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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 2404.PDF
FARNBOROUGH REPORT Embraer: major successes Despite the black economic cloud still hanging heavily over Brazil, Embraer enjoyed a boom Farnborough, netting a record order for 22 of its Brasilia commuter airliners from Atlantic Southeast Air lines, and launching devel opment of the Brazilian/ Argentinian EMB-123 to replace the Bandeirante. Embraer's chief executive officer, Oilio da Silva, spelt out to Flight his determin ation to capitalise on his company's present boom and engineer a major expansion. Plans include a limited flotation of the company next year, to raise up to $100 million in equity over three years to go towards the $292 million EMB-123 devel opment costs, including the building of three prototypes, certification, and production tooling. Argentina is also scheduled to pick up one third of development cost. Embraer plans also include the development of a satellite launcher vehicle, production of the Garrett TPE331- powered Tucano (with Shorts of Northern Ireland supplying the wings), the development of a jet trainer, possibly with Argentina, and, in the long term, the building of a new supersonic fighter in partner ship with France, Britain, or Italy. Da Silva's aim is to develop Embraer into an aerospace rather than an aircraft manu facturer, widening the com pany's product base and capi talising on the rapid success which the company has recorded since it broke into the international air show world a decade ago. Embraer chose Farn borough to announce the $120 million ASA order for 22 Brasilias, having converted options taken with its original tenth aircraft order. Also writ ten in to the latest agreement are options on a further 44 Brasilias worth up to $250 million, according to Da Silva. Deliveries of the new aircraft on order will be between March next year and Decem ber 1988. Deliveries of further Brasilias will run to the end of 1995. ASA, a launch customer for the Brasilia in 1984, already has eight aircraft in service, and calculates that it breaks even with only 12 passengers on the 30-seat commuter. West German regional carrier DLT also ordered a ninth Brasilia at Farn borough, converting one of its five remaining options. With two Brasilias already in service, DLT declares itself "very happy" with the aircraft. Embraer plans to stretch the Brasilia, but not over 42 seats, da Silva tells Flight. Stretching of the Brasilia fuselage by lm will make the aircraft available to meet the Brazilian requirement for a new military patrol aircraft, and Embraer is waiting for the Defence Ministry to make its requirements clear on this. A stretched version of the new EMB-123 is also possible in the longer term. Having delivered all of the 118 Pratt & Whitney PT-6- powered Tucanos to the Brazilian Air Force, Embraer is now working on plans to convert the remaining options on a further 50 Tucanos into orders for a Garrett-powered aircraft based on the Shorts version of the aircraft. Embraer is negotiating the supply of wings from Shorts, and is already flying its own Garrett-engined prototype. Da Silva insists that com peting against the uprated Shorts machine is possible. "Based on the present agree ments, there is nothing to prevent us doing this," he says. Shorts reserves several exclusive markets for Tucano, but Embraer has, with some years marketing lead, proved a highly successful exporter of the aircraft, recording nearly 500 orders, and could pose a major threat to Shorts' export hopes. The Brazilian Air Force has not yet test flown the Garrett Tucano, and is yet to decide finally if it wants the new version. But da Silva is deter mined to see the high-powered version sell. "We cannot abandon our rights to market the aircraft," he says. And, as a fillip to Shorts, he says: "We guaran tee that, if we build the aircraft, we will give them participation." Three two-seat AMX variants will be delivered in 1988, two to Italy and one to Brazil AMX attacks export market The Brazilian/Italian part nership which has flourished under the jointly-developed AMX combat aircraft pro gramme is launching a world wide marketing campaign. TJie three manufacturers involved in building AMX— Aermacchi, Aeritalia, and Embraer—have formed AMX International, an organisation which will promote the aircraft commercially. AMX International says that the aircraft will be available for export by 1990 and it will con centrate on its sales campaign over the next 12 months. "A lot of interest is already being shown by Third World countries. South America, of course, is another very important, developing market which we hope to exploit using our Brazilian con nection. We want to convince South American countries of the advantages of having a common aircraft," says AMX International. "But there has also been interest from Europe, which has surprised AMX International says that it has been approached by one European nation that currently operates sophisti cated expensive combat aircraft which it felt it could no longer afford. Argentina is also believed to be interested in AMX, although it would be unable to buy it with the Rolls-Royce Spey engine. The aircraft might, however, be fitted with another engine for this purpose. The AMX manufacturers are also assessing radar proposals for their anti-ship variant. Two Italian com panies, SMA and Fiar, are expected to bid. Fiar, which has equipped the Panavia Tornado and the existing AMX with radar, is devel oping the P2801 multi-mode radar specifically for the anti- ship AMX. SMA, which is just entering the combat aircraft radar market, is in the process of defining a design for AMX which would use existing, proven components wherever possible. Fiar and SMA are, in fact, working together on another radar. They have formed the Elisadar consortium to develop the APS-784 surveil lance radar for Italian Navy EH.lOls. Embraer chose rear-mounted turboprops driving pusher propellers to reduce cabin noise to, it estimates, under 80dB ^JZL «-'<3SO" <dT 3 _£L \ ^6" EMBRAER 123 0 5 10 15 20 0 3 6 yC p D Q 3 G B O [ p=>--^ o Business Press International Ltd 1986 10 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 13 September 1986
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