• briefing asia infrastructure aug 15, 2006 • briefing asia energy aug 15, 2006

investigation into procurement malpractices by a former Boeing official. As a result, the production of AMP kits will be subject to competition in 2009/10 once Boeing completes its development work. The first flight of an AMP C-130H2 is expected in August 2006. In April 2006 it was decided not to fit AMP kits to the USAF?s E-model aircraft which are being retired from service, reducing the potential order to 434 aircraft.
The USN has selected Boeing to put its 48 C-130 and KC-130T aircraft through an AMP-style upgrade. Sweden contracted Boeing to upgrade its eight C-130Es to the AMP standard by 2008 and US Congressional approval has been sought for Saudi Arabia to purchase AMP kits. Boeing was awarded a $134 million contract in April 2005 to convert 10 C-130Hs into MC-130H Combat Talon II special forces aircraft, with deliveries scheduled for 2008-11. Israel is running a competition to upgrade its aircraft. The UK is to fit explosion-suppressant foam safety equipment to an initial 11 of its C-130J/Ks following the loss of an aircraft to enemy fire in Iraq last year. The first modified aircraft will be available soon to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
F-16
More than 4,300 F-16s have now been delivered to the air forces of 24 nations, making it the best-selling combat aircraft in series production. The last of the USAF?s 2,231 F-16s was delivered in February 2005, but development of the type continues to support deliveries of advanced versions to Chile, Israel, Oman, Poland and the UAE.
The UAE received its first 10 of 80 Block 60 F-16E/Fs in May 2005 and has since lost one in an accident. Deliveries to the UAE will conclude next year. Greece and Israel have ordered the Block 50+ standard aircraft, which has conformal fuel tanks, Northrop Grumman APG-68(V)9 radar, colour cockpit displays and a modular mission computer. Poland will receive its first of 48 Block 52+ fighters later this year.
The USAF has launched a series of upgrade and life-extension projects to sustain its fleet of F-16s well into the next decade until large-scale deliveries of Lockheed F-35 JSFs enter service. The largest element is the $2 billion common configuration implementation programme, which is to standardise avionics and weapon system capabilities across 650 Block 40/42 and 50/52 aircraft. This introduces a new mission computer, improved cockpit and avionics, Link 16 datalink and targeting pod. In the 2006 Pentagon budget, funding was included for 1,151 aircraft to receive the Falcon Star airframe upgrade, 1,046 to be adapted to use JDAM, JSOW and WCMD guided weapons, and 751 aircraft to get engine service-life extensions. Some 645 aircraft will receive Link 16 datalinks and JHMCS, while Block 42 aircraft will get improved engines.
Italy took delivery of its first upgraded F-16A/Bs during 2003 under a lease deal, but crashed two of the aircraft last month. Various companies, including Israel Aircraft Industries and Singapore Technologies Aerospace/BAE Systems, are working on upgrades for the F-16A/B and early F-16C/Ds.
During 2004 Jordan and Turkey announced upgrade programmes for their aircraft, with the $1.1 billion Turkish deal being contracted in April 2005. Jordan snapped up 20 surplus F-16AM/BMs from Belgium and the Netherlands earlier this year, having previously bought three retired Dutch trainers. The US government approved the sale of new-build aircraft to Pakistan in April 2005 and has also offered the aircraft for sale to India. However, Pakistan put its order on hold after a November 2005 earthquake until April, when its cabinet approved the purchase of 36 new C/Ds and 36 used A/Bs. Taken in combination with current orders, the commitment will extend production of the F-16 until 2009 and possibly bridge the gap until the F-35 JSF comes on line.
F-22
Procurement of the F-22 Raptor (the aircraft returned to its original name in 2005 after an ill-fated branding as the F/A-22) stealth fighter is still far from certain after the Pentagon?s Quadrennial Defense Review and 2006 budget confirmed termination of production after the completion of 183 aircraft. This move knocked 200 aircraft off the USAF?s requirement and will possibly save $10 billion from the $27 billion previously assigned to complete production. Despite the Pentagon budget cuts, USAF leaders are lobbying hard to overturn the cutbacks and get 381 F-22s built.
The first development F-22 flew in September 1997. The Raptor has demonstrated ?supercruise? ? sustaining speeds exceeding Mach 1.5 without afterburner ? operation at 55,000ft (17,000m) and the use of thrust vectoring at high angles of attack. The aircraft?s main internal armament is currently four or six AIM-120 AMRAAMs, two AIM-9 short-range AAMs and a 20mm cannon. The basic Block 4 aircraft will be able to carry two 450kg JDAMs internally.
The 2005 Pentagon budget included funding for 24 Lot 5 aircraft and around 25 will be built annually until the end of the decade after full-rate production was approved in April 2005. Around $1 billion is being spent rectifying structural weaknesses identified in the structures that attach the F-22?s tail and wings to its fuselage.
The F-22 achieved IOC with the USAF in December 2005 and the aircraft flew its first sortie to police US airspace in January 2006. Full operating capability is scheduled for late this year, when the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB will have two full-strength squadrons. The USAF trains pilots at Tyndall AFB in Florida. Three other F-22 wings will be formed in Alaska, Hawaii and New Mexico.
F-35
Lockheed Martin, with partners Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, was selected for the 126-month, $19 billion F-35 JSF SDD 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: F-35A conventional take-off and landing for the USAF; F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) for the USMC and the UK; and the F-35C carrier variant for the USN. Lockheed?s JSF resembles a scaled-down, single-engine F-22. The STOVL variant?s propulsion system has an R-R-developed lift fan shaft-driven by the main engine.
The first flying example has been assembled at Lockheed?s Fort Worth site in Texas and will conduct its first flight around October 2006, to be followed a year later by the F-35B, with production deliveries to start in 2008. Earlier weight issues have now been resolved but costs continue to rise, with the Pentagon reporting a $19 billion cost over-run in January 2006 and the US armed services looking to trim their orders. The unit price of the A version is now reported to be $82 million. The GE/R-R F136 alternative engine programme was a victim of the 2006 Pentagon budget to save $1.8 billion in near term costs, but Congress is looking to re-instate the project.
The Pentagon remains committed to its original delivery and in-service dates, but some slippage now seems inevitable, while the US order book will be determined by the Pentagon?s fighter optimisation study. Present planning calls for the USA and its international partners on the JSF programme to take more than 3,000 F-35s.
December 2006 will see the conclusion of international negotiations to determine the details of the $250 billion production and sustainment phase, which will determine timelines and the location of assembly activities. The UK and other JSF partners have expressed concern about the level of technology transfer to allow them to sustain and upgrade their own aircraft.
F-117
The F-117A Nighthawk first flew in June 1981 and 59 were built. An upgrade programme is under way to give the world?s first operational low observable or stealth aircraft the capability to drop satellite-guided weapons, including the JDAM and WCMD. Further upgrades are planned under the combat capability sustainment programme, but these are now in doubt after the 2006 Pentagon budget proposed retiring the aircraft in 2011 to help fund the purchase of new types.
P-3
The P-3C Orion is likely to remain the USN?s primary shore-based maritime patrol aircraft for the next decade, even though the service has already selected Boeing?s P-8 Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft as its replacement.
The Netherlands has sold its surplus fleet to Germany and Portugal, with the German navy to accept its eight aircraft later this month. EADS Casa won an order in 2005 to upgrade eight Brazilian P-3Bs. Canada and Australia are looking to launch more ambitious upgrade and sustainment projects to extend the life of their aircraft to 2025 after both countries decided not to join the P-8 programme. New Zealand, Norway and Spain also have P-3 upgrade projects under way.
The USN found late in 2003 that its 288 strong P-3 fleet had a growing airframe fatigue problem and some 130 aircraft were to be retired by late 2005. A series of efforts were launched in the 1990s to resolve the problems, but heavy operational use during the Afghanistan and Iraq campaigns has added to the crisis. L-3 was awarded a contract in 2003 to refurbish 16 USN P-3s and in March 2006 won the $104 million element of the P-3C sustainment, modification and installation programme to sustain a US fleet of 164 aircraft beyond the turn of the decade. Lockheed also received a $121 million contract to work on the project and will provide depot-level support services.
Lockheed is prime contractor on the USN?s ASuW improvement programme, which will give the Orion improved overland and littoral surveillance and attack capabilities. By mid-2005, Lockheed had upgraded 66 of a planned 73 P-3Cs with the equipment. As the USN draws down its fleet, surplus aircraft are being offered for sale. South Korea has bought eight under its Lot II project, with L-3 and Korea Aerospace Industries contracted to renew the airframes and modernise their systems by 2009. India is still considering a possible acquisition of eight aircraft and Lockheed has teamed with Hindustan Aeronautics to renovate the aircraft. Lockheed is also returning Pakistan?s seven aircraft to service.
S-3
The USN will retire 107 S-3B Viking carrier strike aircraft over the next four years and is offering the platforms to the international market in cooperation with Lockheed Martin. The S-3 has recently been promoted to countries including Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and the Philippines.
U-2
Lockheed Martin delivered the first U-2 upgraded under the reconnaissance avionics maintainability programme in April 2002. The USAF?s fleet of 30 U-2S aircraft will be modified by 2008. The service also operates four two-seat U-2STs. In the 2006 Pentagon budget it was proposed to retire the USAF?s U-2s by 2011, with its Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs to take over many of its surveillance roles. One U-2 was lost in an accident in the UAE in June 2005 while returning from a mission over Afghanistan.
LOCKHEED MARTIN AIRCRAFT ARGENTINA
Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina, Avenida Fuerza Aerea Argentina 5500, Cordoba 5010, Argentina. Tel [phone], Fax: [phone]; www.lmaasa.com
AT-63
FMA produced the IA-63 Pampa jet trainer until funding difficulties prematurely closed the line, although a 20th aircraft was delivered in September 1999 built from spares. Upgrade of the renamed AT-63 Pampa was launched in July 2000 with an order from the Argentinian air force, while earlier aircraft will be upgraded using the same Elbit Systems cockpit displays, mission computer and communications equipment.
The new-build AT-63s, together with 10 remanufactured aircraft, were scheduled for delivery to the Argentinian air force by June 2005, but the country?s financial crisis halted the programme in 2003. A new five-year deal has since been put in place that covers the manufacture of six new AT-63 advanced trainers at a unit cost of almost $10 million, along with a further six new airframes now being promoted to potential export customers.
A further 12 IA-63s are being rebuilt as AT-63s. The first of these was rolled out in December 2004 with deliveries of rebuilt aircraft starting in December 2005 and new-builds to follow from July-November 2007. A further upgrade, including the installation of Honeywell TFE-731-40 engines, is being proposed and a demonstration contract is possible in 2006. The Argentinian navy is showing interest in buying eight to 10 aircraft to replace its Aermacchi MB326s.
MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, 16-5 Konan 2-chome, Minato-ku, 108-8215, Tokyo, Japan. Tel + 81 3 6716 3111; fax [phone]; www.mhi.co.jp
F-2
The F-2 is a Mitsubishi-developed derivative of the Lockheed Martin F-16, powered by a GE F110-129. The aircraft first flew in October 1995 and four prototypes were used for flight-testing.
The Japan Defence Agency declared the F-2 support fighter ready for deployment in September 2000, and the first aircraft was delivered for operational service that month.
Japan?s air force originally required 83 single-seat F-2As and 58 two-seat F-2Bs, and around 60 of the 81 aircraft currently under contract are now in service. The air force is to wind down work on the project following the delivery of 130 aircraft, and in its 2006 budget Japan cut its order by one aircraft to five. Funds will be moved to the F-X project, which seeks to replace the air force?s McDonnell Douglas F-4s. Mitsubishi and Lockheed are considering proposing an advanced version of the F-2 dubbed the Super Kai to meet this requirement.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
Northrop Grumman, Air Combat Systems, Integrated Systems, One Northrop Grumman Avenue, El Segundo, California, 90245-2804, USA. Tel [phone]; www.northgrum.com
B-2
The B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was declared operational in April 1997 and 21 aircraft are now in USAF service. Permanent forward operating facilities or ?docks? for the B-2 fleet have now been completed at RAF Fairford in the UK, Anderson AFB on Guam and Diego Garcia.
Long-term improvements include swapping the B-2?s 1980s-vintage proprietary avionics for a commercial off-the-shelf plug-and-play capability, plus digital engine control. In September 2004 Northrop Grumman was awarded a $388 million contract to install an AESA antenna to the B-2?s APQ-181 radar, with flight testing due in 2006 and production expected to begin in 2007 to improve bombing accuracy and avoid interference with commercial signals. A $131 million upgrade to allow the aircraft?s bomb rack to carry 80 225kg JDAMs was completed in March 2006. Other Block 30 upgrades include improvements to mission-planning systems, defensive/offensive avionics and radar functionality.
E-2
Northrop Grumman won an order for 21 improved E-2C Hawkeye 2000s for the USN and France in mid-1999, which will keep the production line open through 2006. Deliveries began in October 2001 at a rate of four a year. Three more E-2Cs and five TE-2C trainers were ordered in a second multi-year contract awarded in 2004. Taiwan received two new Hawkeye 2000s two years ago and they formally entered service early this year. Three surplus Israeli E-2s have been acquired by the Mexican navy for drug interdiction work and are being supported by Northrop.
The Hawkeye 2000 incorporates an open-architecture mission computer, advanced controller workstations with enlarged displays, co-operative engagement capability data distribution system and satellite communications. The USN also plans to upgrade 54 of its earlier Group 2 aircraft to Hawkeye 2000 standard, and Japan will modernise its 13 aircraft to a similar standard.
Full-scale development of a further upgrade ? the Advanced Hawkeye ? was contracted in August 2003 when the USN awarded a $1.9 billion SDD contract to Northrop, with the first aircraft scheduled to begin flight tests in 2007. Current USN plans call for production of the re-designated E-2D to start in 2010, with the first of 75 production aircraft to be delivered the following year. The new aircraft will feature an L-3 ADS-18 UHF antenna, which will rotate mechanically, but also scan electronically. The project is aimed at improved performance in countering clutter over land and in littoral areas, and will double the range of the current Lockheed Martin APS-145 radar.
E-8
Northrop Grumman delivered its 17th and last production-standard E-8C JSTARS aircraft to the USAF in March 2005. Two E-8A prototypes were also built.
The E-8C fleet played a leading role in the Pentagon?s network-centric collaborative targeting experiments in 2004 and 2005, under a DARPA contract with L-3 Communications to migrate information on ground targets into theatre-wide ?operational pictures?. USAF and USN strike aircraft took part in an exercise in 2004 to use JSTARS radar data to direct JDAMs against naval targets, under the auspices of the Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement project. In 2005, Northrop was contracted to incorporate Blue Force Tracking technology to allow operators to overlay friendly forces locations on their radar displays.
The USAF in 2005 contracted Northrop to lead a six-year programme of new systems, engineering, radar and prototyping work worth up to $530 million. The details of this project are still emerging, but as the service?s interest in the E-10 Multi-mission Command and Control Aircraft wanes, increased focus is being given to extending the life of the JSTARS fleet and in the 2006 Pentagon budget funding was included to begin a re-engining programme. The JSTARS fleet will also eventually receive the Raytheon/Northrop Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Programme sensor, which will provide simultaneous SAR and MTI data.
EA-6B
Although EA-6B Prowler production ceased in 1991, the electronic-attack aircraft has received continual upgrades because it is the US armed forces? only dedicated EW aircraft capable of penetrating hostile airspace with strike packages.
Proposals to reopen production were considered to bolster the surviving fleet of 111 aircraft, of which around 90 are active at any one time. However, a late 2003 decision by the USN to begin work on the Boeing EA-18G Growler mean the service is now concentrating on extending the life of its EA-6Bs until the new aircraft enters service from 2009.
Northrop started modifying the first EA-6B Improved Capability Programme III test aircraft in November 2000 and the first of 10 low-rate initial production aircraft were delivered during 2005, with some deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to support US forces in Iraq. Four more were funded in the 2006 Pentagon budget and have since been contracted. However, the programme has received critical assessments from US government technical watchdogs and full-rate production has yet to be authorised. The USN says it wants to give the production go-ahead in 2006.
F-5
Production of the F-5E/F Tiger II ended in 1987, but several upgrade programmes are underway around the world. The Tiger Aircraft Company and Taiwan?s Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation are building two TF-3 Tiger II demonstrators as a potential solution for Taiwan?s lead-in fighter trainer requirement.
EADS Casa is upgrading 17 Spanish air force F-5s with the help of Israel Aircraft Industries, and is offering third-party use of the aircraft from its Talavera airbase due to delays to the proposed AEJPT/Eurotraining project. Embraer is upgrading Brazil?s fleet of F-5BRs into F-5Ms in partnership with Elbit Systems, with this believed to include the integration of Rafael?s Derby BVRAAM. The first aircraft was delivered in September 2005. Nine ex-Royal Saudi Air Force F-5E/Fs were also bought by Brazil to raise the number of F-5Ms to be upgraded to 55.
Iran has developed its own indigenous reverse-engineered version of the F-5 dubbed the Sa?eqeh-80 and flew the aircraft in May 2004. Switzerland is leasing 12 F-5Es to Austria until 2008 to bridge a capability gap until the arrival of the country?s new Eurofighter Typhoons.
F-14
The F-14 Tomcat was the mainstay of the USN?s air superiority fleet from the mid-1970s, but the aircraft has now given way to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The last operational Tomcat carrier deployment was completed in early 2006 and the type?s formal retirement is scheduled for later this year. The retirement will leave Iran as the sole user of the F-14, with just under half of its original fleet of 79 still thought to be in frontline service.
T-38
The USAF Air Education and Training Command?s 509 T-38 Talon supersonic trainers will be kept in service until 2040, by which time the type will be 81 years old, through a series of upgrades covering avionics, engines and aircraft structures.
The Boeing-led T-38C avionics upgrade programme began in January 2001 using three low-rate initial production aircraft, and 385 modified aircraft had been delivered back to the USAF by the end of 2005. Production continues at just under 40 aircraft a year. Northrop Grumman started building replacement wings in 2001 as part of a fleet-wide wing-replacement project. Some 195 aircraft had also been re-engined by the end of 2005 under a modernisation effort that will eventually encompass all 509 aircraft.
PANAVIA
Panavia Aircraft, Airport Business Centre, Am Soldermoos 17, Hallbergmoos, D-85399, Germany. Tel [phone]; fax [phone]
Tornado
Production of the Tornado ended in October 1998 with the delivery of the 992nd aircraft. The three partner nations, Germany, Italy and the UK, continue to upgrade the aircraft to keep it in service until at least 2018. Saudi Arabia is also looking to extend the service life of its interdictor strike fleet.
An upgrade to 142 RAF GR1/1A/1Bs to the Tornado GR4 standard concluded at BAE Systems? Warton site in June 2003. The Package 2 development programme to clear the GR4 for the Goodrich DB-110-based RAPTOR reconnaissance pod and additional weapons including the MBDA Brimstone and Storm Shadow was largely concluded in early 2005. The RAF and BAE have dramatically reorganised in-service support for the GR4 fleet with deep maintenance centralised at RAF Marham. BAE has also submitted a proposal to become the sole provider of logistic support to the RAF?s GR4s under an incentivised availability-based contract dubbed Tornado ATTAC. This is intended to cut logistic support costs by 50%.
RAF Tornado F3s have completed a capability sustainment programme upgrade, which equipped the aircraft with MBDA ASRAAM and Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, Joint Tactical Information Distribution Systems and successor IFF.
German and Italian strike and EW/reconnaissance aircraft are also receiving broadly similar upgrades as part of their mid-life update programmes.
BAE is working on two demonstrator aircraft for a Royal Saudi Air Force Tornado sustainment project which will improve the capabilities of its strike examples and extend airframe life. The aircraft arrived at BAE?s Warton site in August 2005 and began flight trials early this year. In-country deep maintenance is now undertaken at the Alsalam Aircraft plant in Riyadh, which is also likely to be the site for the upgrade work. Lockheed Martin is reportedly offering its JASSM cruise missile as part of the proposed upgrade, in addition to other sensors and weapons. Saudi Arabia is meanwhile negotiating a government-to-government deal with the UK to buy the Eurofighter Typhoon to replace its Tornado air-defence aircraft.
PILATUS (table p60)
Pilatus Aircraft, Flugzeugwerke PO Box 992, CH-6371 Stans, Switzerland. Tel [phone]; fax [phone]; www.pilatus-aircraft.com
PC-7/9
Pilatus continues to offer its family of turboprop trainers, which, since 1997, have been built using modular fuselages. The major difference between the variants is engine power, with the PC-7 being the lower-powered aircraft.
Israel?s Radom has given Slovenian PC-9s a new mission and weapons system, as well as a Lockheed Martin F-16-like cockpit that includes a FlightVisions HUD. Bulgaria received six PC-9s during 2004 and a follow-on order for six more aircraft is expected. Malaysia ordered 10 PC-7 Mk IIs in February 2006. The PC-9 is being considered by Turkey.
PC-21
Pilatus started development of its PC-21 in the late 1990s as a replacement for the PC-7/9. The first aircraft was rolled out in April 2002 and completed its first flight on 1 July that year. Swiss civil certification was received in December 2004.
The company?s second PC-21 demonstrator crashed in January 2005, but Swiss