Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
The US Marine Corps wants to extend remanufacturing of the Boeing/BAE Systems AV-8B Harrier II Plus beyond the 72 conversions on order as it simultaneously tries to sustain operational numbers and meet an anticipated Italian navy request for additional aircraft.
Boeing and BAE are more than halfway through the multi-year procurement and will redeliver the remaining 32 upgraded AV-8B Plus by May 2003. A pending Spanish navy order to modernise two aircraft will keep the line active for another two months. The USMC is seeking funding in the 2001 budget to modernise four more and would like to add 12 the year after.
"We would like to have more aircraft and are working with Congress on a follow-on buy in fiscal year 2001. We would like to keep remanufacturing going and keep the cost down by cycling the aircraft through one per month," says Col Tom White, USMC AV-8B programme manager.
The USMC maintains seven AV-8B squadrons each with 16 aircraft, but its goal is to have 20 per unit all of the same configuration. In addition to the 72 conversions of day attack AV-8Bs, the USMC has procured 27 new-build Raytheon APG-65 radar-equipped Harrier II Plus.
Italy is expected to request to buy four USMC aircraft to supplement its 16 new AV-8B Plus'. This is likely to hinge on the Marines' ability to cut its high attrition rate, which has reduced the fleet to 208 aircraft from the 281 originally built. The USMC lost seven Harriers last year, but only one so far this year.
The AV-8B programme office is planning further "plug and play" improvements to the aircraft's Open System Core Avionics Requirement (OSCAR) upgrade to support new weapons. "We're working out to 2015-20 and the life expectancy of the aircraft," says White. The initial OSCAR 1.1 version is due to be released in October next year, enabling Spain and Italy to field the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM radar guided air-to-air missile (Flight International, 6-12 June).
OSCAR 1.2 will follow in 2003, clearing the way for the introduction of the Boeing Joint Direct Attack Munition. Further iterations will include OSCAR 1.3 in mid-2004, to be followed by 1.4, 1.5 and beyond, at roughly two year intervals. This will support the addition of the Raytheon AIM-9X missile, AGM-154 Joint Stand-off Weapon, Link 16 datalink, moving map, Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System, full integration of the Rafael Litening navigation and targeting pod and new anti-ship missiles for Italy and Spain.
Source: Flight International
