T E C H N I C A L : D E F E N C E

In d i a n r e s e a r c h c e n t r e f l i e s AEW
NATO d i s p u t e t h r e a t e n s Nor w a y r a d a r s
j a r c h c e n t r e
e q u i p p e d HA
including MEL, are understood
to have worked on Indian AEW
design and development pro-
posals following the DRDO de-
cision. One industry official
says, however, that, after a pe-
riod of concerted work, "...India
went quiet on the whole idea".
Development work on the
HS.748 is being carried out by
the Aircraft Safety and Test
Establishment in Bangalore. The
aircraft is equipped with a
4. 8m-diameter fuselage-
mounted rotodome.
UK companies worked on an
HS.748 proposal, and also on a
Lockheed C-130 AEW platform,
B t h r e a t e n s No
I s r a e l i a v i o n i c s
s t u d i e d f o r ATF
I
n an unusual move, US Con-
gress has authorised the Sec-
retary of Defense to fund stud-
ies aimed at evaluating whether
Israeli-developed technologies
are applicable for use in some
advanced US weapon systems.
The authorisation, part of the
defence budget approved in late
October, calls for funds to be
made available "for the study of
Israeli aerospace and avionics
technology and their applica-
tions to ATF, NATF, CAS and
LH aircraft programmes, as well
as other anticipated aircraft
programmes".
Funds will also be made
available for studies aimed at
evaluating potential areas of
research and development
collaboration, including tactical
directed-energy weapons,
stealth measures, aerial and
wide-area munitions and fibre-
optic guided missiles.
N E W S I N B R I E F
LITTON FOR BRISTOL
Bristol Aerospace has chosen
Litton to supply laseral iner-
tial navigation systems for
Canada's Northrop CF-5 avi-
onics upgrade programme.
Litton will provide 54 LN-93
standard ring laser inertial
navigation systems.
NEW MAVERICK TEST
The US Air Force has tested
the latest version of the
Hughes Maverick ai r-t o-
surface missile, the AGM-
65G. Ten AGM-65Gs were
launched from F-4Es, F-
16Cs, and F- l l l Fs during
the missile's qualification op-
erational test and evaluation
at Eglin AFB in Florida.
THOMSON ON APACHE
France's Thomson-CSF has
won a contract to develop
and manufacture the mil-
limetre-wave navigation and
targeting radar for Matral's
APACHE stand-off guided
weapon. APACHE, due to
enter service in 1995, is de-
signed to attack air bases and
fixed sites.
r o t o d o m e -
I
ndia is placing renewed em-
phasis on developing an air-
borne early warning (AEW) ca-
pability, in response to Paki-
stan's efforts to acquire AEW
aircraft.
Last month, India test-flew a
rotodome-equipped HS.748 as
part of its AEW-aircraft devel-
opment programme.
The Indian Defence Research
and Development Organisation
(DRDO) started the AEW pro-
ject in 1985, although by 1988-
9 it appeared to have con-
siderably slowed down its effort
considerably.
A number of UK companies,
A
NATO plan to install three
S-band, three-dimensional
(3D) air-defence radars in Nor-
way is threatened with delay
because of objections by France
and Italy.
Norway already has three
S-band 3D radars, supplied by
Hughes following a NATO com-
petition several years ago. Two
are in place and the last is being
installed. The radars are in silos
rather than under radomes, and
the additional radars will also
be in silos.
In the interests of competi-
tion, Norway has written a less-
stringent specification for the
new requirement, consistent
with the NATO trend to relax
specifications following the col-
lapse of the Warsaw Pact.
However, Thomson-CSF of
France, supported by Selenia of
1L HS. 7 4 8
on behalf of India between 1986
and 1988.
The HS.748 flown recently is
likely to have been an aerody-
namic testbed to confirm that
the rotodome-equipped aircraft
remained within a safe flight
envelope. It is thought unlikely
that India has yet fitted a radar.
Pakistan, which has just re-
ceived the first of three Lock-
heed P-3C anti-submarine war-
fare aircraft, has also shown
considerable interest in a num-
ber of AEW platforms, includ-
ing the Boeing E-3 AWACS,
Grumman E-2C Hawkeye and
P-3 AEWAC.
Italy, has continued to develop
high-cost radars with increased
performance.
Thomson-CSF apparently
considers "discriminatory" a
specification which would rule
out its offering as unnecessarily
sophisticated and expensive.
The French and Italian dele-
gates in NATO are understood
to endorse this view.
The French funded an expen-
sive research and development
programme for an output power
tube with wider bandwidth than
is available elsewhere, and now
appear to want a more demand-
ing bandwidth specification
written.
NATO has , rejected the
French and Italian objections to
the Norwegian specification. So
far, the objectors have not with-
drawn, although they have not
yet initiated formal dispute pro-
cedures. Instead, they are refus-
ing to endorse funding for the
project, which requires unani-
mous approval, and this may
cause delays.
Norway has called for bids by
2 February, 1991 for radars to
meet the NATO-approved speci-
fication. Hughes and Siemens
Plessey Radar are almost certain
to bid, although Thomson-CSF
and Selenia have not yet made
a decision.
C-17 POWERPLANT FITTED
The airframe of the first McDonnell Douglas C-17 military transport
has now been fitted with all four Pratt & Whitney F117-100 engines,
which are similar in configuration to the commercial PW2040 turbofan.
The prototype C-17 transport is scheduled to make its first flight by
June 1991.
11
FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12 - 18 December, 1990