Warplanes: <b>December 28, 1999</b>

December 28, 1999

There is a glitch developing in the Joint Strike Fighter program. The British expect to buy some of the vertical-take-off versions for use from their carriers, but the US is balking at the idea of handing over fully-stealthed aircraft to a foreign country, even one with such close historical ties. (The fear is not that the British will fail to protect the technology from foreign spies, but that British industry will use the technology to compete with US aircraft manufacturers for export sales.) The British are angry at the idea of being handed a second-rate copy of JSF with some of its stealth features missing. That would mean that in a future air campaign, British pilots flying what is nominally the same aircraft would be at greater risk.--Stephen V Cole

Helen Clark, the new Prime Minister-elect of New Zealand, has said that she plans to keep a campaign promise to scrap the deal to lease 28 F-16s from the US. The only thing that might stop her from doing so, she says, is the possibly steep termination costs. Clark wants to keep the existing A-4 Skyhawks flying for another eight years before replacing them. --Stephen V Cole

India has grounded its squadron of eight Su-30K fighters, four of them indefinitely. The Indians claim that the design of the AL41 thrust-vectoring engine is defective, but the Russians insist that sloppy Indian operations and maintenance has caused the engine problems. The four permanently grounded aircraft have engine damage resulting from ingesting rocks or other debris while they taxied on the runways. The Russians insist that modern runways must be kept clear of debris (a practice the US Air Force follows), and has warned India that engine replacements can only be carried out in Russian factories due to the complexity of the operation. --Stephen V Cole

Pakistan's Air Weapons Complex came into being six years ago when the US Congress cut off supplies of US-made weapons. It now employs 2,000 people, and produces bombs, fuses, anti-runway bombs, remotely piloted vehicles, missiles, and chaff & flare dispensers. The Complex has done work on Chinese-built F-7 and A-5 fighters and French-built Mirages. Seeking growth, the company is trying to sell its products abroad but reports that the market is "tough" as the US, Europe, and Russia have vast sales organizations. --Stephen V Cole

Composites Technology Research of Malaysia is exploring the idea (along with British Aerospace) of converting the Eagle-150 two-seat sport utility aircraft into an unmanned aerial recon vehicle to provide surveillance of the Malaysian coastline. The company feels that there may be export customers for such an easy-to-maintain aircraft. --Stephen V Cole