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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0519.PDF
UK's 1997 deadline rules out European Tiger anti-armour helicopter BAe seeks delay as price of Tiger deal Eurocopter wants British Aer ospace to persuade the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to push back its initial 1997 in- service date requirement for its anti-armour helicopter as part of a teaming arrangement on the Tiger programme. The 1997 date effectively rules out Eurocopter's Tiger as a com petitor to meet the MoD require- Tiger budget study French and Gerfnan minis try of defence (MoD) offi cials are carrying out a study into the impact of Germany's •decision to reduce its budget for the Eurocopter Tiger anti tank helicopter by DM2 billion . ($1.2 billion). A Eurocopter official says: "The study will analyse the impact of the reduction, and then the MoDs jointly decide on how to proceed." Germany had a requirement for 212 PAH-2 helicopters for the army. The number is be lieved to have been cut to 138, although the official declines to confirm this. The budget cut, besides re ducing the numbers, may also see the German MoD stretch production of the helicopter. The study is due to be finished by the middle of 1992. The German army require ment may also be extended to include an escort variant of the Tiger, as well as an anti-tank machine, according to the offi cial. While France is devel oping the Tiger to fulfil both roles, Germany wanted an anti-tank variant initially. D ment. The European anti- armour helicopter is unlikely to be available to the UK before 1999. If the UK MoD is moved to shift the date, on the grounds of competition, the Tiger could prove to be more than a paper competitor for the McDonnell Douglas AH-64C Apache, now the favoured contender. Jean-Francois Bigay, Eurocop ter co-chairman, says that the company has reached a "memo randum of agreement" to look at "...what type of relationship is necessary to prepare some co operation in the armed heli copter business". Senior sources within Euro copter identify the in-service date as the "...killing factor. BAe has got to get the date pushed back". BAe is thought to have until September to exert pres sure on the MoD to change its timescale before the final re quirement for 125 helicopters is released. Concern also focuses on whether the helicopter's weap ons-systems architecture will fall within the MoD's requirement. Eurocopter officials say that, while a variety of external stores could be cleared for Tiger, it cannot change the basic mis sion-systems concept. A BAe proposal to enable the UK MoD to continue develop ment of the Tiger's key anti-tank weapon, the Long Range Trigat, is expected to be approved im minently. The MoD has spent the last six months re-assessing whether it wants to continue in this portion of the Trigat pro gramme with Germany and France. • Japan may face action on Airbus/Boeing decision Tapan could face action from I partners in the European Air- DUS Industrie consortium if it decides to support the Boeing ultra-high capacity aircraft (UHCA) rather than the rival Airbus A350 project. Speaking at The Financial Times conference, Adam Brown, the director of planning at Air bus, said that "...the existence of Airbus is the only thing which now stands between the world's airlines and a US monopoly in the supply of jetliners larger than 100 seats — with the dis tortion that such a situation would inevitably create". Although the Japanese have not expressed firm interest in either UHCA project, Brown says that, if their support for Boeing continues "...in a unilat eral rather than a balanced way, the time may come when ques tions will start to be raised from Europe about the compatibility of such support with [Japan's] commitment under the Civil Aircraft Agreement that its sup port should not create any ad verse trade effects". Japan is a signatory to a 1979 Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft, which stipulates that support of commercial aircraft programmes must be provided in such a way that it does not distort trade. Brown adds that Airbus is willing to allow future Asian partners in the UHCA "a contri bution to the conception, design and development" of the new aircraft, providing the resources exist. A significant cash invest ment could also buy "involve ment in marketing and customer support in the region, and participation in sales financing worldwide". Airbus already has subcon tracting deals with ten compa nies in six countries in Asia- Pacific, but "...between these two extremes, we are open and ready to devise almost any ar rangement, based upon the prin cipal of mutual benefit". Brown adds: "The one essential require ment for successful collabora tion is for goodwill between all the parties involved." Both companies have held in formal discussions on participa tion by Japanese industry in their respective projects, to de sign new 600- to 800-seat air craft to surpass the Boeing 747- 400. While both are in the very early planning stage, it is already clear that neither could succeed without substantial cash support from foreign partners. Three Japanese companies — Mitsubishi, Fuji and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are partners in Boeing's 767 and 777 program mes already, and in the dormant propfan 7J7. Although Kawasaki will produce skin panels for the A321 rear-fuselage plug, Japan has taken only a minor share so far of any Airbus programme. Airbus has pencilled in its "A350" for entry into service in 2002. It has completed initial marketing studies with ten air lines, mostly in the Asia-Pacific region, and is defining possible configurations, some of them "very unconventional", to deal with airport capacity problems, Brown says. • ANA 767: Japanese Boeing policy could distort trade FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 March, 1992 13
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