KC-390 refuels AMXs
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Global competition in the 20-ton air transport segment continues to intensify, with Brazil’s launch of its KC-390 program. Embraer figures reportedly place the global C-130 replacement market at around 700 aircraft. In response, it will develop a jet-powered rival to compete with Lockheed Martin’s C-130J, the larger Airbus A400M, Russia’s AN-12 and its Chinese copy the Yunshu-8, and the bi-national Irkut/HAL MRTA project. Smaller aircraft like the EADS-CASA C-295M and Alenia C-27J may also represent indirect competition.

Brazil’s aerospace industry has made impressive global gains in the civilian business and regional jet segments, and in the military market for primary trainer and counterinsurgency aircraft. Slumping civilian demand recently led to layoffs, but rising Brazilian defense budgets give the government a lever to inject funds into the company, while completing a strategic project that has been under consideration for a couple of years.

Embraer will now seek to extend its efforts and markets by crafting a jet-powered medium transport with a cargo capacity around 20 tons, that can be refueled in the air, and can provide refueling services to other aircraft by adding dedicated pods. Thanks to a deal with France, the KC-390 looks set to become a multinational effort…

• KC-390 Program and Structure
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings: Competitors
  
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AN-70
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Antonov’s AN-70 has had a long and difficult development history from its first studies and concepts in 1979, including the dissolution of its sponsoring state in 1991, the crash of the initial prototype aircraft in a 1995 collision with its chase plane, and the selection of the EADS A400M development project as the basis of Europe’s Future Large Aircraft. The project has been kept alive on a shoestring budget by the participating companies, who have consistently believed that they had a winner on their hands if they could just make it into production. The A400M’s struggles and cost escalation, and the C-130J’s 20-ton limitations, have validated that assessment – but assessments don’t meet payroll, or pay for equipment.

The European FLA/A400M program has been criticized of late for its rejection of the AN-70, but there are always considerations beyond the base financials. Development of domestic aerospace industries and technologies, albeit at greater expense, is always a factor. Then there’s the longer-term market forecasts that saw the American C-17 program reaching its end, leaving a decade or 2 of dominance for a transport that could bridge the gap between strategic and tactical transport options. Who would produce it? Financing the development and refinement of a critical power projection tool that would be likely to see service with Russia is a project not to be undertaken lightly, especially if it means that Ukrainian and/or Russian firms would also be able to compete for future production business in a key aerospace segment.

The FLA loss was indeed a bitter blow to an AN-70 program that had already seen many setbacks. For many years, it even looked like it might turn out to be fatal, consigning the AN-70 to “what if” status on par with Canada’s fabled CF-105 Avro Arrow fighter. Recent developments, 30 years after the project first began, look set to change that status…

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IqAF King Air 350
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It has been a long road for the Iraqi Air Force. According to Iraqi figures, the IqAF boasted more than 1,000 aircraft before the 1991 Gulf war – and around 300 after it. More than 6 years after Operation Iraqi Freedom began, and 4 years after the first Iraqi Provisional government was formed, the once-mighty IqAF still operates just a handful of mostly-unarmed propeller aircraft and helicopters.

Unarmed aircraft can still offer value, of course. Surveillance is critically important to Iraq, especially surveillance of national infrastructure like telecommunications lines, pipelines, and other facilities. In addition to its Cessna “Bird Dogs” and handful of other light spotter planes, the IqAF is strengthening its fleet with an unlikely star of the Iraq War: Hawker Beechcraft’s propeller-driven King Air.

87 Squadron has begun all-Iraqi operations with the new equipment, but recent articles and announcements illustrate that there’s a lot more to fielding new equipment than just signing the contract…

• King of the Air: From C-12 to 350ER-ISR
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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Irkut concept
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In late December 2006, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) announced a $700-million joint venture (JV) agreement with Irkut Corporation of Russia for manufacturing 60-tonne multi-role transport aircraft (MRTA). Under this 50/50 arrangement with HAL, Ilyushin Design Bureau of Russia will design the MRTA and Irkut corporation of Russia will develop the aircraft, while series production would be taken up by the transport aircraft division of HAL at Kanpur. Irkut is a major investor (40% of project expenses), and will be the coordinator of the Russian side. For HAL, the move is part of an effort to forge new partnerships with global aviation majors for military and civil projects, with an eye on trebling their annual turnover to $3 billion by 2011.

YC-15 and F-4
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The MRTA has been described in news reports as a 60-ton, 100-seat aircraft aimed at the military freighter market, creating some confusion about its ultimate carrying capacity and competitive niche. Is it destined to replace the Ilyushin IL-76s India flies? Compete with the 120-troop capacity A400M? Further research with Irkut shows it to be a 60-ton total takeoff weight aircraft with a cargo capacity of around 18,500 kg/ 20 tons, giving it similar capacity and dimensions to the Russian An-12 or the USA’s C-130J Hercules. Illustrations show a jet aircraft whose requirements produce a design somewhat reminiscent of the canceled 1970s US AMST Program that eventually led to the much larger C-17.

Recent reports indicate that the formal contract is set for signing in September 2009 – but other competitors may have a jump of the critical time-window for introduction…

• MRTA and the Per-Ton Price Constant
• MRTA: Contracts and Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
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Skyhook concept
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In April 2006, “WALRUS Hunted to Extinction By Congress, DARPA?” dealt with the cancellation of DARPA’s WALRUS ultra-heavy lift program. WALRUS aimed to develop an airship that could lift between 250-500 tons, offering capacity that rivaled ship-borne options, but offered the benefits of transport all the way to the front without requiring ports and related infrastructure.

The program would have developed a 30-40 ton capacity demonstration model in its early stages, which would have had a useful role of its own. “Walrus Heavy-Lift Blimp Rises, Falls” also noted the requests of combat commanders for airlift options that could be used with smaller airfields, that cannot accommodate the 20-ton capacity C-130 Hercules aircraft. Not to mention related items like pressure to lower fuel use at the Pentagon, and 2005 warnings from the Army Corps of Engineers about energy costs/supplies and future military operations.

Now a private consortium sees similar needs and trends in key civilian sectors. A Canadian/American partnership that includes Boeing has set itself the public goal of building the commercial equivalent of DARPA’s desired demonstrator…

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IqAF C-130E
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In August 1990, Iraq’s Air Force had more than 500 aircraft in their inventory. The IqAF was decimated in 1991, after Saddam invaded Kuwait and ended up facing the US military and its allies. What remained was hobbled by extensive, and expensive, no-fly zones, until the war formally concluded in 2003 with a US-led invasion that eliminated Saddam’s regime. Rebuilding the IqAF under the new Iraqi government has been a slow process.

The C-130 Hercules was an early player in Iraq’s rebuilt air force, which remains small and focused on transport and surveillance missions. Positive experiences with the IqAF 23rd Sqn.’s 3 refurbished C-130Es, which fly from Baghdad International Airport, led Iraq to make a formal sale request for new C-130J-30s in July 2008. The latest development completes Iraq’s 6-plane buy…

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C-130J Hercules
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In May 2006, India Defence quoted Air Chief S.P. Tyagi saying that “the IAF is planning to buy C-130J planes” for its special forces and Border Security Forces. Reports indicate that the IAF is particularly attracted to the C-130J’s ability to land and take off even in improvised or short airfields, and without lights. Those characteristics have served the Hercules well in other anti-terrorism scenarios like Operation Yonatan in Entebbe, and are now more routine maneuvers thanks to the C-130J Hercules’ modern avionics and increased engine power. the ‘J’ model performs well in “hot and high” conditions which can reduce the useful load of older Hercules or similar transport aircraft by 50-60%.

The new planes will be bracketed by India’s larger Ilyushin IL-76 jet transports on the high end, and on the lower end by twin-engine Antonov AN-32 turboprops. India’s interest in the Hercules is quite specific to the Special Forces at the moment; but the plane’s capacity for additional specialty operations like aerial refueling both enhances those operations, and gives the IAF a number of additional employment options. The AN-32s are currently undergoing mid-life refurbishment, and a joint project with Russia’s Irkut looks set to develop a Hercules competitor in time for the AN-32’s replacement cycle.

Nevertheless, this deal is still a major inroad into the Indian market for Lockheed Martin – one that could develop further on a number of fronts. The contract is proceeding, and recently added advanced surveillance systems for the aircraft.

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On July 30/09. the US House passed its “H.R. 3326: Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010” by a crushing 400-30 vote. Reconciliation with the Senate’s S. 1390 bill will happen in committee, before the final joint bill can be sent to the President for signature – or veto.

The House bill contains a number of provisions that challenge official Pentagon decisions, and could lead to political fights with the Senate or even with President Obama. The key flashpoints include:

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Pacific Missile Range Facility
at Barking Sands
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Croman Corp., a small business based in White City, OR received an $11.9 million modification to a previously awarded indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-06-D-0005) to provide airlift and recovery functions in support of all Hawaiian military ranges. In addition, this modification provides for utility/ transport missions to carry passengers/ cargo and range clearing operations in the Hawaiian Operating Area.

Croman will perform the work in Barking Sands in Kauai, Hawaii, and expects to complete the work by August 2010. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD manages the contract. The Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) is located at Barking Sands…

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A330 MRTT concept,
hose-and-drogue
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In January 2008, EADS North America announced that The Royal Saudi Air Force will acquire 3 of EADS A330 Multi-role Tanker/Transports (MRTTs), equipped with both EADS centerline-mounted ARBS (advanced Air Refueling Boom System) for use with its F-15s et. al., and a pair of underwing hose-and-drogue refueling pods suitable for use with the Saudis’ forthcoming Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 2s. The configuration is similar to that specified for the Royal Australian Air Force’ KC-30B refueling aircraft, and proposed for the Northrop Grumman KC-30 Tanker offered in the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker replacement competition.

Now, Saudi Arabia has doubled down on its purchase…

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