H E A D L I N E S

EFA w a r m s t o R a f a l e IR ST
BYGUYNORRIS
T
he European Fighter Aircraft
(EFA) management agency,
NEFMA, is considering aligning
with the French Rafale combat
aircraft project in a bid to save a
major aircraft sensor system
under threat from possible West
German pull-out.
The future of the Infra-red
Search and Track (IRST) system
is being challenged on cost
grounds by the West Germans
who are believed to be seeking to
withdraw from the project. UK
and Italian operational require-
ments call for the IRST system to
be installed as the second most
important sensor after the radar.
The RAF and Italian Air Forces
believe that the capabilities of
EFA would be severely impaired
without the unjammable IRST
system.
NEFMA has been presented
with the option of combining the
IRST requirement with that of
the French Rafale IRST system
thought to be similar in capabili-
ties. Another option under
consideration is reducing the
cost of the Defence Aids Sub
System (DASS) by lowering its
capabilities. DASS is a combined
self-protection aids system-
covering items such as electronic
countermeasures, chaff and
flares.
NEFMA held a reveiw meeting
to discuss the options on 5
September and has decided to
wait for the cost of the DASS
contract to be assessed before
making its decisionexpected
by around the end of the year.
Contract awards for the IRST
system, contested by four con-
sortia, is not expected until July
next year, a delay of around two
years on the original schedule.
The four teams are led by Zeiss,
GEC-Ferranti, Pilkington and
FIAR of Italy.
The West Germans favour
dropping the IRST primarily for
budgetary reasonsdevelop-
ment has been budgeted at
around 30 million while actual
costs will be in the 300 million
bracket. The Luftwaffe also does
not need the long-range inter-
ception capabilities required by
the UK and Italy. The Italian and
UK air forces, backed by the
Spanish, are calling for the full
IRST capability because recent
simulated trials of EFA's ECR-90
radar show that its airborne
detection range capability can be
cut to less than 9km (5nm) by a
combination of known Soviet
stealth techniques and stand-off
jammers
Because the IRST is
unjammable in the threat
environment and can passively
identify unco-operative targets at
long range as well as track mul-
tiple targets while in scanning
mode, it is essential to EFA's
mission.
Rafale IRST, currently selected
to be built by SAT and Thomson-
CSF, is superior to the EFA pro-
posal, having two wave bands in
infra-red as well as a laser.
If NEFMA accepts the Rafale
co-operation deal it will insist
that the winning IRST con-
sortium offer French industry at
least 25% of the workshare. Both
programmes would make IRST
systems at around two-thirds of
the cost of the original options
and the French would pay EFA
partners a contribution to
development cost. The last
option is to reduce capabilities of
the IRST itself. '
# Thorn EMI, a member of the
FIAR consortium in the IRST
contest, has joined forces with
SAT to developo and market
electro-optical systems jointly.
The two companies will also
market each other' s products.
YF-23 MOVES TO A HIGHER PLAIN
Northrop/McDonnell Douglas' YF-23 ATF contender photographed from
above during its maiden flight at the end of last August. The fuselage, wing
and engine blending characteristics are clearly visible, as are the top side
engine outlets.
AAIB p o i n t s t o
K e g w o r t h e r r o r s
C
riticism in the UK Depart-
ment of Transport' s Air Ac-
cident Investigation Branch
(AAIB) report on the British
Midland Airways Boeing 737-
400 crash at Kegworth is directed
at the pilots who shut down the
wrong engine. Pilot training has
also been attacked, but blame for
the accident is not apportioned
as this is outside the AAIB's
remit.
The report says the pilots
" . . . reacted prematurely" to
engine vibration and other
symptons " . . . which were out-
side their training and experi-
ence" . Italso says, however, that
some actions were " contrary to
their training" .
Recommendations in the draft
report include an international
research programme into the
safety effectiveness of rearward-
facing seats and full harnesses for
passengers. This follows inten-
sive investigation of the state of
the cabin and the seats in which
47 people died. There was no
fire, so impact alone was the
killer.
Also recommended are atten-
tion-getters for engine vibration
gauges (which Boeing is working
on), modification to instrument
displays and a number of
improvements in pilot training
for " glass" cockpits. Recom-
mendations already being tested
include external video cameras
to give pilots an external view of
the aircraft.
Separation of a fan-blade tip
had put the fan out of balance,
causing engine vibration and fur-
ther damage leading to ultimate
failure. The report says that the
recognisable effects of an out-of-
balance fan, notably vibration,
were outside the pilots' training
and experience. Briefing on this,
says the report, is not included in
the pilots' training even though it
is vital knowledge in the " big fan'"
era. The AAIB report says " that
pilot training should include
how to react to vibration and
fumes.
Smoke from one engine was
seen by cabin crew and pas-
sengers, yet the lack of organised
communication between cockpit
and cabin failed to make use of
this information.
6 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12-18 September 1990