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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1455.PDF
PkRS ^fff^ 40eme Salon '93 FIRST NEWS The Paris air show 1993 opening on 10 June was a muted affair, in keeping with the mood of an industry which expects to remain in recession, until at least the next show in 1995. The Engine rivals unite against BMW R-R Russians' ability to lift a show with new aircraft has flagged for the time being. But if Paris 93 has something new to offer it is the emergence on the world market of Russian- and Eastern European-built airframes sporting Western avionics and engines. John Bailey, Andrew Chuter, Kieran Daly, Julian Moxon and Graham Warwick report. Pictures by Mark Wagner. Europeans push Airbus EUROFLAG Three of the four Airbus Industrie partners, Aero spatiale, British Aerospace and Deutsche Aerospace, are pro moting the idea of a military wing of the consortium to de velop and build the long- awaited EUROFLAG Future Large Aircraft (Eurofla) tactical transport aircraft. EUROFLAG is becoming a vehicle for increasing European objections to US domination of the medium-transport category with its Lockheed C-130. "It would be a catastrophe," says Aerospatiale president Louis Gallois, "if the requirement was met by a US aircraft". EUROFLAG, he adds, is the "natural counterpart" to Airbus. At the Financial Times aero space conference in Paris on 8-9 June, British Aerospace chief executive Dick Evans said that the programme repre sented "...an ideal opportunity for much greater integration than we have seen to date". Noting the UK Government's lack of support for the pro gramme, alone among the EU ROFLAG partners, he added that the transport "...offered perhaps the first opportunity Last-minute negotiations at the Paris air show have led to an unusual engine manufac turer tie-up to compete with the BMW Rolls-Royce BR700 for the growing regional- turbofan market. A memorandum of under standing between Snecma, MTU, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric will be signed "within a few days", according to an MTU official. The move will lead to a new turbofan, producing from 53-90kN (12,000-20,0001b)-thrust aimed at regional jets, business aircraft and the proposed Eu- roflag European tactical mili tary transport. The new engine for Airbus to use its skills in the home military market...as Europeans we must get our strategy together. In my view we are not currently making sufficient progress, either fare- nough or fast enough, for our own good". According to Evans, there is a European requirement for up to 500 EUROFLAGS. The pro gramme currently involves Aerospatiale, Alenia, BAe, CASA and Deutsche Airbus. It is configured as a high-wing turbofan-powered aircraft with a 20,000-25,000kg payload. Range is 3,700-4,600km (2,000-2,500nm). • Although the first four months of this year had seen Aerospatiale achieving its order will take about 54 months to reach certification after it has been officially launched. For Pratt & Whitney, the new engine will be an eventual replacement for its JT8D-200 series. The manufacturer had been working with MTU to develop the RTF180 turbofan, but progress had been delayed by a lack of German Govern ment support for the engine, and by concerns that there was an insufficient market to justify more than two competitors. At one point, five separate groups were planning engines in the same power range. While no hardware had been tested, MTU, which was to be target, company president Louis Gallois says that he does not expect the current "very negative" economic climate to recover before 1995. The com pany's policy would be "to develop its policy of alliances" with other manufacturers. Of one potential alliance, in the regional aircraft market, Gallois notes that Aerospatiale had been talking to DASA since it signed its co-operation deal with Fokker in April. "We will decide what to do in the light of the development objectives of ATR, which wants to broaden its market penetration and broaden its competitive edge." Gallois does not rule out possible alliances with other commuter manufacturers. P responsible for the RTF180 high-pressure compressor, was running a demonstrator core in Germany. This work will now be transferred to the new pro gramme. "After BMW-Rolls Royce started, it became clear that it would be more risky to compete in this market with just two companies," says the company. The programme will be led by the two European compa nies, MTU and Snecma, which will between them take "more than 50%" of the work. Work- shares and component respon sibility have yet to be settled. "All that is to be decided," says Snecma. The decision to give leadership to Europe was taken "...because most of the applica tions are European". A further stimulant to the agreement was the success of the BMW-Rolls-Royce consor tium in selling its 53-98kN BR700. A deal to power the Gulfstream 5, for 200 propul sion systems, is worth $650 million. A further agreement to supply a similar number of engines for the still-un- launched Canadair Global Ex press was signed in 1992. BMW-Rolls Royce estimates that more than 3,000 engines in the 53-90kN category will be required between 1995 and 2010. "We've already won a third of that," it says. The Anglo-German consor tium is itself looking for new partners for future develop ments of the family of engines. Rolls-Royce chairman Ralph Robins has recently been in Taiwan for talks on a possible tie-up on the BR715. • See Air Transport, P23. NEWS IN BRIEF TRAINER POWER Russian aircraft designer Mikoyan has selected the Snecma/Turbomeca Larzac engine to power its new twin-engined advanced trainer, the MiG AT (Flight International, 2-8 June). Snecma is due to deliver the first Larzac 04-R20 for the test programme in Novem ber 1994. First flight tests are scheduled for the first quarter of 1995, with entry into service in 1996. Eurofla: wanted to replace European Lockheed C-130s 8 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 16 - 22 June, 1993
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