February 2011 Archives

South Korean and Indonesian newspapers are abuzz with a bizarre twist in Seoul's quest to find a foreign client for the Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin T-50 Golden Eagle.

Essentially two men and a woman allegedly from South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, recently broke into a Seoul hotel room occupied by a member of a visiting Indonesian trade delegation. Their supposed goal? Details about Indonesia's negotiating position vis-à-vis the T-50.

A member of the Indonesian delegation surprised the three intruders as they peered at a laptop, and the trio departed in haste. Personally, I'd have had two team members on lookout, and one team member peering at the screen, but never mind me - I'm not a professional spook.

Anyway, a Korean paper quoted an anonymous Seoul official as saying this: "The NIS agents, for the national interest, were trying to figure out the Indonesian delegation's negotiating strategies."

In a fine example of understatement, he added that "getting caught was an unintended mistake."

The incident was reported to police, who confiscated the hotel's CCTV footage. Another Korean paper reports that the NIS then confiscated the CCTV footage from the police. So much for seeing any of this on Youtube.

Jakarta and Seoul - eyeing bilateral ties and, dare I say, saving face - seem keen to downplay the incident.

After losing to the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 in both the United Arab Emirates and Singapore trainer competitions, it is understandable that South Korea is keen to see the T-50 win in Indonesia, where it has been short listed with the Yakovlev Yak-130 and Aero Vodochovy L-159.

Whether the intruders had anything to do with the T-50, or were even NIS spies, or learned anything remotely useful, is anybody's guess. Nonetheless, the story provides an amusing diversion from the vast amounts of time and bureaucracy involved in major military aircraft buys.

One likely side conversation at next week's Avalon air show is likely to be about the recent launch of the HMAS Canberra in Spain. The Canberra will be Australia's first LHD (landing helicopter dock) and is likely to become operational in 2014, with a sister ship, the HMAS Adelaide, to follow in 2015.

These will be the largest ships the Australian navy has ever operated. With 16-24 helicopters per ship, the pair signals a resurgence of sorts in Australian naval airpower. The helicopters they are likely to carry include the MRH-90 (which recently joined the Projects of Concern list) and the S-70B Seahawk.

Helicopters on ships are, well, a touch ho-hum, but an industry source recently reminded me of the tantalizing possibility that a third ship could be procured and operate as a pure aircraft carrier with an air wing of F-35Bs. In 2008, apparently, the RAN expressed interest in the aircraft carrier idea, though the budget issues here would be considerable - not to mention all the issues with the F-35B itself, not least whether it will actually survive.

During a recent interview with RAAF Air Marshal Mark Binskin, I asked him about the ship's ramp.

"We're just too cheap to take them off," he replied, jokingly. As for whether Australia will buy the F-35B, his answer was an unequivocal "no."

Nonetheless, the ships will retain their ramps, and Spain's Juan Carlos 1, upon which the Australian ships are based, will operate a mixed wing of AV-8B Harriers and helicopters.

My guess? Australia's brass is tentatively interested in the F-35B for both ships, but wants to see how this troubled variant does during its two-year probation period. Alternatively, Australia could be retaining the ramps in order to support USMC F-35B flight ops.

And, no doubt, the RAN is casting its eyes northwards to Dalian, where Russia's former Varyag is being reborn as the Shi Lang.

Arriving in Bangalore last night it was cool to see that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is dominating the signage in the airport arrival area. Above the immigration counters was a big HAL sign with a Tejas, SU-30MKI, and Light Combat Helicopter - all of which should fly at the show. I would have snapped a photo, but there were dozens of cops (some with assault rifles) standing about, and getting arrested would be a less than ideal way to start the trip.

In the baggage area there was more HAL stuff, mostly about the LCH. How often does one see an attack helicopter ad at an airport baggage carousel?

I got up close and personal with the LCH during a visit to HAL's factory in December. The prototype was disassembled, but I was told that it would be ready for its air show flying debut this month.

I look forward to visiting the HAL stand this week. Aside from the range of aircraft they currently produce, it will be interesting to see any new design concepts.  

A big thumbs up to Ashley J. Tellis of the Carnegie Endownment for International Peace. Over the last week I've been greatly enjoying his 133 page epic about the Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft competition.

Of particular interest were his in-depth comments about the AESA radars. While the Europeans all have development models, the US aircraft already have fully functional systems.  The chart on page 115 also illustrates the respective costs of the aircraft in a flyaway state - and shows how massive US aircraft purchases over the years have driven down the costs of the F-16 and F-18.

A great warm-up read to the big show next week.

http://carnegieendowment.org/files/dogfight.pdf