Paul Lewis/SEOUL & SINGAPORE
Simply selling off the shelf is proving to be increasingly out of vogue with many of Asia's wealthier and more sophisticated air arms. Nations with unique operational needs and, perhaps more importantly, local aerospace industries to nurture, are insisting on alternative solutions. Lockheed Martin is proving to be an obliging tailor, first with the Japanese F-2 support fighter and now with the South Korean KTX-2 trainer/light combat aircraft.
For prime contractor Samsung Aerospace, the KTX-2 represents its first foray into combat aircraft development and a logical extension of its licence manufacture of the Lockheed Martin F-16C/D under the Korean Fighter Programme (KFP). For principal subcontractor Lockheed Martin, the KTX-2 is viewed as a bold play to win a slice of the trainer/light attack aircraft market in the 21st century.
Full-scale development of KTX-2 was finally given the go-ahead in October 1997 after two years of political procrastination. Under the agreed deal, Lockheed Martin took a 13% stake, Samsung 17% and the South Korean Government the remaining 70%. The US company declines to reveal the size of its investment in the programme, but it is believed to be around $160 million. In addition, it is providing personnel and technology to Samsung.
"They've not had any experience of developing a fighter aircraft, nor for that matter a jet trainer. We have a technical assistance contract with Samsung and some people in South Korea at their Sachon facility, with more coming in the future, to help them with their prime contractor position," says Dr Vernon Lee, vice-president of Lockheed Martin's system development centre.
ALUMINIUM WING
Fort Worth, Texas, is the main focus of Lockheed Martin's involvement and it is tasked with design and development of the supersonic trainer's aluminium wing. "We're doing that work as a subcontractor and our investment is in terms of what we're not charging at this time relative to that work-later we'll get funds back from the programme in production," adds Lee.
While South Korea has selected individual systems, such as a GEC-Marconi head-up display, Lockheed Martin has responsibility for avionics integration. Development of the technically sensitive fire control and digital fly-by wire flight control systems will also be restricted to the USA, although the source codes will eventually be released over a yet-to-be-determined period.
"That's one aspect that hasn't been completely worked out yet," concedes Lee, who adds that technology transfer has generally not been a problem. "The KTX-2 is a lower-end aircraft and we've already had all the agreements from the KFP and, between these two considerations, there were really no significant releasability items," he says.
The first of four KTX-2 prototypes is scheduled to make its maiden flight at the end of 2001, although officials are warning this might slip as a result of the Government halving its initial budget allocation to $40 million. Samsung has stepped in to absorb some of the slack and is still hoping to complete development by 2004 and begin deliveries late the following year.
South Korea has agreed to a "level of US participation in production", but details have yet to be finalised, says Lee. Lockheed Martin's share is estimated to be around 30%, based on its cash investment, unpaid royalties and assistance. The company anticipates that its work package will be broadly in line with its development responsibilities, although Hyundai has said that it will challenge Lockheed Martin for the wing (Flight International, 10-25 August, P8).
"Most of the aerostructure will be manufactured and assembled here in South Korea," says Samsung executive senior director Bang Un Chung. Local workshare will be based on the KFP, with Samsung having responsibility for the nose and for final assembly, Korean Air's Pusan plant producing the aft fuselage and Daewoo's nearby Changwon factory building the centre fuselage. The aircraft's General Electric F404-402 turbofan will also be assembled by Samsung, with up to 40% local content.
AIR FORCE COMMITMENT
The South Korean air force has committed to taking 94 KTX-2s by 2009, comprising a mix of advanced trainers and radar-equipped lead-in fighters, for which the Lockheed Martin APG-67 radar was recently selected. Seoul hopes that its choice of a radar which was not developed for the US Government (over the rival Northrop Grumman APG66(V) used in the F-16) will facilitate easier export sales of the KTX-2.
The issue of exports has proven contentious in the past, but appears to have been settled for now. "The US State and defence departments gave Lockheed Martin an advisory opinion which would permit the export of KTX-2 to 22 countries. We're going to ask them to add another 30-40 countries which we believe could afford the KTX-2," reveals Chung.
With air force production only covering half of Lockheed Martin's anticipated recoupment, Samsung hopes the US company will "-work hard to export the aircraft". To maximise sales potential, the KTX-2 design will include provision for seven wingtip, underwing and fuselage hardpoints and an internal 20mm cannon, while a single-seat light combat version is also under consideration.
"You could very likely use the extra space for fuel-but you want to make sure you don't make it too expensive, otherwise it will come up against the F-16 in price," cautions Lee. Compared to the F-16's advertised flyaway cost of $23 million, the price of the KTX-2 light combat aircraft "-is going to have to be at least a fourth less than that", he adds.
Potentially the biggest user of the KTX-2 is seen to be the US Air Force, which could require some 400 new advanced trainers to replace its fleet of supersonic Northrop T-38s by around 2010-12. US Secretary of Defense William Cohen, during a recent visit to Seoul, was asked by the Korean Ministry of National Defence "-to consider the KTX-2 as the next trainer for the USAF", says an official.
As a collaborative programme, the KTX-2 has required Lockheed Martin to become much more deeply involved than it has done previously with the Mitsubishi F-2A/B project (formerly the FS-X in Japan). The latter aircraft, although a more sophisticated, higher-end fighter, is in essence an adaptation and enhancement of an existing 25-year-old design (the F-16) already in worldwide service.
"Though the two programmes seem similar, in some respects they are quite different. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is quite experienced and capable in aircraft design and manufacturing and we really needed to supply considerably less assistance to them. Probably our biggest contribution was providing the F-16 as a start line," explains Lee, a former F-2 programme director.
LARGER WING
Externally, the F-2 features a 25% larger wing, a 1m-longer fuselage, enlarged horizontal stabiliser and reinforced canopy. The most significant changes are internal, with the installation of a Mitsubishi Electric active phased array radar and integrated electronic warfare system, a home-grown mission computer, Japan Aviation Electronics inertial reference system and Shimadzu and Yokogawa displays.
The transfer of US technology attracted considerable criticism early in the programme, but Japanese technology has also been fed back to the USA, such as the use of Invar steel in tooling for the wing. "That technology has been made available to new programmes, like the F-22 and Joint Strike Fighter, and there will be some infusion of co-cured composite technology [used for the wing]," explains Don Jones, Lockheed Martin F-2 programme director.
Japan's Technical Research and Development Institute has completed about 600 out of a planned 900 test flights to date. The four-phase test programme, using two XF-2A and two tandem-seat XF-2B prototypes, had been due to be wrapped up by March 1999.
This will now be extended by nine months because of recently discovered wing cracking and flutter problems. Mitsubishi is now working on some "minor structural strengthening" to remedy the problem, which "-we expect will be incorporated into the first [production] wing", says Jones. Under the Japanese-US workshare agreement, Lockheed Martin and engine supplier GE have around a 40% share of the F-2's production value. Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries will build the fighter's GE F110-129 powerplant locally under licence.
Lockheed Martin now has two years of production orders in hand for a total of 19 F-2 shipsets and will shortly begin negotiations for a third batch of nine for fiscal year 1998/9. It is due to deliver the first aft fuselage to Mitsubishi in November and the initial leading edge flap, stores management set and electronic data entry unit by the end of 1998.
Delivery of the first US-built F-2 wingbox to Nagoya is scheduled for the first quarter of next year. "We will build eight out of the 10 left-hand wings, but because it's a leader-follower type arrangement, the first four to five aircraft will be built with Mitsubishi wings," says Jones.
F-2 SQUADRON
The Japan Air Self-Defence Force plans to form its first F-2 squadron at Misawa AB in March 2000 and to take delivery of a total of 130 aircraft by 2011. Irrespective of whether Fort Worth is still producing F-16s by then, Lockheed Martin does not anticipate any problems with supporting the Japanese programme over that time. The only F-16 item common to the F-2 is the data entry unit, which Jones anticipates Japan may eventually replace with an improved system.
With Japan looking for replacement transport and maritime patrol aircraft and South Korea seeking a follow-on F-X fighter to the KFP early in the next century, and given the need of both countries to sustain domestic aerospace industries, Lee foresees "potential for a lot more" collaborative efforts to take place in the future.
| MITSUBISHI F-2 SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Length overall | 15.52m |
| Wing span overall | 11.13m |
| Height overall | 4.96m |
| Tailplane span | 6.05m |
| Wheelbase | 4.05m |
| Powerplant | General Electric F110-GE-129 |
| Power (each) | 29,600lb (132kN) |
| Operating weight empty | 12,000kg |
| Maximum fuel weight | 3,602kg |
| Maximum take-off weight | 22,100kg |
Source: Flight International
