PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Fairchild Dornier wants to team with Northrop Grumman to offer special mission aircraft based on its regional jet family
Fairchild Dornier has unveiled an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) variant of the 728JET regional airliner which it is proposing to develop in conjunction with Northrop Grumman as the first in a series of special mission aircraft (SMA) now under study.
Northrop Grumman has been in discussions with Fairchild Dornier to use of the 728JET as a future AEW&C platform for more than a year and the two companies are hoping to sign a memorandum of understanding. The airframe manufacturer, in the meantime, has decided to unveil the concept for the first time at this month's Paris air show.
The AEW&C 728JET would be equipped with the same 7.3m diameter (24ft) dorsal mounted 360° scan rotodome as the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye. There would be the option of installing either the mechanically steered ADS-18 antenna with a 21-channel rotary coupler and space-time adaptive processor or the UHF Electronically Steerable Array, both of which are candidates for the Advanced Hawkeye E2 radar modernisation programme.
The AEW&C platform is based on the Envoy 7 business-jet version of the 70-seat regional aircraft, with an increased maximum take-off weight of 39,550kg (87,000lb) and auxiliary fuel tanks. The AEW&C aircraft would also be equipped with uprated 65kVA generators for additional power and feature the shark fin-wingtip treatment recently selected for the Envoy 7 and 928JET.
The aircraft's interior will accommodate a mix of up to nine tactical consoles and four command workstations, plus crew-rest seats, sleeping bunks, galley and an airstair housing. The aircraft would have a maximum range of 7,400km (4,000nm) or up to 9h on station with a 370km transit to and from an orbit.
The aircraft could enter service from around 2005-06, too late for South Korea's AEW&C competition unless the programme slips again. The 728JET could be a contender in Italy, Spain and South-East Asia, where there is likely to be a preference for a turbofan-powered AEW&C platform rather than a turboprop such as the E-2C.
Fairchild Dornier is also looking at the 928JET as an alternative growth platform for the AEW&C mission. Also under study is a transport version of the 98-seat jet equipped with a side cargo door, capable of accommodating up to six freight pallets or palletised mission systems. Other 728/928JET SMA studies include an armed maritime patrol aircraft and an in-flight refuelling tanker.
Source: Flight International
