Since I'm in the defense industry now, I have a little more access to aerospace news than I did in LaGrange. This column may or may not become a regular feature, but I will try to keep you informed on news you might find interesting. I will not often attribute sources because I collect my information from several publications and conversations with people in theindustry. This is not serious journalism--consider it more of a refined rumor mill. If you like what you see in this column, please write in and tell me so. Everyone should know by now that the Lockheed, Boeing, General Dynamics YF-22 won the Air Force Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) competition, beatng the Northrup, McDonnell- Douglas YF-23. Lockheed was awarded slighty under $2 billion to begin prototype development on what will be a largely composite airframe with extraordinary maneuver capabilities. The F-22 will be capable of supercruising (supersoninc flight without afterburner) in the Mach 1.5 range. Flight tests have already demonstrated the ability to maintain 60* angle of attack (AOA) for periods of several seconds. The simulator used for training the F-22 test pilots is said to be a faithful representation of the prototype's performance and pilots have performed cmplete vertical loops at the 60 degree AOA. The cockpit is dominated seven by full color, multi-function displays, each of which can be independently selected to show a variety of information on navigation, stores available, and tactical situation. The F-22 sports the first "all-glass" cockpit with no traditional round gauges. The aircraft has a fully digital fly-by-wire control system and will be capable of carrying four AMRAAM, Sparrow, or Sidewinder missiles in two internal missile bays. Test firings for all missiles have been completed and the bays have performed well. Helmet mounted sights will be used in conjunction with a heads-up display (possibly in color) to provide very wide weapon firing arcs. There is no doubt that the ATF is an expensive aircraft, but it is based on a sound technical prototype and has earned the right to enter development through a true fly-off, rather than via a paper study. Desert Storm has given us a lesson in the value and utility of high technology. Properly employed, the F-22 should be able to handle projected air-to-air threats far into the future. With considerably less fanfare, the Army has awarded the Light Helicopter (LH) to the Sikorsky/Boeing team over the McDonnell- Douglas/Bell team. The proposed LH features an advanced stealth design, internal weapons bays, and the ability to attach "stub wings" which can carry external fuel or extra weaponry. The LH is intended to fill the role of a scout/light attack helicopter to replace the OH-58D AHIP in the Army inventory. It has a two-man crew seated in tandem with the gunner forward and the pilot behind and elevated. The design calls for numerous access doors to permit maintenance on the heavily-computerized internal electronics. Despite this provision, however, the projected maintenance load for the LH is below that of the AH-64 Apache and the design is said to be robust and survivable. The Swedish JAS-39 Gripen seems to be recovering from the crash of the prototype in February of 1989. Sporting redesigned control software to correct the pilot-induced oscillations that prompted the crash, the Gripen is receiving support from both the commander of the Swedish Air Force, and the Swedish defense ministry. The U.S. Navy is interested in the development of a new air- toair missile they are calling the AIM-9X. The missile is intended to replace the AIM-9M/R Sidewinder in service now. Some industry experts believe that the missile is an entirely new design but is being labeled an extension of the AIM-9 to avoid Congressional hassles. The basic AIM-9X will be available in three versions. The most interesting is a flat-bottomed version, intended to be confortably mounted on stealthy aircraft. The missile design would incorporate radar cross-section reduction techniques and the flatbottomed profile would give it greater maneuverability. The other two versions would be based on a cylindrical body and would incorporate improved seekers and background discrimination circuitry, and would be intended for use on older aircraft such as the F-15 and F-16 or for aircraft with weapon bays such as the F-22. The real surprise in the proposed AIM-9X design is a multimode seeker capable of tracking both infrared and radar signals, either from an illuminating aircraft (SARH mode) or from the target's emanations (ARM mode). No mention has been made of whether the missile would include an active terminal homing radar. The IR seeker is to be based on a focal plane array and will have state-of-the-art signal processing for flare rejection, clutter rejection, and target discrimination. The Navy claims that this missile is necessary to give U.S. pilots an edge over sophisticated dogfight missiles now under development by several foreign governments. Unfortunately, the projected costs of the advanced technology associated with the AIM- 9X would imply a unit cost of about $400,000. Unless costs can be held under $150,000 per missile, it is unlikely to see full-scale development. Ile Navy is hoping that breakthroughs in manufacturing and seeker technology over the next several years will permit this kind of cost reduction. Current plans call for the seeker and missile body to undergo separate development, allowing the possibility of using current seekers in the improved AIM-9X body. Back to Table of Contents -- Air Power # 14 Back to Air Power List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by J.D. Webster This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com