Aviation 10

Light Attack Aircraft Competition Hots Up

The long-running competition to supply

a new light attack aircraft to the USAF

has been narrowed down to two possible

types. The US military issued a pre-

solicitation notice in August saying it

will conduct a full and open competition

before selection by next September. Two

contenders in the running are the Sierra

Nevada Corporation with the Embraer

A-29B/EMB-314 Super Tucano, and

Textron Aviation’s AT-6C Wolverine. They

were identiied by the USAF as the only

irms able to “meet the requirement within

the air force’s timeframe without causing

an unacceptable delay in meeting the

needs of the warighter”. According to the

notice, the light attack aircraft will “provide

an affordable, non-developmental aircraft

intended to operate globally in the types of

irregular warfare environments that have

characterised combat operations over the

past 25 years”.

The USAF learned a great deal about

both types while conducting its multi-phase

Light Attack Experiment. It evaluated

several different aircraft before reducing

the ield to the A-29B and AT-6C for the

most recent phase. Although the latest

experiment was suspended prematurely

following the crash of an A-29B that killed

a crewmember on June 22, the service

has been using data collected to continue

its evaluations.

Poseidon Training Centre Opens

A AUS$470m high-tech training centre

for Australia’s P-8A Poseidon aircrew

was opened by Minister for Defence

Senator Marise Payne, and the Minister

for Defence Industry Christopher

Pyne, at RAAF Base Edinburgh, South

Australia, on August 17. The facility

includes two light simulators, a full-scale

fuselage ordnance trainer, a pair of air

combat officer trainers, plus other hands-

on and synthetic training devices. The

ordnance trainer comprises a fuselage

and cropped wings, complete with

engines. Senator Payne commented:

“This facility marks the beginning of a

transformation of our training that will

support the air force’s ability to meet

emerging threats and future challenges.

The facility will deliver over 39 separate

training courses, which will minimise

training demands on the Poseidon,

reducing aircraft fatigue, increasing

safety and improving availability for

higher priority tasking.”

A pair of MiG-29 Fulcrum ighters were
handed over to the Serbian Air Force by

Russia at an official ceremony at Batajnica

air base on August 21. The initial two aircraft

are a single-seat example with the serial

18151 and a two-seat version, 18351.

They arrived in Serbia last October and

had new navigation and communication

systems installed to bring them up to

International Civil Aviation Organization

(ICAO) standards. New avionics were itted

and the obsolete radar screen was replaced

with an MFI-54 multifunction display unit.

Serial 18151 began post-upgrade test lights

on July 27, with pilot Dmitry Selivanov at the

controls and MiG-29UB 18351 made its irst

air test on August 1.

The Serbian Air Force plans to have

ten MiG-29s in its inventory this year, with

the possibility of another four Fulcrums

joining the leet in the next 18 months. The

latter are expected to come via Belarus.

Aleksandar Radic ́

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 11

Fulcrums for Serbia

MiG-29UB 18351 and single-

seat MiG-29 18151 displaying

at Batajnica. Serbian MoD

Boeing will build the US Navy’s irst
operational carrier-based unmanned
aircraft, the MQ-25 Stingray aerial refuelling
platform, through an $805m contract
awarded on August 30. The company was
given the engineering and manufacturing
development contract to provide four aircraft,
set to be produced in St Louis, Missouri.
“As a company, we made an investment
in both our team and in an unmanned
aircraft system that meets the navy’s
refuelling requirements,” said Leanne Caret,
president and CEO, Boeing Defense, Space
& Security. “The fact that we’re already
preparing for irst light is thanks to an
outstanding team who understands the navy
and their need to have this important asset
on carrier decks around the world.”

The US Navy says the Stingray’s

primary mission will be airborne tanking,

but the aircraft’s pylons will also be

engineered to ire missiles and drop

bombs. The initial delivery is scheduled

for 2021. Ultimately, the navy plans to buy

up to 72 Stingrays to relieve the refuelling

burden on its F/A-18F leet.

Boeing’s MQ-25 being tested recently at the company’s St Louis site. Boeing/Eric Shindelbower

US Navy Awards $805m MQ-25 Contract