Yesterda's War 8 - Untimely Warriors, page 14
The helicopter hangar can handle either two small ASW helicopters or one medium-size helicopter. For the antisubmarine mission, it has space and weight for a pair of lightweight ASW torpedo mounts and a variety of sonars. This includes an optional towed sonar array.”
“The Freccia sounds very interesting, though she is a little slow at only 30 knots. What about her radar suite? Can she carry one of those phased array active radar systems like the Americans with their Aegis or the Commonwealth with their CURES system?”
“It is my understanding that there is a lightweight European-designed and manufactured phased array radar that is available for the Freccia. However, the Italians have chosen not to install it on their own ships because of the individual unit cost. The cost of this radar will certainly be a factor for us as well. If we were to incorporate such an expensive radar on any Freccia’s that we might purchase, it would significantly reduce the numbers of ships that we could procure.”
“What sort of older ships are we looking at also, Amirante?”
“There are certainly a variety of used German, French, Italian, and even Spanish warships currently on the market at this time. Most of them are somewhat smaller than the Freccia-class ships and will also require substantial modernization work. The individual ships average about half the price of a Freccia.”
“Who knows how much we would have to spend extra to refit those ships for our needs though, I fear. For what it is worth, I would recommend that we procure as many of the Freccia-class as we can afford. Perhaps, we can purchase a mix of the Freccia where we can purchase one of the frigates fitted with the phased array radar for two or three of the versions without it. That way, we could perhaps purchase a total of six to eight Freccia in total.”
“That is an interesting proposal, Capitaine. I know that plays into your thoughts for having a mix of more capable ships and others that are a little less expensive, but affordable enough for us to have sufficient numbers. Our local rivals seem to be more interested in purchasing used warships. The Commonwealth has been in the midst of a modernization program for their militaries. As a result, they have been retiring a great deal of older hardware and putting it on sale. Chile and Brazil have purchased much of it in the past couple of years.”
“That was my understanding as well. With all of the additions to their aerial forces, I do hope that we can have those German SAMs that La Argentina is armed with also fitted to as many of our new escort vessels as possible, Amirante. I have been very impressed with this German weapon so far. Perhaps, we can have a launcher of this type mounted in the weapons location between the forward superstructure and the main gun for each of the Freccia’s.”
“I believe that your suggestion is very feasible. I rather prefer purchasing new ships, especially of a design that another navy already has in service to work out any negative design issues. I will push for the implementation of your recommendations including the possible mix of ships with and without the phased array radar system.
Unfortunately, the issue of submarine procurement has not been as easy for us. There are simply not any new foreign designs available for purchase. Our two current submarines date all the way back to the Second World War. We have no choice but to replace them with something more recent.
However, the only submarines available on the market are a couple of used German submarines. They were launched about twenty years ago and have been refurbished. But that is going to have to do. The submariners all say that the best weapon against a submarine is another submarine. We know that Brazil and Chile have modern submarines in their navies.
Then there is the issue of the Commonwealth submarine force. They have continued constructing more of their modernized Bandfish-class boats. The latest versions have been stretched to carry missiles and a sort of nuclear battery. That battery is supposed to allow them to remain underwater for nearly as long as the American nuclear submarines with their powerful nuclear reactors.”
“They cannot go as fast though, can they?”
“For a short while, yes they actually can, I am told. But our old submarines would not survive against even an unmodified Bandfish for any length of time, I’m afraid. We have no choice but to obtain something more capable than what we have relied upon for so many years, even if our new acquisitions are used boats.”
“I take it that we are going to purchase the two German U-Boats, Almirante?” Terrance asked.
“Si, Capitaine. We are going to purchase those submarines. The Germans will refurbish and modernize them for us first before their delivery also.” Mauricio explained.
“So when are we going to decide to order some new escorts to replace the thirty-year-old deathtraps that are docked right now on the other side of the base, Amirante?” A frustrated Terrance asked.
“The keels for five new Freccia-class frigates were laid down for us two months ago, Capitaine.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that in the first place, Amirante?”
“Because I wanted to see if your assessment of what we needed still matched up with the decision that I and the government had made.”
“That was still very cruel of you to lead me on like that, Amirante. Even so, you know five will still not going to be enough hulls.” Terrance grumbled.
“Si, Capitaine. I know. We are considering some additional options to supplement the Freccias. However, it will very likely mean that most or all of them will have to be older ships purchased from surplus from another navy, probably one of the European nations.”
“Perhaps so, Amirante. But I will take what I can get. Plus, we won’t have to wait for a foreign shipyard to build the damned things. I just hope that we get something that will at least be assets rather than liabilities in battle.”
“That is my desire as well. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to design and build our own warships here in Argentine shipyards. It would probably save us millions of pesos a year and would employ many thousands of our fellow countrymen.”
Chapter Fourteen:
Cavill Aerospace Design Headquarters
Derby, Western Australia
April 12, 1997
James Cavill tried to visit the Aerospace Design Headquarters as often as he could despite his very busy schedule. He loved examining the latest concepts in aerial vehicles that were being designed at what he considered to be the most advanced design bureau in the world.
Of course, they had access to technology that was several decades ahead of the rest of the work. But the engineers didn’t know that. They just knew that they would receive ideas from outside agencies that they never got to see and subcontractors who were never seen or heard from in person.
That didn’t take anything away from the special thrill that James received when he got to see the latest aircraft design or discussed with the engineers what they were doing to make the existing Cavill designs even better.
James made his way past the dozens of computer workstations where Cavill Industries engineers were busy at work. Eventually, James reached the workstation where the lead division engineering manager worked.
Cavill Industries had gotten away from senior personnel having their own offices, taking a page from Elon Musk’s historical practices that the Cavills had learned about from their research on him from their father’s futuristic database. They wanted to eliminate the separation of the company’s leaders from the people working for them. Without those communication barriers, there was a far freer flow of information back and forth, allowing for problems to be identified more readily and solutions from the rank-and-file workers to flow up at the same time.
Orin Jackson had been working for Cavill Industries for nearly twenty years already. The slender man in his early forties was already rapidly balding. But the lead engineering manager had a perennial smile on his face as he worked at his computer workstation.
“Hello, Mister Cavill.” Orin immediately said, his smile growing even wider as he saw James. Orin always loved showing off his latest projects, especially to members of the Cavill family like James. Orin was immensely proud of his work.
“Hello, Orin. I hope that everything has been going well with your latest projects. I have been juggling so many responsibilities lately along with being a parent and occasionally hopping a flight up into orbit to check out things up there.”
“I wish that I had time to travel into space myself. I never seem to have enough time to do anything like that. Plus, my wife would kill me if I were to try to fly into space and leave her alone with four kids.”
“With four kids, you obviously don’t spend all of your time at work.” James quickly replied with a laugh.
“My wife certainly appreciates it, especially when I am at home helping her with the kids. But, I’m sure that you didn’t come here just to talk about my kids, Mister Cavill.”
“Of course, Orin. How are our latest developments from the aerial side of our business proceeding?”
“With all of the attention being paid to our space hardware and operations, it is nice to have someone who still thinks that designing and building aircraft is still important. Don’t get me wrong, Mister Cavill. I think that space is incredibly exciting. But I love my aircraft very much still.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t be abandoning airborne vehicles anytime soon. I know that it might seem that way after we stopped producing any manned combat aircraft here in Australia except for the Goshawk. We are just trying to focus on other directions at this time.”
“We are still a major subcontractor for the B-80 program since they are being produced for the US Air Force, the RAF as well as for the RAAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force.”
“I know. But Cavill Industries isn’t the name that everyone sees when it comes to that particular warplane. In fact, that is exactly how we wanted it. My sisters and I want people to think more about space rockets, transport aircraft, and rotary-wing aircraft when they hear the name Cavill Aerospace.”
“I suppose that makes sense. There is a certain group of people who are into the whole ‘evil merchants of death’ thing.”
“We kind of want to get away from that, at least as far as most of the world is concerned, Orin.
So, you were about to tell me about the status of our new and ongoing projects, I believe.” James commented.
“Of course, Mister Cavill. We are finishing up the production of the latest versions of both our Behemoth Wing in Ground Effect and Goliath heavy-lift transports. Both designs take advantage of the latest high-bypass turbofan technology, composite materials, and avionics as well as some aerodynamic refinements.
Our new Condor twin-engine medium-lift cargo transport is beginning to go into full-rate production. I understand that we already have eight customers lined up for the next sixty airframes coming off of the production line.”
“Yes, that’s right. It is competing very well against the Americans’ Hercules turboprop tactical transport and the Germans’ Dornier 401 light four-engine turbofan transport as well.
How long before our new Pipistrelle blended wing body transport will be finished with its flight trials? We’d like to get it into production as quickly as possible for both the commercial and military markets.”
“It’s working quite well. The latest iteration of the aircraft’s fly-by-wire control system has finally fixed the design’s dynamic instability issues. The Pipistrelle is proving to be extraordinarily fuel efficient during its test flight program. It can carry two-thirds of the payload of a Goliath with only half the number of engines. It can’t quite carry the outsize cargo of a Goliath, but it will work very well as an aerial tanker aircraft as well as a mixed cargo and personnel transport.
We have also found at the same time that the Pipistrelle’s radar signature is significantly lower than a conventional transport.”
“That is a benefit that we also anticipated with the blended wing body configuration. That would work very well for military customers since the reduced signature also reduces the aircraft’s vulnerability to an adversary’s sensors. That means aerial tankers that can refuel aircraft closer to enemy airspace. It also means transport aircraft that can more easily penetrate enemy defenses to deliver their payloads like troops and cargo.”
“That’s what we thought as well, Mister Cavill. One other thing, we also found that the Pipistrelle is a bit quieter as well with her engines mounted over her rear fuselage. That noise reduction will help our marketing with potential commercial customers like Quantas and other airlines.”
“That is a very useful attribute, Orin. We know that the people who live near an airport are very sensitive to the amount of noise coming from aircraft taking off and landing. This is an increasingly important factor for commercial aircraft design.”
“Speaking of quiet aircraft, our new hybrid turbo-electric STOL aircraft is performing very well in its initial test flights. We think that the market for short commuter flights in urban areas would be very well served by such an aircraft. Its use of eight relatively small electric motors to externally increase lift over its entire wing and flap systems make it both very quiet and allows it to operate from fields as short as one hundred meters in length.
This aircraft would also serve well in remote locations where the landing and takeoff areas are extremely small. This doesn’t even bear in mind its ability to be used as an on-site electric generator system when necessary.”
“That sounds very promising. Of course, you were only talking about the civilian applications. All of those features could easily serve a military role at the same time.” James noted.
“That’s true. But we want to focus on the civilian roles to the public. So our public relations people need to emphasize those applications to the public. The military will see how these aircraft can help them readily enough, I’m sure.”
“I’m sure that they will. Orin. We already are planning to allocate two of our preproduction models on Cormorant for operational testing. It should be able to easily operate from our ship without the need for a catapult or arresting gear.”
“The new lithium-ion battery technology has made a massive difference in the range for this aircraft. It’s still a very small aircraft with room for only twelve passengers.”
“I know. But for the market that we are looking at, it will still be very well-received. Naturally, as our electric motor and battery technology continues to advance, the performance of our electric aircraft will significantly improve as well.”
“I am still very excited about our various rotary wing projects, both manned and unmanned, Mister Cavill. Naturally, our current product lines with small, medium-size, and heavy-lift tandem-rotor helicopters as well as our Hummingbird tilt-wing transports are performing well. The latest variants of these aircraft continue to incorporate improvements in propulsion, avionics, and materials science. These improved versions are already coming off the production lines and being delivered to new customers.
The production of our Archer twin-engine compound helicopter gunships is pretty slow at the moment. I know that we have recently finished delivery for the last units going to the British and Australian armies. But we are also using the last four scheduled units of this production run to test the latest upgrade package. Those four gunships will be going to the Derby Militia and International Security Services for operational testing and evaluation.”
“What is going to be modified with the new upgrade for the Archer?” James asked.
“We are testing new model engines that should increase the speed and reduce fuel consumption at the same time. We are modifying the ducted tail rotor to see if that will also increase the Archer’s maximum speed. Other than that, there are going to be some incremental improvements to her sensors, avionics, and some airframe changes to reduce her IR and radar signatures.”
“That sounds very good, Orin. Hopefully, we will have some new customers for the Archer soon, especially once they realize that with her speed she can replace many of their fixed-wing light attack aircraft also.”
“Did you see the two new Westland Aviation designs that are beginning to go into production, Sir? Their WG-22 tilt-wing transport is certainly going to give our Hummingbird a lot of competition in the market.”
“Yes, I did. It is quite a capable aircraft. But it is still much larger than our Hummingbird tilt-wing. While the Westland design can carry a heavier payload with those big rotors and four engines driving them, it won’t be able to do a lot of the things that our tilt-wings can do, especially for shipboard and armed tactical missions. For example, we can still operate a Hummingbird from a frigate’s helicopter deck if necessary.
Now, you mentioned about a second Westland design, Orin?”
“Yes, of course. That is the WG-17D. That is a large tandem helicopter that also employs a compound configuration to increase its speed and range. The major differences between the WG-17D and our own large tandem helicopter designs are that the Westland design has supplementary wings to offload the rotors in high-speed flight and a pair of small turbo-fan engines mounted on top of those wings to boost cruise speeds at the same time.”
“I’m sure that we can modify our large transport helicopter designs into compound rotary-wing vehicles in the same manner if we needed to. But I think that we will wait to see if the demand truly exists for the capabilities of the Westland design before we allocate resources to create a compound variant of our own.”
“That sounds like a viable plan, Sir.” Orin quickly agreed.
“Now, I understand that we will be repurposing the Archer production line for the new unmanned fixed and rotary-wing aircraft that we have started to build for several of our Commonwealth customers.”
“Yes, Mister Cavill. The flexible production line technology that your family pioneered with all of the computerized control systems and robotic production equipment is absolutely amazing. Of course, the personnel working on the lines have to be retrained for the new product lines. But the retraining process has been incredibly efficient.”
