4Around the Aviation WorldAround the Aviation WorldAround the Aviation World
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Around the Aviation WorldAround the Aviation World
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Around the Aviation World
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Around the Aviation World
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Around the Aviation World
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Around the Aviation World
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A320neo
Delivery
Challenges
Airbus’ most recent monthly orders
and deliveries data shows it delivered
68 A320neos in the fi rst half of this year,
meaning the company was at that point
only a third of the way towards achieving its
target for the year of delivering around 200
examples of the re-engined single-aisle jet.
The pace is slower than planned because
of what Airbus describes as “in-service
engine issues” with the Pratt & Whitney
(P&W) PW1100G-series turbofan, one of
the two engine options on the A320neo
alongside the CFM International LEAP-1A.
Problems relating to software and engine
start-up times have been apparent since
the fi rst A320neo delivery early in 2016.
Airbus says P&W has introduced fi xes
but, “these improvements have not come
through yet on a reliable basis under
normal service conditions”.
Nine A320neos were handed over in
July, comprising the initial example for
S7 Airlines in Russia and further aircraft
for existing operators AirAsia, Air India,
easyJet, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways,
SAS, Vistara and Volaris. Company fi gures
show monthly A320neo deliveries this
year numbered two jets in January, 12 in
February, 12 in March, ten in April, 12 in
May and 11 in June.
Airbus will therefore need to raise its monthly
A320neo output rates signifi cantly in the
second half of 2017 to achieve the full-year
target of around 200 deliveries, and the
company admitted in its half-year results
this objective is “challenging”. The impact
on Airbus’ longer-term plans to ramp-up
total A320 production (both classic and new
engine options) over the next 18 months,
towards a target of 60 aircraft per month by
mid-2019 remains to be seen. Mark BroadbentJet-Powered SAGITTA Flies
Airbus’ SAGITTA jet-powered unmanned air
vehicle technology demonstrator recently
fl ew autonomously for the fi rst time from
Overberg, South Africa. The fl ight marked
the completion of an initial test phase,
which also included ground trials, and the
demonstrator will now test new structural
components into which active functional
elements, such as adjustable fl aps, are
integrated.
The SAGITTA initiative, launched in 2010,
involves Airbus working with the Deutschen
Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR or
German Aerospace Centre) and several
technical universities in Germany to use
approaches developed in academic andindustrial research to acquire information
on new technologies that could go into
future unmanned systems.
SAGITTA is made entirely from carbon
fi bre composites, measures 3 x 3m (9.
x 9.8ft), is powered by two jet turbines
each rated at 0.3kN (67lb) and has a
150kg (330lb) maximum take-off weight.
Apart from the brakes, the aircraft is
controlled by electromechanical actuators
rather than hydraulic components. The
DLR contributed most of the critical fl ight
systems, including the retractable landing
gear, the electrical power supply and
cables, control surface actuators and the
fuel system. Mark BroadbentThe SAGITTA demonstrator has been produced to acquire information on new technologies
that could go into future unmanned systems. AirbusSukhoi’s S-70 Okhotnik
On October 14, 2011, the Russian Ministry
of Defence ordered Sukhoi to start research
and development work on the Okhotnik
(hunter), a long-range high-speed strike-
reconnaissance unmanned air vehicle. In one
of the few known offi cial documents in which
the Okhotnik is mentioned, it is described
as a sixth-generation unmanned air vehicle.
Included in Sukhoi’s Okhotnik programme is
a project reportedly designated as the S-70.
According to unconfi rmed information, a
demonstrator for the S-70 Okhotnik vehicle
has been built at the company’s Novosibirsk
aircraft plant; it will be ready for its maiden
fl ight in 2018. Nothing is known about the
S-70 UCAV itself and any estimation of its
proposed capabilities is highly speculative.
The drone’s weight is claimed to be between
10 and over 20 tonnes; the maximum speed
is estimated at about 620kts (1,000 km/h).
A preliminary artist’s impression of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik. Piotr Butowski Piotr Butowski
COVER CREDITSMAIN IMAGE: Piotr Butowski LEFT INSET: Dassault Aviation MIDDLE INSET: Ashley Stevens/AirTeamImages RIGHT INSET: Tecnam