28 Mei 2011

Majalah Asian Military Review pada bulan Mei 2011 menerbitkan hasil studinya mengenai kekuatan Angkatan Laut kawasan. Hasil studi tersebut meliputi kekuatan Angkatan Laut di kawasan Asia Pasific.

Berikut ini adalah cuplikan artikel tersebut khusus untuk kekuatan Angkatan Laut kawasan Sout East Asia dan Oceania.

Australia

Brunei

Cambodia

Indonesia

Malaysia

(Asian Military Review)

28 Mei 2011

A330 MRTT for RAAF (photo : Airbus Military)

The first Airbus Military A330 MRTT new generation tanker/transport for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has left Madrid at 10h00 local time on its ferry flight to Australia.

Designated the KC-30A in RAAF service, the aircraft is scheduled to arrive at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland on Monday 30 May, and to be formally handed over to the customer in the next few days.

On its ferry flight, the A330 MRTT is being flown by Airbus Military and RAAF crews, and will transit via McCarran (Nevada) and Hickam (Hawaii) in the USA.

The aircraft is the second converted by Qantas Defence Services in Brisbane, which was returned to Madrid for painting and finishing. It will be joined by the second aircraft for the RAAF in June, and two further aircraft later in the year. The fifth and final aircraft ordered by the RAAF, which arrived in Brisbane for conversion a few days ago, will be delivered next year.

The arrival of the aircraft at RAAF Amberley follows an extensive development and test programme for what is the world’s only certified and flying new generation tanker/transport aircraft. Civil Supplemental Type Certificate was obtained in March 2010, and the military certification in October.

In RAAF service the A330 MRTT will be equipped with two underwing refuelling pods, the fly-by-wire Airbus Military Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), and a Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) enabling it to be refuelled from another tanker. It is powered by two General Electric CF6-80E engines. It is equipped with a comprehensive defensive aids suite (DAS) and fitted with 270 passenger seats.

(Airbus Military)

More than two million people are expected to pass through UK airports this weekend, making it the busiest Whitsun bank holiday in at least a decade, with New York, Dubai and Dublin the top three destinations.

Eurocontrol, the air traffic control body, said it expected a trouble-free weekend following uncertainties earlier in the week surrounding the ash cloud. Iceland’s Grimsvötn volcano is still active but throwing out steam and smoke rather than ash particles.

The ash cloud led to more than 900 flights in northern Europe being cancelled at the start of the week.

“Any significant ash concentrations are far out over the sea, at very low altitudes and well away from the air routes or airports,” said Eurocontrol’s head of network operations, Brian Flynn. “The expectation for the next couple of days is that there will be no disturbances to air traffic whatsoever.”

The Icelandic ash cloud will bring an unexpected benefit to rail passengers travelling between London and Glasgow after Network Rail lifted engineering works on the west coast main line amid fears that the volcano would erupt over the weekend. The works will not be reinstated.

More than 5 million rail passengers are expected to travel on the network this weekend. The major engineering works are at Liverpool Street station in London, where there will be no trains to Shenfield on Sunday and Monday. South London between London Bridge and Victoria and Tulse Hill will also be affected.

However it will not all be plain sailing at Heathrow over the half-term holidays as train drivers of Heathrow Express walk out for 48 hours from next Friday, with a further 24 hour stoppage planned for June 24 and others scheduled for July.

The dispute, over a pay claim, is threatening disruption over the summer, forcing passengers to find other ways of reaching the airport.

The company said it was finalising a “contingency timetable”, but declined to provide further details of how its operation would be hit.

Meanwhile nearly 80 flights in and out of Heathrow have been cancelled due to high winds and thunderstorms. But BAA said schedules are back to normal ahead of the bank holiday getaway.

Source: BTN

The Air France jet which crashed into the Atlantic en route from Rio in 2009 stalled and fell in three and a half minutes, French investigators report.

The air accident investigations bureau found the crew were faced with contradictory speed readings just before the plane crashed.

At the time, the captain was taking a routine rest, with the two co-pilots in control in the cockpit.

The BEA statement did not look at the causes of the crash. All 228 people on board were killed in the disaster.

The BEA findings were released in an online statement in response to speculation in the media over the findings from the flight recorders, only recovered from the sea this month.

A full report into the disaster is not expected until next year.

Air France said on Friday that it appeared “the initial problem was the failure of the speed probes”.

Since the crash, the air line has replaced the speed, or Pitot, probes on its Airbus fleet with a newer model.

Source: BTN

The chief executive of Qantas Airways has accused pilots of threatening the future of the Australian flag carrier. Alan Joyce said he refused to give in to “outrageous” pay demands of pilots, who are poised to take their first strike action in 45 years following the collapse of negotiations last week.

Joyce told ABC television that the demands from the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) would cost the airline more than Aus$300 million (US$320 million).

“We believe that some of the demands that are being put on the table are outrageous,” he said.

“There are certain demands I cannot concede to because it will endanger the survival of the company into the long run.”

Asked whether the carrier’s future was at risk due to the union action, Joyce replied:
“It is at that stage. Our international business is losing money. Our international business, if these demands are met, will go backwards even further.”

“It’s not good for their members, it’s not good for employees, it’s not good for our customers and we’re going to have to stand up to them.”

Joyce also said the business would need a radical shake-up as it grapples with declining market share.

“Our market share internationally is down to 18 percent, our market share in Asia is down to 14 percent,” Joyce said. “We need to change the business in order for it to be successful.”

Richard Woodward of the AIPA told the ABC that the strike was about protecting jobs and ensuring these were not moved to cheaper hubs in Asia.

“This is not about wages, it’s not about money at all, it’s about a future for our pilots,” he said.

Source: BTN

Pilot training is a must after graduating from a pilot school. It also has a lot of training system one can choose from. Thus, there are also certain requirements which students should comply with in order to stay in various pilot training programs.

Pilot training requires a maximum of 45 hours training experience in order to be a Licensed Pilot. Private pilots are required to complete three perfect landings and three takeoffs in a span of 90 days in order to carry passengers. The national average that is required for every trainee is about 65 hours. There is leadership and command training for pilots.

Listed are the basic requirements in order to obtain a Private Pilot License.

• Must be at least 17 and above year of age.
• Able to understand the English language, write, speak and read.
• At least has 40 hours flight training.
• Passed the knowledge test.
• Obtained the pilot medical certificate.
• Completed 20 hours of SOLO flight training.
• Passed the Practical Test of flight test and oral examination.

Types of pilot training

• Alternate Recurrent Pilot Training: This pilot training is topic-based and a traditional recurrent preparation. The pilot must qualify for a pilot-in-command proficiency and for the second-in-command check. Alternative recurrent pilot training has three types such as Crew resource management, high altitude flight as well as international flight. The Crew Resource management teaches the pilot the exact usage of the minimum equipments. The rule of a High altitude flight is to examine the result of the highest altitude flight in the aircraft body. International Pilot Flight reviews the international procedure, ATC, /FR and ICAO weather.

• Accelerated flight school and flight training: This training program offers the best and strictly advanced aircraft training, best accelerated pilot training in the industry. It has certified trained instructors that teach the pilots. It is located in Florida Airlines, Kissimmee, and Orlando.

• Regional Airline academy: This pilot school offers airline pilot discussions, pilot flight trainings. It also gives job placements after completing the flight or pilot training. The academy also has a financial help service for trainees so that they may enroll in the program.

• Advanced flight pilot training: This training school had specialist instructors that are based along the Coast airport, Australia airport as well as Queensland. It also offers the highest quality of ATPL airlines transport for pilot licenses. It even offers full-time courses such as airplane pilot training and helicopter pilot training.

• Hamilton pilot training system: It has a comprehensive system for learning in passing certain flight test. The school simply progresses in learning because of their materials that are passed in sequential and logical order.

• Professional Pilot Training: The objective of professional pilot training is to educate and train finished flight pilots because they have superb manipulative skills and an in depth understanding of the theory. This pilot training program offers personalized preparation or training for little classes of airline cadets. Professional pilot training uses a (CBT) Competency Based Training system that uses the very skill assessment guidelines which are based on pilot skill development and recent aviation psychology. This pilot training facility operates on a full arena of HPT or Hawker Pilot synthetic trainers, which are considered as instruments for flying pilot training as well as procedural training. Professional pilot training has internal review trainings for its student or new pilots.

• Balloon Pilot Training: It has 8 hours flight training or preparation and 20 hours ground training. Balloon pilot training has a requirement such as pre-flight preparation, aircraft familiarization, and launching, along with inflation procedures. It also teaches how to regulate during emergencies, long distances, and high altitude landings.

• Eurocopter Pilot Training: This training program gives a closed-book examination on helicopter limitation. This training program requires a 75% or higher score before one is allowed to enroll. This pilot training program also teaches Emergency procedures, aircraft systems, balance and weight of the helicopters, autopilots, controls and cockpit displays plus a review of the aircraft manuals.

Article Source: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=272184&ca=Jobs

27 Mei 2011

T-50 in production line (photo : KDN)

Indonesia orders 16 T-50 trainers

Indonesia has placed a $400 million order for 16 Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle advanced jet trainers, the type's first export sale.

The Indonesian Defense Ministry signed the deal on Wednesday, said Enes Park, executive vice president of KAI. The contract stipulates that the aircraft must be delivered 18 months after the signing of a loan agreement between the South Korean and Indonesian governments.

The announcement follows a 12 April letter the Indonesian government sent to KAI designating the South Korean firm as the preferred bidder to replace Indonesia's BAE Systems Hawk 53s. The letter all but sealed the fate of the T-50's rivals in the competition, the Aero Vodochody L-159 and Yakovlev Yak-130.

The 16 General Electric F404-powered aircraft will be produced at the KAI facilities in Sacheon, South Korea. They will shipped to Indonesia partially disassembled, where Indonesia state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia/Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) will reassemble them.

"The aircraft is certainly capable of being ferried, but transporting them meets Indonesian industrial regulations," says Park. "(Re-assembling) the aircraft will help them improve their capabilities."
Despite the best efforts of KAI and the South Korean government, theT-50 lost trainer competitions in both the United Arab Emirates and Singapore to the Alenia Aermacchi M-346.

F/A-50 combat variant (photo : vehibase)

The T-50 will again square off against its rival in Israel and the USA. In 2012, the Israeli Air Force will decide between the T-50 and M-346 to replaces its Douglas A-4 Skyhawk trainers. In early May, Alenia Aermacchi general manager Alessandra Franzoni said America's T-X competition to replace the 1960s era Northrop T-38C will be a two horse race between the T-50 and M-346.

Park adds that there could be a possibility of selling Indonesia the T-50's combat variant, the F/A-50. "While there have been no concrete discussions on this, there is a distinct possibility of this in the future."

Indonesia is also still involved in South Korea's proposed KF-X programme, says Park. At the Farnborough air show in 2010, South Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia, with the latter to potentially contribute up to 20% of the KF-X development costs. Indonesia is currently looking at how it might participate in the project.

The T-50 buy is just the latest example of Jakarta's efforts to upgrade the nation's air force. In November 2010, it purchased eight Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack aircraft to replace Vietnam War-era Rockwell OV-10 Broncos. In January 2011 it awarded Arinc Engineering Services a $66.7 million contract to modernise five Lockheed Martin C-130Bs.

Indonesia is also considering upgrading its 10 Lockheed Martin F-16A/B fighters. Media reports have said Jakarta will buy 24 ex-US Air Force F-16s, but this has not been officially announced by either Washington or Jakarta.

(Flight Global)