Astra SPX was the name of the aircraft when I took this photo in October 2000. A few months later, Galaxy Aerospace was acquired by Gulfstream and Astra SPX was renamed Gulfstream 100 in 2002. AIDC signed the contract with Galaxy in February 1999. Delivery of the aircraft took place in April 2000. It was flown by Israeli pilots to Taiwan’s Chiang Kai Shek International Airport as 4X-CUZ and subsequently re-registered as B-20001.
B-20001 features Collins Pro Line 4 avionics suite in the cockpit. It has two Flight Management Systems (FMS) and two GPS receivers onboard but has no Inertial Navigation Systems (INS). In addition to the standard VHF radios, B-20001 is equipped with UHF radios and TACAN, in order to serve the military customers.
Leather seats in the cabin can be easily removed and replaced by various types of test equipment. The following photo shows that an operator’s console is installed on Station B in the cabin, which permits simultaneous control and monitor of two tow targets.
The next photo shows that engineers are working on the port-side RM-30A1 reeling machine/launcher. The RM-30A1 is an all-electrical machine, powered by electricity produced by the ram-air turbine in the front. Its two-way reel permits recovery and reuse of tow cables and targets (if they survive). It can handle a stepped tow cable up to 32,000 ft (9,754 m) in length. Each RM-30A1, including a 30,000-ft towline, weighs 869 lbs.
In the last photo, B-20001 is carrying two TLX-1 low-level height-keeping targets. The TLX-1 tow target permits realistic simulation of sea-skimming missiles. A radar altimeter and a computer maintain the target within 4 ft of the selected altitude. A telemetry transmitter sends altitude and wing angle data to the towing aircraft while a receiver receives commands from the aircraft to initiate or terminate the height-keeping mode. Altitude settings are fully adjustable in flight. Passive radar augmentation by a corner reflector and light augmentation by a nose-mounted lamp can be accomplished simultaneously. All electrical components on the TLX-1 are powered by a generator driven by the ram-air turbine in the rear.
