Lockheed given 60 days to find alternative as US Army seeks data on UK’s ASTOR
Bombardier’s Global Express airframe is attracting US Army interest as a replacement for the Embraer ERJ-145 for the Lockheed Martin Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) programme.
The army has decided to retain Lockheed as the ACS prime contractor, but has issued a stop-work order with a 60-day deadline to select a new airframe. The company had to abandon its original choice a year after securing the ACS contract in August 2004, after programme officials realised the mission system’s weight had been underestimated and exceeded the regional jet’s payload capacity by about 3,200kg (7,000lb).
Meanwhile, the US Army has requested information about the capabilities of Raytheon Systems’ Sentinel R1 airborne stand-off radar (ASTOR) aircraft for the UK, which is based on a certificated special-mission variant of the Global Express business jet.
“The US Army has contacted the UK Ministry of Defence and Raytheon for data on whether the ASTOR system can meet the ACS requirement and we have been very responsive,” says Tom Kennedy, vice-president of Raytheon Integrated Airborne Systems.
Bombardier also confirms its Global Express is a candidate. A recent upgrade that has improved engine performance and enlarged fuel capacity has raised payload capability above 9,500kg, which is now believed to be the weight of the ACS mission system.
Raytheon would offer to replace ASTOR’s dual-mode radar with the army’s complex signals intelligence sensor and says the baseline Sentinel R1 airframe can meet 60% of the ACS mission requirement. The remaining equipment could be integrated on the Global Express by reducing its fuel load, which is allowable because ASTOR’s endurance capability exceeds the ACS goal by 3h.
The Global Express compares well with the ERJ-145’s known alternatives for the ACS mission. Neither Embraer’s E-190 nor Gulfstream’s G550 is certificated in a configuration that matches the ACS design, which includes a canoe radome below the fuselage and a bubble radome above for satellite communications.
CRAIG HOYLE/LONDON & STEPHEN TRIMBLE/WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
