International Directory of Military Aircraft 1996-1997

189 Pages·1996·8.39 MB·English

by  Gerard Frawley

THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY OF
MILITARY AIRCRAFT
1996/97
Gerard Frawley and Jim Thorn

CONTENTS
Introduction 6
Military Aviation in Review 7
Military Aircraft 12
World Air Power Guide 167
Glossary 178
Index 181
Published by Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd (ACN: 001 570 458) PO Box 3105, Weston Creek, ACT 2611,
Australia. Phone [phone]OO Fax [phone] - Publishers of monthly Australian Aviation magazine.
ISBN 1 875671 20 X
Copyright © 1996 Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd
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Front cover: (top left) F-4C Phantoms of the Missouri Air National Guard (now retired); (top right) Dassault's Mirage 2000-5
demonstrator; (bottom left) a Bell UH-1H of 3 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force; (bottom right) a British C-130K
Hercules fitted with an Allison AE 2100 turboprop for trials. Back cover: (clockwise from top left) A USAF F-15E Eagle; a
RAF Phantom FGR.2 (now retired); Lockheed SR-71 ; SEPECAT Jaguar; Australian F-111C; and Russian Air Force Tu-95.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the first ever edition of the all new, all colour such as the Buccaneer, Etendard IV and Shackleton. The
International Directory of Military Aircraft. great plethora of post WW2 and 1950s designs that held
This book aims to provide the aviation industry and avia- sway for so many decades have all but gone while the
tion enthusiasts with the first ever updated reference work welcome demise of the Cold War has quickly seen many
on military aircraft at an affordable price. While in itself that still competitive types disappear as air arms throughout
statement does not sound shattering, what makes this the world consolidate their inventories and learn to live
book different is that it includes aircraft still in service with greatly reduced national defence budgets.
rather than those merely currently in production. Thus we For ease of reference aircraft are listed alphabetically by
have entries on such famous and long lived types as the manufacturer. Where aircraft manufacturers have changed
MiG-15, Hawker Hunter, Douglas C-47/Dakota, Alizé, name, through mergers or acquisitions, aircraft currently in
Sioux and hundreds of others alongside the very latest production are listed under their current manufacturer (ie
exemplified by the Eurofighter, F-22, Su-35 and F/A-18E Lockheed Martin F-16, rather than General Dynamics),
Super Hornet. while aircraft out of production are listed under the manu-
The International Directory of Military Aircraft will be pro- facturer name they are most commonly known by (ie
duced every two years. It will include the latest types un- Hawker Hunter).
der development and updated entries on the more Where a type has a long and distinguished history with
established types. The present pace of aircraft develop- numerous improved and much changed variants (the Her-
ment does not warrant an annual edition and a biennial cules, Mirage and Phantom come to mind) we have split
production is a more economic and efficient answer to the some of the more important models into single entries to
problem of providing you with as much data as possible give them fair and proper coverage. We feel this greatly
on a wide range of differing types. Consequently, this in- enhances the overall value of this publication and makes
augural Military Directory will be replaced by an updated gathering data on specific types easier for you. The format
edition in early 1998. of the book is largely self explanatory (an asterix in the
As some readers would be aware, this book is a sister to operators column and in the World Air Power Guide de-
our already successful International Directory of Civil Air- notes on order or currently in the delivery phase) and
craft, the first edition of which was released early in 1995 hopefully user friendly.
and like the edition you hold before you, will itself be In this volume both metric and imperial measures are
superseded by a new and updated edition every two years used. While most of the world has now adopted metric as
(in this case early 1997). Consequently, each year we will its official system of measure, aviation will continue to
be producing a Directory, odd years will be Civil and even record its figures in knots, nautical miles and feet.
years will be Military. Together, these all colour volumes A special vote of thanks again goes to all who inspired
are to our knowledge the only source of data on all the the authors in completing this daunting project to sched-
aircraft of the world that are not just in production but are still ule via their suggestions and encouragement. In particular
in everyday use. We hope that they are of use to you and thanks to Stewart Wilson, Maria Davey, Brian Pickering of
prove to be valuable reference works in your aviation library. Military Aircraft Photographs, Alex Radetski, Paul Merritt,
To be eligible for coverage an aircraft must still be in Bradley Perrett and Christine Pratt. Our thanks also to the
operational service or currently under development. There score of foreign embassies and consulates which sup-
are a very small number of 'military' aircraft currently in ported us in gaining sufficient data to compile the World
service that are not covered in this volume - mainly light Airpower Guide portion of this book. Without their help it
aircraft such as the Piper Navajo/Chieftain and Cessna would have been impossible to consider providing this
150/152, details of which can be found in the International valuable service.
Directory of Civil Aircraft. Other aircraft that are only in Finally, thanks also to Airlife (UK) and Motorbooks (USA)
initial stages of development such as the Euroflag FLA and for having the faith in us to order this book in quantity for
America's JAST/JSF are likely to appear in subsequent their respective markets. Thank you.
Military Directory editions when the designs of these air-
craft firm.
While preparing this edition over the past three years we Gerard Frawley & Jim Thorn
have sadly seen many famous types retired from service, Canberra, January 1996.
6 International Directory of Military Aircraft
MILITARY AVIATION IN REVIEW
They say that money makes the world go around, and War, however this big bomber rolled out in time to see the
nowhere is this more true than the world of military aviation. Iron Curtain fall, leaving production to be funded when
The twin effects of dwindling post Cold War defence military purse strings were being tightened at a rate not
budgets and spiralling new aircraft development costs en- seen since the end of the Vietnam War. Not even the
sures that few new military aircraft programs will survive world's richest nation could afford to procure the USAF's
cost cutting, and those aircraft currently in service will be planned fleet of 133 B-2s, and instead just 20 have been
upgraded to extend their service lives as long as economi- funded.
cally possible. Furthermore modern radars, avionics, smart During 1995 furious debate raged within the USA on
weapons and sometimes new engines fitted to old air- whether or not to raise this total. Proponents of the B-2
frames can provide a substantial increase in capability point to the fact that because it is nearly invisible to radar
without anything like the expense of acquiring a fleet of and has superb payload range characteristics, one or two
shiny new fighters or bombers. B-2s can fly a single mission that would otherwise require
Diminished defence budgets and ever more expensive dozens of conventional aircraft (comprising bombers, es-
development costs has also meant fewer aircraft programs corting fighters, SEAD aircraft and tankers). Opponents
to go around, which is forcing the world's military aircraft point to its cost. Regardless, the B-2 entered USAF serv-
manufacturers to rationalise and diversify. The end result? ice with the Whiteman AFB Missouri based 5O9th Bomb
Upgraded aircraft remaining in service for two, three and Wing in December 1993. The last of 20 currently funded is
even four decades, whereas not so long ago 10 years was due to be completed in 1998.
considered the norm. Fewer aircraft manufacturers design-
ing and building fewer, more expensive aircraft. And ra-
tionalised air force inventories, with fewer aircraft types
and less aircraft on strength.
From this perspective the future of military aviation looks
set, with only small numbers of all new aircraft types likely
to grace the pages of subsequent editions of the Interna-
tional Directory of Military Aircraft. Those projects that do
remain have assumed an increasing importance to their
manufacturers and their end users, and, because of their
expense, will result in some of the most capable and excit-
ing aircraft to take to the skies yet.
Topping the price and capability scales by a massive
margin is the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit. At $US1bn a
copy, the B-2 is by far the most expensive military aircraft
yet built and represents the apex of strategic bomber de-
velopment. The bulk of development funds for this stealth
bomber was provided during the free spending years of
America's next big thing is the JAST or JSF (Joint Strike Fighter), a
the Reagan administration during the height of the Cold
cure all program to replace USAF F-16s, USN F/A-18s and USMC
AV-8Bs. It will be built in carrier, land based and STOVL forms and
The good old days! Late model F-4E Phantoms on the McDonnell could be in service by around 2008. Pictured is a Boeing JSF concept.
Douglas St Louis production line. During the height of the Vietnam War,
Phantom production peaked at an incredible 72 aircraft a month. Today Less contentious has been the F-22 program. The pro-
even the most optimistic manufacturer would be exceedingly happy to
ject to develop a replacement for the F-15 Eagle is by no
have orders to build that number of aircraft over two years! (MDC)
means cheap, although its future seems assured given the
likely proliferation of Su-27s and MiG-29s to third world
countries (aircraft which in some areas are the equal of the
superb F-15) and Russia's development of a planned
Su-27 replacement, the MiG 1.42.
Budgetary constraints have reduced the original require-
ment for 750 F-22s to the current 442, a figure which may
be further cut before the first production F-22As are deliv-
ered from 2OOO. In the last few years the F-22 has gained
an air-to-ground role with two JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack
Munitions), passed a Critical Design Review and the first
EMD aircraft have entered production. The first of these
aircraft is due to fly during the course of this Directory,
some time in 1997.
The most important forthcoming US military aircraft pro-
gram is the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The JSF (until late
1995 JAST) is a joint service cure all program to replace
the USAF's F-16s, the US Navy's F/A-18A/Cs and the US
Marines' AV-8B Harriers. In the revised JSF timetable first
International Directory of Military Aircraft 7
Douglas C-17 Globemaster III, which is easily the most
expensive transport aircraft in the world. While the C-17
design program has had its problems, the aircraft has now
matured into a very capable airlifter. However the C-17
was designed to operate into short airstrips close to the
battlefront, and it was this demanding specification that
added greatly to its cost and has been so heavily criticised.
Which commander is likely to risk flying such an expen-
sive aircraft into a short field near the forward edge of the
battlefield (FEBA) and expose the aircraft to the very sub-
stantial threat of man portable SAMs? The same unrealis-
tic thinking helped derail Lockheed and the C-5A Galaxy in
the mid 1960s.
Current C-17 production is capped at 40 of a require-
ment for 140. In late 1995 the Pentagon announced its
preference for acquiring the additional 80 aircraft in favour
of a fleet of Boeing C-33s (militarised 747-4OOF freighters).
However this choice had yet to be confirmed by Congress
Admiral Jeremy Brown, the US Navy's Chief of Naval Operations,
and C-33s may yet be ordered. McDonnell Douglas is also
addresses the audience at the official rollout of the McDonnell Douglas
F/A-18E Super Hornet. The F/A-18E came in under cost and ahead of looking at a stretched C-17 as a possible replacement for
time, a far cry from the ultra expensive Japanese FS-X F-16 develop- existing USAF C-5 Galaxies.
ment, Eurofighter 2000 and Dassault Rafale, all of which ironically are Other significant US military aircraft programs include
considerably more expensive than the more versatile and capable
the RAH-66 Comanche, V-22 Osprey and the F/A-18E
Super Hornet. The Super Hornet is already being proposed as an
EA-6B Prowler replacement and will ultimately succeed the F-14 Tom- Hornet (which rolled out in September 1995 and was due
cat, largely thanks to the demise of the long range supersonic maritime to make its first flight that December).
bomber threat. (MDC) While the above may sound like a healthy number of
projects, fewer new aircraft programs than at any time
flight would be in 2OO4, with IOC (initial operating capabil-
since WW2 and less aircraft being built is forcing the US
ity) attained possibly as early as 2008.
aerospace industry to rationalize. Unlike Europe, US com-
The JAST program began life in 1993 as a replacement
panies have attacked rationalization with gusto as firms
for several cancelled USAF and USN programs (including
contract and become leaner and better placed to bid for
A/F-X, ATA, JSSA and JAF). In 1994 the USN's Common
new work.
Affordable Lightweight Fighter (CALF) was merged with
Foremost of the US consolidation has been the merger
JAST. CALF aimed to find a replacement for the F/A-18
of Lockheed and Martin Marietta, producing the US De-
and AV-8B, and would have been built in carrier launched
partment of Defense's biggest contractor (overtaking
and STOVL versions. The UK is also involved with JSF and
McDonnell Douglas - a company formed by the merger of
the aircraft could replace Sea Harrier F/A.2s, Harrier GR.7s
McDonnell and Douglas in the late 1960s). The merger was
and Tornado GR.1/GR.4s.
first announced in November 1994 and officially com-
The reorganised JSF will be built in conventional land
pleted in March 1995. Earlier in 1992 Lockheed acquired
based, carrier capable and STOVL versions (for the Ma-
the Fort Worth division of General Dynamics (a company
rines and Royal Navy), with extra internal fuel replacing the
which had hung the 'for sale' sign on a number of its
vertical lift system in the USAF and USN aircraft. The JSF
divisions in the face of reduced Government spending).
will be designed from the outset to be stealthy and agile.
Primary power will be from a single Pratt & Whitney F119
A C-130H Hercules goes active with its infrared flare decoy system.
(as powers the F-22). Empty weight will be in the nine to
This system is designed to lure away inbound heat seeking missiles, a
11 tonnes (20 to 25,OOOIb) class, with max takeoff weight major cause of concern for tactical transports and helicopters. Many
as high as 25 tonnes (55,000lb), similar to the F/A-18A/C. transports are being fitted with a countermeasures suite to afford them
During 1996 two of the three competing JSF designs will some protection on often hazardous United Nations peacekeeping
operations. (FÌAAF)
be selected for further development. Each of the two se-
lected manufacturers will fly two prototypes, one of which
will be in STOVL configuration, for a competitive evalua-
tion. The three JSF design teams are Boeing, Lockheed
Martin and McDonnell Douglas/Northrop Grumman/ BAe.
Elsewhere in the US industry the DoD finally selected the
winning JPATS (Joint Primary Aircraft Training System), the
Pilatus PC-9 based Raytheon Beech Mk II being the sur-
prise winner. The Beech Mk II (presumably it will be given a
T' designation and a more evocative name) was an-
nounced as the JPATS choice on June 22 1995. However,
production aircraft will not roll off the Wichita production
line until 1998, IOC with the USAF will not be until 1999
and the last Beech Mk II delivery will be in 2015, an incred-
ible two decades hence and more than 30 years since the
PC-9 first flew (not to mention the basic PT6 engine, which
first appeared in the late 1950s!).
Another aircraft that has had its critics is the McDonnell
8 International Directory of Military Aircraft
Fort Worth is the home of the F-16, and Lockheed Mar-
tin continues to aggressively market the 'Electric Jet' to
the USAF (to meet F-16 attrition replacement requirements
pending the delivery of the JSF) and other nations. Several
modified versions of the F-16 have been offered to meet a
number of international aircraft requirements, such as the
diamond wing F-16U offered to (but reportedly rejected
by) the UAE, and the F-16ES with dorsal conformai tanks.
The Lockheed Martin merger was preceded by the mar-
riage of Northrop and Grumman in early 1994. In August
that year the newly merged company also acquired an-
other famous company, Vought. The incredibly expensive Eurofighter EF 2000 (pictured in two seat
Mergers have also been foreshadowed in the US heli- form). By the time this aircraft finally enters service around 2001 it will
have consumed a development budget over $US15bn, making it so
copter industry, as manufacturers vie for dwindling military
expensive that the number its European owners can afford has almost
contracts. Indeed, at the turn of the century the only US
been halved. Massive cost overruns have plagued a/most all modern
military rotary wing production program will be the Bell day combat aircraft programs, making the end product so expensive
Boeing V-22 Osprey. During 1995 reports surfaced that that ultimately few will be able to be placed into service. This situation
Bell and Boeing were discussing merging their respective must change if military aviation is to endure as an economically viable
and technologically efficient entity during the first decades of the next
military helicopter interests, while McDonnell Douglas
century. (BAe)
Helicopters and Sikorsky have been identified as ideal
partners, given their complimentary product ranges. a halt to the program and instead studied various
Across the Atlantic the themes of lower defence budgets 'cheaper' developments of EFA, including single engine
and higher development costs are no less familiar. How- and cranked delta variants.
ever this mix is further complicated by the fact that most Not surprisingly only two of the seven EFA variants
of Europe's major military aircraft programs are multina- worked out cheaper than the original standard EFA, and
tional ventures, where national interest and indecision can these two were adjudged inferior to improved develop-
leave already highly technologically complex programs ments of the Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29, which
hamstrung, increasing costs by billions and delaying serv- EFA was designed to defeat in the first place. Instead the
ice entry dates by years. restyled Eurofighter 2OOO was relaunched in December
A classic example of this is the Eurofighter or EFA. The 1992, Germany deciding to push back its first deliveries to
EFA started as a logical attempt for several European na- 2OO2 (over two decades after the Eurofighter was first
tions to pool their resources and build a common multirole conceived) and to build its aircraft to a lower equipment
tactical fighter. However France soon withdrew when the specification.
other partners refused Dassault program leadership and The next hurdle Eurofighter faces is when the partner
instead went ahead to independently develop the slightly nations commit funding to production aircraft and produc-
smaller Rafale, a sad and unnecessary example of waste- tion workshare is split between the partner companies.
ful duplicity. The EFA/Eurofighter has also always had to Germany has a 33% share of Eurofighter development and
contend with and reconcile the different partner nation's originally required 250 aircraft and would have had a pro-
requirements, none moreso when in 1992 Germany called duction share equal to that purchase. However Germany is
only likely to fund 120 to 140, but German industry does
not want to relinquish any workshare.
Following the demise of the Cold War, most air arms are downphasing
and retiring older generation aircraft prematurely as a cost control Regardless when the first production Eurofighters are
measure. This has had a severe impact on the world's military aircraft delivered to the UK and Italy in 2OOO (and the RAF won't
industry, including the engine and systems manufacturers. Here a get its first squadron operational until 2OO5) these air
Rolls-Royce Pegasus turbofan is removed for maintenance from a
forces will finally get an advanced and very capable multi-
Spanish Navy TAV-8S Harrier. Rolls-Royce has experienced a consid-
erable decrease in spares activity (the bread and butter of every en- role fighter no doubt well suited to the types of regional
gine manufacturer) following the effects of a reduction in annual flying conflicts and UN peacekeeping/making operations (such
hours and the retirements of RR powered military aircraft. (Rolls-Royce) as Bosnia) likely to be fought in the coming decades.
However, whether the fighter is significantly better than
existing multirole fighters (particularly the F/A-18), and
whether this improvement justifies the 20 year wait and
billions of pounds/marks/lire/pesetas spent on Eurofighter
development is another question.
Another multinational program that looked like heading
down the same tortured path of never ending pre definition
and definition studies and workshare wrangling was the
Euroflag FLA (Future Large Aircraft), an unimaginatively
titled program to find a replacement for western Europe's
C-13O Hercules and Transall C-16Os.
Thankfully development of the FLA has been handed to
the newly created Airbus Industrie division, the Airbus Mili-
tary Company. Airbus will develop and build the FLA as a
commercial project, placing production where it is eco-
nomically most efficient, and not along national lines,
which is probably enough to scuttle Government interest
overnight. First flight could be in 2OOO and the FLA is a
International Directory of Military Aircraft 9
FLA remains firmly on the drawing board. Even if it the FLA
had been immediately available the Hercules could well
have been a more cost effective option, given its lower
costs. Any improvements that the all new FLA can offer
over the modernised C-130J would have to come at a
significant cost premium, given the slow and enormously
expensive nature of new aircraft programs these days.
Further east in Europe, the aerospace industries of Po-
land and the Czech Republic are battling hard to eke out a
niche in the post Cold War export marketplace. Both
countries offer trainers (Poland the Orlik and Iryda, Czech
Republic the Albatros), the most congested military aircraft
market sector (as it is one of the easiest to get into).
Forced to compete against entrenched western compa-
nies, they have met with little success thus far, but they
could do well if they can prove their abilities to provide after
The FLA (Future Large Airlifter) is Europe's next major collaborative
military aircraft program. Fortunately development has been entrusted sales support.
to the newly created military division of Airbus, so the FLA should However, the problems of the United States and Europe
hopefully be able to avoid the endless committees and studies and pale in comparison to those facing Russia and the CIS
workshare wrangles which have marred other European programs.
where protected state companies had built thousands of
fighters, bombers, transports and helicopters for a Soviet
likely candidate for inclusion in the next edition of this
Directory.
European politics also muddied the waters of three im-
portant British acquisition programs, the C-130K replace-
ment, new support helicopters and a new attack helicopter
for the British Army. In all three cases the battle was cast
(by politicians and European and British aerospace com-
panies, not the British military) as one between the Ameri-
can and European aircraft industries, rather than a fair
battle among competing aircraft, from which the most ca-
pable and cost effective would be selected.
French and German politicians were particularly loud in
their criticism of the British Army's decision to buy the
American AH-64D Apache (although built in the UK by
Westland and with Rolls-Royce Turboméca RTM322 en- A post Cold War phenomenon is the presence of large Russian contin-
gent at major international airshows. Here a USAF B-1B Lancer frames
gines) in preference to the Eurocopter Tiger, unfairly calling
a Russian Tu-95 and 11-78 tanker plus a USAF B-52. To have envisaged
into question Britain's commitment to Europe. this scene a decade ago would have been pure fantasy, but today the
In the case of the support helicopter program, the RAF's Russians will even sell you commercial flight time in their latest fighters
preference for additional CH-47D Chinooks was partially just to earn some much needed foreign currency. (Paul Merritt)
overruled and instead it was forced to order a mixed fleet
war machine that is now rapidly downscaling and can
of CH-47DS and EH 1O1s, helping keep Westland and the
hardly afford to operate the aircraft it currently has on
UK in the helicopter construction business and its workers
strength, yet alone take on new aircraft and fund develop-
employed.
ment of replacement types.
The battle to replace half of the RAF's fleet of 60
With the collapse of the home market, Russian aircraft
C-13OKS was fought between the modernised C-13OJ
factories and designers are peddling their most advanced
Hercules 2 and the Euroflag FLA. In this case the RAF had
wares for export, although again with limited results thus
little choice but to order the improved Hercules, as the
far. Russian companies with little concept of western mar-
keting, quality control and after sales support have had to
The Gripen multirole fighter was developed based on the concept that compete against aggressive western companies (them-
a small, single engined aircraft can use modern weapons to increase selves with dwindling domestic markets) for orders, and in
its overall capability. This has resulted in a cost effective and afford-
most cases have come off second best (Malaysia's MiG-
able fighter bomber, although the Gripen will have to fight hard for
international sales against rebuilt surplus US F-16s and F/A-18S. (Saab) 29 buy an obvious exception).
Slowly Russia's aerospace industry is responding, and
designers and factories have begun to model themselves
along western lines. The foremost example of this is the
1995 merger of the Moscow Aircraft Production Company
(MAPO) with the Mikoyan design bureau to form MAPO
MiG, a company able to market, manufacture and support
its own aircraft. Other mergers and rationalizations along
these lines are likely.
While Russia's domestic order base has all but col-
lapsed, the Russian military remains committed to a
number of new aircraft programs to replace ageing and
obsolete aircraft. Foremost of these programs in impor-
jb
tance is the Mikoyan 1.42, an F-22 rivalling successor to
10 International Directory of Military Aircraft