canal. Three photo-recon naissance Vautours operating from a temporary base at Djibouti have recently carried out a detailed survey of military activities around the Gulf of Aden, and France is keeping a wary eye on the neighbouring Somali Be- public, where a military junta har bours exiled leaders of the French territory's independence movement. The French Army has Alouette lis and Pumas at Djibouti, while the Air Force has F-lOOs, Noratlas freighters and Alouette lis. Djibouti and the Indian Ocean island of Reunion have increased in importance to France since her garrison in Malagasy was withdrawn. Australian destroyers updated The Royal Australian Navy's guided- missile destroyer HMAS Perth was due to leave Sydney by the end of July to be modernised at the Long Beach naval shipyard in California. She will be fitted with the digital Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) to replace the present analogue sys tem, and the gun and missile fire- control systems, radar and other elec tronic equipment will be modernised. Perth carries medium-range Stan dard surface-to-air missiles, replacing the original Tartars, and it is likely that Harpoon — using the same launchers—will be fitted in the future. The two other guided-missile des troyers, Hobart and Brisbane, will be similarly modernised in Australia. • The Australian Defence Minister, Mr Lance Barnard, is visiting the United States, Britain and Germany this month to negotiate for $500 mil lion-worth of equipment. In the US he will discuss a firm agreement to buy two Patrol Frigates and will I i itliiii The Indian Government has presented an ex- Indian Air Force Liberator to the Royal Air Force Museum. The aircraft was accepted at the Bangalore factory of Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) on July I by Gp Capt D. W. Barber (third from left), air attache of the British High Commission in India. He received the aircraft from Air Marshal S. J. Dastur (second from right), vice-chairman of HAL; the Liberator has been reconditioned by the company under the direction of Gp Capt C. G. Kharas (second from left), general manager of the Overhaul Division. Also present were Wg Cdr D. W. Connor (left), who took a personal interest in acquiring the aircraft for the museum, and AVM A. S. Rikhy (right), managing director of HAL. The Liberator left Bangalore on July I under the command of Wg Cdr I. M. Chopra, chief test pilot of the company have talks on purchasing eight P-3C Orions to replace the BAAF's Nep- tunes and 53 M60 tanks for the Army. He will then travel to Britain to see the Nimrod, the other contender for the maritime-patrol aircraft order, and will go to Germany to examine the Leopard tank as an alternative to the M60. SR-71 at Farnborough The US Air Force will exhibit an SR-71 Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft at the Farnborough Air Show. An attempt will be made to break the 4hr 46min New York-London speed record, established by an RAF Phan tom, on the way to the show. H/HS "Sheffield," the first of six Type 42 destroyers for the Royal Navy, has begun sea trials and recently completed blast tests of her Sea Dart surface-to-air missile installation. The launcher, on the foredeck, is the first lightweight Mod 2 version
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