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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 0128.PDF
HEADLINES Arianespace: two-thirds of orders Arianespace dominates 1993 launcher sales Arianespace continued to dominate the world launcher market in 1993, sign ing up more than 66% of total orders placed. The value of sales edged down, by 6%, to $4.5 billion over the year, however. Con tracts were signed for 16 launches — the second largest number since the organisation began selling launches in 1981. Last year saw seven launches, placing ten satellites in orbit (three launches boosted two spacecraft each). Arianespace has now launched 37 satellites, and is waiting for the launch contracts for the two latest Intelsats, which is expected to be signed shortly. Eumetsat has just agreed on Ariane launches for its next three meteorological satellites, in 2001, 2002 and 2005. Arianespace president Char les Bigot says that his goal is to achieve "36 launches in 30 months". No launch pad modifications are needed for this, he adds, "but we can shorten the time between launches." There is a total of 15 satellites booked for launch this year. • Large-aircraft decision looms BY ANDRZEJ JEZIORSKI IN MUNICH Astark choice is looming for the Airbus Industrie mem ber companies and Boeing over their industrial strategy to tackle development of a new large aircraft. Boeing and the four Euro pean members of the 500- to 800-passenger Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT) group have extended their study from the planned 26 January deadline until April, to allow the work to be completed. Airbus is making it clear that the consortium members must choose between the VLCT and its own programme. The view is supported by Jurgen Tho mas, Deutsche Airbus execu tive vice-president of prelimi nary design and technology — the leading European figure in the VLCT programme. "It would be difficult to see how we could co-operate with Boeing on a large aircraft and be at loggerheads with them on everything else," says Airbus, which is pursuing its own A3XX (formerly Ultra-High Ca pacity Aircraft) studies. "We do not believe [the Air bus partners] would want to do something that would damage their interests in Airbus Indus trie. There is no intention for Airbus to do one aircraft and the partners to do another," says the consortium. Boeing study programme di rector, John Hayhurst, com ments only that "significant progress" has been made by the group. "We're very satisfied with what we've accomplished during the past year," he says. Thomas explains that it is 'clearly established" Airbus policy to allow the VLCT and A3XX studies to go ahead in parallel. There is, however, "no possibility" of both projects going ahead because "...there's just not enough room in the market". He adds: "Airbus Industrie must stay in strong competi tion with Boeing." He explains that, if the VLCT went ahead, a new and independent com pany would be established to oversee the programme. Airbus and Boeing "cannot co-oper ate", he says. Thomas estimates that the non-recurring costs to certifica tion of a VLCT would be about $10 billion, rather than the $15-17 billion figure which is estimated elsewhere. Deutsche Airbus says: "It's absolutely clear that there can be only one programme, one aeroplane in this category." • nary design ana tecnnoiogy — l nomas explains mat it is be only one program the leading European figure in "clearly established" Airbus aeroplane in this categ Avro axes jobs to stay in the game The UK aerospace industry With a series of recent sales, 1,000 staff at the She has lost more than 1,000 and more in prospect, Avro siles operation, which y 0 jobs in the space of a week, with redundancy announce ments from both Short Broth ers in Belfast and British Aerospace's Avro International regional-jet subsidiary. Avro is to shed 580 from its 2,500-strong workforce, with the cuts largely coming from the main Woodford, Cheshire site, but with other redundan cies among the 188 product- support staff still based at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The job cuts are a further effort to maintain the efficiency drive begun in 1993, says Avro. BAe pledged at the end of 1993 that it would continue to support Avro in the light of performance improvements, despite the failure to secure a co-operation deal with Taiwan Aerospace (TAC) during year long negotiations. Sources in Taiwan suggest that a deal is now unlikely without a change of senior management at TAC. BAe is understood to be talking to other potential partners. Wit , an o now has a backlog of 29 orders which should allow it to repeat the 1993 output of 13 aircraft this year. Shorts in Belfast is to make 440 people redundant, taking the numbers employed within Northern Ireland down to the 6,700 mark. Around 200 of the job losses will come from among the 1,00 Shorts mis sile h is now part of a joint venture with Thomson-CSF. The Belfast company says that the deferral of decisions on new defence contracts is to blame. Shorts, however, believes that there could be more jobs created this year in the nacelles division as its partnership with Hurel-Dubois brings in new work. • Sukhoi identifies Su-34 Russian design bureau Sukhoi claims that it has completed a production model of the Su-27IB strike aircraft, given it the designa tion Su-34, and identified the aircraft as the replacement for the Russian air force's Su-24 Fencer. The Su-34 designation had been previously associated with an upgraded variant of the bureau's Su-25 Frogfoot attack aircraft. In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestiya, Sukhoi general designer Mikhail Simonov indicates that the Su-34 has an un- refuelled combat radius of over 1,000km (540nm). Simonov has previously been evasive as to the exact requirement for the Su-27IB strike aircraft. He has said only that it was a technology demonstrator, the so-called "comfort pro gramme", aimed at providing a cockpit environment which is suitable for long-range strike missions. • 6 FIIGHT INTFRNATIONAL 19 - 25 January, 1994
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