Farnborough 2008 Show News - July 17, 2008 - (Page 18)

FA R N B O R O U G H 2 0 0 8 First Watchkeepers to ParcAberporth by Fall Thales UK’s Watchkeeper program is moving forward, with the first production unmanned air vehicle (UAV) platform flying since April of this year. The first flight took place in Israel. The second aircraft is being completed by U-TacS, the joint venture company established by Thales UK and Elbit Systems in England. Flighttesting is expected to continue in Israel until fall, focusing on envelope expansion, airworthiness and sensor testing. By fall the first and second aircraft will transition to ParcAberporth in Wales, where special corridor and operating airspace have been established for these unmanned aerial systems. “The coming months are critical for the program,” said Alex Dorrian, Thales UK’s CEO. With the platform undergoing flight-testing, the next steps will include integration and testing of the EO/IR/laser target designation capabilities, automatic takeoff and landing and the I-Master radar and dual payload flights. Watchkeeper will provide real-time imagery and situational awareness, enabling commanders on the ground to gain a detailed picture of the battlespace and make timely decisions accordingly. The system will be configured with a dual payload as standard, composed of the D-Compass, an electro-optical payload and Thales I-Master synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). “The SAR imagery seen in initial trials of I-Master is outstanding, and testing of the Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) functionality is well underway,” said Dorrian. “The combination of the radar and EO/IR sensors operating from a tactical platform will provide a transformational step in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability for the UK armed forces.” Thales UK’s Watchkeeper UAV. According to Nick Miller, business director, UAV Systems at Thales, the system is designed for a high degree of autonomy, supporting autonomous takeoff and landing (ATOL). This system will be capable of operating in all weather conditions, using GPS and radar navigational systems, and determining the direction and approach glide slope in regular as well as GPS-denied conditions. —Tamir Eshel Sukhoi Superjet Flies, But So Does Time, Alas The Sukhoi Superjet can’t be with us today, since it is working hard toward the start of certification trials which Victor Subbotin, president of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, hopes will be completed in a year’s time, allowing deliveries to customers to begin in the third quarter of 2009. That may prove to be a tall order, because the prototype lost several months between rollout on September 26, 2007 and the first flight less than three weeks ago, on June 29. Nevertheless, Sukhoi and its Western marketing, support and engine partners were in a buoyant mood as they detailed the aircraft’s achievements during that maiden sortie and outlined the trials to come. Superjet 001 has already flown 12 sorties (and 30 hours) of a 40-flight preliminary workout at the Komsomolskon-Amur production plant ahead of its Victor Subbotin. planned departure in late-August/earlySeptember, to Zhukovsky, Moscow, for certification tests requiring 206 more flights. Flight parameters achieved so far include 9,850 ft altitude, 40,000 kg take-off weight, 680 km/h and 4 hours, 10 minutes duration. Appearing alongside Subbotin were Alessandro Franzoni, CEO of Superjet International, and Jean-Paul Ebanga, chairman and CEO of PowerJet. This is Superjet International’s first Farnborough show, the marketing, sales, customization and delivery partnership having been formed only last July, with Alenia Aeronautica holding a 51% share. Since it was here two years ago, PowerJet has launched trials of an SaM146 turbofan in an Ilyushin Il-76LL testbed—and, of course, in the Superjet itself—and has increased bench running hours from 112 to 1,200. —Paul Jackson 18 MAC president Nobuo Toda with MRJ. MAC Is Now a Going Concern Since it was announced at Paris last June, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) has jumped the crucial hurdles: authorization to offer (last October), and formal program launch (in March), with a single order for 25 from Japanese airline ANA. It has also become the sole product of a purpose-formed company known, provisionally, as Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation (MAC), whose president, Nobuo Toda, reviewed the project at a press conference this week. Of two projected subvariants, it will be the 86/96-seat, $38 million MRJ90 which flies first (2011) and is delivered (2013) first, although the MRJ70, with 70 to 80 passengers, will follow “with not too much time difference.” Mitsubishi has secured the services of Pratt & Whitney for the twin, underwing PW1000G turbofans; Parker for hydraulics; Rockwell Collins for avionics; Hamilton Sundstrand for electrical power, air management and APU; and Nabtesco for flight control actuators. Apart from this news, Mitsubishi had little else to add to the basic details released last year except for a cabin mockup in Chalet D13. Present indications are that the airframe—built semi-traditionally with 58% aluminum and only 28% carbon fiber— will be an all-Japanese affair in design and manufacture. According to Toda, “No other partners are needed.” MAC itself is wholly Japanese, with two-thirds held by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the balance by Toyota, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui & Co, Sumitomo Corp., Development Bank of Japan and Tokio Marine Nichido. Responding to concerns that it is inexperienced in global fleet support, Mitsubishi Aircraft is in negotiations with Saab to provide technical and operational support in Europe and North America, at the same time the manufacturer is taking responsibility for Asia. MRO and training outside Asia will be bought in from other companies, and a decision on the providers of these services is not expected before an MRJ design freeze in Autumn 2009. —Paul Jackson July 17, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews

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