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Tomahawk Passes Revetment Test
On 1 April, a BGM-109C Tomahawk successfully attacked a revetted RA-5C aircraft in its first such test. The missile, with the standard Bullpup warhead, was programmed to explode over—rather than in—its target. This capability is significant because the Soviets can be expected to use revetments to protect their long-range antiship Badger and Backfire bombers. The Soviets use thick concrete hangarettes for their smaller tactical aircraft, but that approach is probably impractical for larger planes. Thus, the 1 April test suggests that U. S. submarines can significantly reduce the Soviet naval air threat on the ground before any carrier engagement and without nuclear weapons.
The nonnuclear land-attack Tomahawk version reached initial operational capability in March. Its greatest limitation is that U. S. submarines carry a limited number of weapons. However, the Los Angeles (SSN- 688)-class submarines after SSN-719 will go a long way toward solving this problem with their 12 vertical-launch Tomahawk tubes.
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aircraft. The V-22 has also been proposed as a commercial airhn, ^ ble of moving commuters between small downtown e 'P york, an ample, the busy eastern corridor connecting Boston, ... tested in Washington. An XV-15 development machine was recen y ^ order role in New York; proponents of the concept suggest t a ^ purch^ may lead to important commercial results, just as the 't airlinerS as of the KC-135 tanker led to the development of such U. • J
the Boeing 707. ,imost a year a'„f
The full-scale development decision was expected ' roducti°n . but it was delayed by fears of excessive costs. Continue ^o%vever, ttl3_ CH-46s was suggested as an alternative. The Navy ’ machine helicopters were becoming less survivable, and that a as ^oreoVet.1 L needed with the ability to fight Soviet armed helicopters^ assault fast V-22 was central to the Marine Corps over-the h .qUS task f° cept, itself, in part, a response to the threat to the amp 1 presented by antiship missiles.
Luftwaffe Tornados Get HARM
West Germany became the first foreign purchaser of the AGM-88A high-speed antiradiation missile (HARM). Deliveries are scheduled for 1987-89; the West Germans bought test missiles under a January 1985 contract. HARM had just enjoyed several triumphs: HARMs launched by a U. S. A-7 neutralized Libyan SA-5 missile control radars during U. S. carrier operations in March, and, in April, a missile drawn at random from Navy war reserves functioned perfectly in a test. HARM had been under development since the early 1970s, and had come close to cancellation several times, owing to its rising cost. The successful tests, the deployment against Libya, and the foreign purchase suggest that HARM’S difficulties are over. The manufacturer, Texas Instruments, hopes that HARM will become a NATO standard.
West German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and Navy HARMs will be carried on board Tornado attack bombers. The chief European alternative is the British Aerospace ALARM, which is still underdevelopment. Tornados are built and operated by Britain, Italy, and West Germany, and have been sold to Oman and Saudi Arabia.
Congress OKs Avionics Sale to
& rth of avi°n
Congress has approved the sale of about $550 fiS^ter\
ics to upgrade Chinese-built F-8 (essentially enlarged pepartnJL( If accepted by the Chinese, the sale will be made throug the
of Defense, which will choose the contractors. This wo-- geput U. S. sale of explicitly military materiel to the Pe°P . torpe‘j°l'a| China. Other proposed transactions include sonars, congreSS'°n . and avionics for Chinese antisubmarine warfare. Note ^ ■
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UI1U avionics lUl Ulllicc amiauumonin. - ------ inlltlins'^'...fV
approval of the sale does not imply that an actual sale 1(ern mil' Chinese have come very close to buying a variety o ^ the °ul V
systems in the past, only to decide later that they are no ^ act'°as
in scarce foreign exchange. In this sense, the congre ,0 sell a more significant as an indication of official U. S. wuhnB than as a specific sale. continUeS 10 j to
At the same time, even though the United States ^ ^as refusef£. considerable quantities of military hardware to Taiwan, 1 j)gSf the sell new aircraft such as the Northrop F-20 fighter. a' f and ® fore, begun indigenous development, including new <, Garr‘.
lightweight engine programs, the latter derived from a ,g 0f a gr% engine. The Taiwanese development effort is another exat;vely adv'an<"[ie ing trend of Third World design and production of re a approa*;*|' t
military systems. Although such systems generally do n0ld'v't1' standards of U. S. (or Soviet) equipment, they are genera y
former 5
Osprey Tilt-Rotor Gets Green Light
Full-scale development of the Bell-Vertol V-22 (formerly JVX) Osprey tilt-rotor VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) was approved on 2 May. The Osprey is to replace Marine Corps CH-46 helicopters, which will reach the end of their service lives in the early 1990s. It is the key to a proposed Marine deep assault amphibious tactic: it is fast enough to reach well behind any enemy line from ships located over the enemy’s horizon. In this sense, it complements the new air-cushion landing craft, giving the Marines the potential for a much greater element of surprise in the future. The concomitant problem is fire support: no current shipboard system can provide much fire over the ranges involved—probably 50 miles or more.
The Osprey is a joint services program, with the Navy acting as lead service. Other applications include antisubmarine warfare and long- range search and rescue; the total tri-service buy is estimated at 1,200
political limitations, and often at very low prices. tom- vj
All of these considerations become more important as ^ ab>‘f ^ er's arms market in the Third World becomes muc sys*enaiy
market, with quite limited demand. As a result, Third \y,est'^1' the characteristics of which are often nearly unknown W crowd out the more sophisticated, more expensive sys e
‘Stealthy’ EAP Unveiled
British Aerospace (BAe) rolled out its experimental fighter prototype (EAP), which it describes as incorporating stealth technology, on 16 April. The EAP is to be used to test features of the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA) program.
Like the EFA, it is a collaborative program among Britain, Italy, and West Germany.
Given the very tight security surrounding the U. S.
Parent to r-< ™°Sl *'.kety means the extensive use of materials either trans tinder development in many countries since the 1960s, and
"'hich II"fj11 ‘'ntl themselves
c|aim forS.' st,ealth
The single..
uper
<>V'e’ strate *!!f ^uroPean c°ast. The French already take the threat of
subnta^IC ant'submarine forces very seriously; they arm their stra- (j'Qy of Contnnes w>th the Exocet antiship missile for self-defense. By et,ect'°n, iJ?*V l^e G. S. approach is to buy so much sea room that djf like'jts ip °ne engagement, of the SSBN is extremely unlikely. CC e,lse pro I**- 1CS’ ^rance continues to emphasize nuclear weapons in its (J*0ventiona^rap* re*T'nS on deterrence to avert any attack, nuclear or b...S. technj ' i rencb spokesmen, for example, have attacked current efr s >n a CU Und tac,'ca* initiatives designed to improve NATO capa- \V0rt reduce5ri|traCted nonnuc*ear war- Their argument is that any such iheS1 ^ould b _eleiTence, i e., that a Soviet leader might imagine that the tl The p” w'^'n8 to forego any nuclear response to his nonnuclear rP.terrence iv ^nch llave rcJected the U. S. view that purely nuclear aCti«nsto,hUltlma,ely sob-deterring and thus self-defeating. French o Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) have, therefore, been
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gs /
vttin
and tfjg
Stea'ftinessp!«-*^,C°nvent‘ona* aPPearance of the EAP, the claim of
Jjave been^nd °rj1*^y absorptive of radar. Such composite materials
The imn!fady use^ *n som small commercial aircraft.
°uilt large|yCatlon 01 EAe claim, then, is that a conventional fighter aPart frorny °Ut of t.lle new materials will be inherently stealthy, quite Particularlyany exot'c shaping. Since the materials themselves are not 'Prcraft Wj|| Sbecre'. that may mean that the next generation of combat (j ^ p stealthy, and that new sensors will be required to detect Mil hardly e ■Stea*ttl aircraft may be more difficult to detect, but they There had h°^ 3 rnonoP°ly °f radar-defying characteristics.
*ae secrecv veen some suggestions in the European press that—given m;.>K*UI30unt*ing the U. S. stealth program—non-U. S. NATO air extremely vulnerable to Soviet defenses, ':lai<n f0r!,leafth aircraft could easily penetrate. Presumably, the BAe Coaraoe i, *La thiness in the EAP would deflect such criticism and en- ™ disclosures.
's powe delta-winged EAP has all-moving canard foreplanes Ornado h ^ two Turbo-Union RBI99 engines, as is the current 1,1 Septenib^ expected to fly in midyear and be displayed at Famborough
^Ps Will Arm French Planes
i.ln March p
s ASMp ’.,ance announced that missi|UlrLlaunched nuclear at- Passed us service
“ased <!„
e^; i, Sud
"llclearstrirS<iarm Mirage 2000N IZed Mirao ^ f'Shters and modem-
f*. “‘age 4D . . AEROSPATIALE
C. 1 °f the a Slrategic bombers. From a French point of view, deploy- atfierj are ->MP on board carrier aircraft would demonstrate that the Jjhctfon ofPan l^e national strategic force, and hence that the con- nh thc _ e Planned nuclear-powered carrier Richelieu is consistent in the sa strategic nuclear modernization.
^'ae-launq! *'me' ^renci1 Government announced that an M4 subrange of b ballistic missile carrying a single warhead had achieved a aisled f ' kilometers (3,730 miles), which is greater than that j e*rrartges .C ^ Poseidon and Trident C4 (which, however, make With a rCarryinS multiple warheads). The French M4 missile is cred- riC|a°nstratjran®ie °.‘ about 4,000 kilometers carrying six warheads. The t.Car'term j|!>n **lat mofeased range is available insures the French against linger pr Pruvements in Soviet antisubmarine warfare, which would elose trwk auc*ear'P°wered ballistic missile subs (SSBNs) operatic
July 1986 mixed at best; the French fear that SDI technology, some of which will surely fall into Soviet hands, will ultimately neutralize their own deterrent force. Thus, they tend to be more interested in counters to SDI technology than in the technology itself.
Note that French reliance on nuclear deterrence is a bipartisan policy, and that, unlike most European countries, France has no major organized antinuclear movement.
Marines Receive AH-1W SuperCobra
In March, the Marines received their first Bell AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter, an improved version of the AH-IT, which descended from the Vietnam-era “Huey” (UH-1). Originally designated AH-1T (Improved), the -1W is powered by two GE T700-GE- 401 engines, which replace the AH-lTs' T400 twin-pack. It can carry Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, Hellfire laser-guided antitank missiles, tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided missiles, unguided rockets, and 20-mm. cannon. The Sidewinder capability is important, as Marine helicopters may well have to face attacks by Soviet-produced helicopters with air-to-air weapons of their own. This air-to-air threat is also significant for the Osprey program.
AH-ITs are to be upgraded to the -1W configuration by replacing their forward fuselage, a five-month, $4.7-milIion process. Current orders amount to 44 new aircraft and 44 conversions, with more new aircraft being sought by the Marines.
Navy-Air Force RPVs Planned
In March, the U. S. Navy and Air Force announced a joint program to develop and procure a family of advanced remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs), to first deploy in 1988. The Air Force seeks a high-subsonic machine with a combat radius of 300 nautical miles to operate at low and medium altitudes. The Navy, which already has RPVs in service, requires a range of 100-300 nautical miles and an endurance of 2-3 hours. The Naval Air Systems Command is to develop the RPV airframe; the Air Force Systems Command will develop its payload. The Navy concept would probably provide reconnaissance and strike control and assessment for battle and surface action groups, because improving air defenses (even in the Third World) make it less and less attractive for aircralt with human pilots to orbit alerted areas. The Navy is also involved in an RPV program with the Army.
High-endurance naval RPVs have been proposed as airborne early warning platforms to support surface action groups and amphibious groups built around amphibious carriers, which support V/STOL (ver- tical/short takeoff and landing) aircraft but not E-2s. Alternatives include blimps and land-based aircraft. The Navy used both in the mid-1950s to support continental air defense, and until the advent of the E-2, it flew EC-121s in support of the deployed fleets. In theory, modem RPV technology should greatly increase the endurance of a lightweight platform, and the radar itself might be integrated into the machine’s wings.
Another Navy/Air Force joint development project is the Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter, which is to be developed for compatibility with Navy requirements for a follow-on to the F-14. Unlike earlier joint projects (such as the F-l 11), this one is to incorporate both services’ requirements virtually from the beginning to avoid technical failure (as in the case of the overweight F-l 1 IB).
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