A tactical datalink is a priority for the UK's upgraded BAE Systems/Boeing Harrier GR9/9A, which will become the common aircraft in Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Joint Force Harrier (JFH) squadrons from 2006.
Rear Adm Scott Lidbetter, air officer commanding 3 Group, of which JFH is part, says plans to equip the BAE Sea Harrier with the JTIDS/Link 16 tactical datalink have been dropped following the decision to retire the fighter.
But he adds that "a form of tactical datalink is appropriate and will have priority in the list [of equipment for the GR9 upgrade]". The tactical datalink would be used to provide air and surface pictures, he says. This and the GR9's compatibility with the Raytheon AIM-9L/MSidewinder "would give a capability similar to the Sea Harrier FRS1 in the Falklands conflict", despite the lack of a radar, he claims.
Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London earlier this month, Lidbetter said the decision to retire the Sea Harrier earlier than the planned 2012 will mean the Harrier is also retired early, with the out-of-service date brought forward from 2018 to 2015.
A decision to equip 30 Harriers with upgraded Rolls-Royce Pegasus 107 engines for improved hot-and-high operations will provide enough aircraft for two RN Invincible-class aircraft carriers, says Lidbetter. However, equipping only some aircraft with the more powerful engine will result in a "fleet- within-a-fleet" problem, he adds, - so "we're reviewing the number of 107s to be procured".
Lidbetter says the decision to retire the Sea Harrier was driven by the aircraft's poor performance in the hot conditions typical of regions where recent operations have taken place.
Re-engining the fighter with the Pegasus 107 would have required upper fuselage and intake work. "Rolls-Royce deemed this high risk," he says.
Source: Flight International
