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Aviation History
1995
1995 - 1048.PDF
Thai fighter purchase tied to AMRAAM PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE THAILAND HAS LINKED the purchase of any new US- built fighter aircraft to the supply of the Hughes AJM-120 AMRAAM active-radar-guidecl air-to-air missile, and is threaten ing to turn to other foreign manufacturers if necessary. The Thai air force has a requirement for a third squadron of front-line fighters to supple ment 36 Lockheed F-16A/Bs in service or on order. An order for die more advanced F-16C/D or McDonnell Douglas F-18C/D is considered to be Thailand's most likely option Flight International, 1-7 March). According to Thai sources, however, die selection of either aircraft hinges on the US Government releasing the AMRAAM for sale. The missile has not yet been cleared for use in South-East Asia. The USA is proposing instead die less capable semi-active radar-guided Ray theon AIM-7M Sparrow. Thailand has indicated that, unless the AMRAAM is made available, it will look at alternative aircraft, including the Dassault Mirage 2000-5, which is being offered widi the active-radar-guid ed Matra MICA missile. US manufacturers also face competition from the Mikoyan MiG-29. The Russian fighter is capable of carrying the medium- range semi-active Vvmpel R-27 (AA-10) or new fully active RW- AE(AA-12) missiles. Malaysia, taking delivery of 18 MiG-29 fighters, will be the first export customer for the RW- AE, say Russian sources Flight International, 29 March-4 April). Malaysia's acquisition has strengthened Thailand's deter mination to get a beyond-visual- range missile capability with its next fighter purchase. "Fighter platforms are essen tially equal, but avionics and weapon systems will be the deter mining factors," says a Western defence official. It is unclear whether the AMRAAM will be released for sale in the region before 1997/8. An earlier Thai request to the US Government for a detailed brief ing on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 has been met with a "non- positive verbal response", says a Bangkok-based diplomat. The F-15 is understood to have been the Thai air force's preferred first choice of fighter. It was interested in a "T" variant, similar to the F-15S ordered by Saudi Arabia, with downgraded radar and conformal fuel-tank hardpoints removed. • Workshare on FLA will be partners' choice JULIAN MOXON/PARIS INDUSTRY, NOT govern ment, will be responsible for allocating workshare on die Future Large Aircraft (FLA) mili tary transport project. According to a senior programme manager, die move marks a keynote change in the way collaborative European programmes are run. Aerospatiale military vice- president Philippe Picq says that the industrial partners in the pro gramme, not the participating governments, will be responsible for allocating workshare and deciding on final assembly. On previous collaborative European programmes, work- share allocation was a govern ment concern. The issue has caused friction and often led to unwieldy industrial structures. Negotiations on workshare for the pre-development phase "...need to be completed by the end of the year", says Picq. Up to 300 aircraft may be ordered by the existing partners and pro gramme share "...will reflect the number of aircraft ordered". Workshare allocation will be "...based on competence, cost, risk and experience", he says. These rules will apply to the FLA's wing, for example, where Airbus wingbuilder British Aero space is vying for leadership, but is coming under strong pressure from Daimler-Benz Aerospace. Governments participating in die FLA will receive the results of studies into die programme by die end of May, clearing the way for a European Staff Requirement (ESR). Picq says that die feasibility studies are "very near completion". "We will give the complete results of our configuration analysis to the participating gov ernments before the end of May," he says. This should lead to the specification of an ESR for the FLA and launch of pre-develop ment at the beginning of 1996. The industry group consists of teams from Aerospatiale, Alenia, British Aerospace, CASA and Daimler Benz Aerospace, with participation from Belgium's Flabel, Tusas in Turkey and Ogma in Portugal. They have, says Picq, come up with answers to major questions such as price, development cost and production. "We've made a lot of progress in defining the aircraft," he says. UK officials "...are participating in all of the FLA working groups", he adds, since diey indicated dieir intention to rejoin die programme. As now proposed, the pre- The VIA, military transport for the future. First deliveries will he in 2003 development phase will last until mid-1998, "...at which point industry will commit definitively to the price, development, per formance and specification of the FLA", says Picq. This will be fol lowed by a single phase for devel opment and production. First deliveries will be in 2003, and the UK, if it makes a com mitment to the programme, will be the first customer, followed by France, then the other partners. Picq says that Lockheed has a "big advantage" when selling the competing G-130J version of the Hercules. "They've built more than 2,000 G-130s, and the 'J' is 80% common, so low non-recur ring costs are very low," he says. "The test for Europe is to demonstrate that we can manage a military programme on a more efficient basis. There are a lot of examples which show that we can do better," he adds. Talks contin ue with Airbus Industrie on tak ing over management of the programme from Euroflag (which carried out the feasibility study). "We have made progress," Picq says, "it is a very important issue, which can and must be resolved." • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 12 - 18 April 1995 13
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