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Aviation History
1997
1997 - 0967.PDF
ROMANIA Airfox development never progressed beyond flight-testing The two companies have been talking for years about licensed production in Romania of a variant of the Bell AH-1 Cobra attack heli copter, in connection with a requirement from the Romanian Ministry of National Defence (MoND). Under the CFE conventional arms limitation treaty, Romania is allowed 120 attack helicopters. It plans to make 24 of these upgrad ed Pumas, work which is also being carried out by IAR in co-operation with Elbit of Israel. This allows the MoND to procure up to 96 of the Cobra derivatives, which IAR is now calling the AH-1RO Dracula. The overall cost of the pro gramme is estimated at close to $1 billion. SUPERCOBRA-BASED DESIGN The helicopter is to be based on the AH-1 W Supercobra airframe, powered by two General ElectricT700 turboshafts. According to Banea, the engines are to be manufactured under licence by Bucharest-based Turbomecanica. He adds that GF has expressed an interest in taking an initial 20% stake in the company in connection with die deal - although rival man ufacturers are also understood to be interested in buying a stake in Turbomecanica. The helicopter is to have a new weapons and avionics package from an as-yet-unspecified supplier, although it is known that Elbit and Litton are both interested in the package. A decision on the supplier is expected from the ministry before the end of April. In February, Bell gave the Dracula pro gramme a credibility boost when it submitted a $70 million offer for about three-quarters of IAR. According to Banea, the US company wants to buy die 70% stake now in die hands of the Ciovernment's State Ownership Fund, plus a further 4.75% held by the so-called "Private Ownership Fund", which is administered by Romania's parliament. The remaining 25.25% will remain in the hands of the 18,000 or so pri vate Romanian shareholders. IAR's financial position is not a happy one, largely as a result of a dramatic fall in military orders, and about 60% of the money Bell pays for its stake will go towards clearing company debts, says Banea. The US company will also invest about $12.5 million in upgrading IAR's plant, and is promising to provide enough sub contracting work to keep at least 2,000 of the current employees in work. Puma work will continue, despite Bells take-over The offer is still being negotiated with the Bucharest Government, and a decision is expected in the near future. Recently-elected prime minister Victor Ciorbea has publicly committed his (Tovernment to quick progress on privatisation, which had rapidly ground to a halt under the previous administration. Banea is hoping that Bell's decision to buy will come concurrently with a MoND contract for 96 Draculas for delivery between 1999 and 2006. Four contracts with the US company are expected, covering the licence agreement, the supply of materials and subassemblies, training of IAR personnel in Texas, and technical sup port. All necessary US Government approval for the programme has been granted, says IAR. The Bucharest Government has already committed itself to funding the programme, with the possibility of turning to "external sources" of cash if the cost seriously oversteps the country's limited defence budget. The International Monetary Fund recommends that Romania should not spend more than 1.6% of its $24.6 billion gross domestic product per year on defence, although the MoND has been pushing for 3 %. BUILDING TEXTRON LINKS According to Banea, Bell is planning to put pro duction of commercial helicopter subassem blies and components for Bell Canada into IAR, as well as other work for Textron. "We are also expecting some [Textron-owned] Cessna activ ities to be transferred here, regarding mainte nance for European aircraft," he says. Questions remain over how the deal will affect IAR'S long-standing relationship with Bell's arch-rival Eurocopter France, although manufacture, upgrading and support work on the Puma and Alouette III is expected to con tinue for the foreseeable future. IAR and Eurocopter signed an agreement in mid-1996 which was to allow IAR to manufac ture 80 single-engined AS3 50BA Ecureuils and twin-engined AS355N Ecureuil 2s. The deal was to be financed by French banks - which were to pay Fr90 million ($17 million) annual ly to IAR over ten years - and would have led to die production of 40 airframes up to 2001, with the rest following after. It would also have included maintenance and repair work. Banea says that, despite the likely takeover, Bell is to have talks with Eurocopter to smoothe the relationship, and find a solution which pro tects the interests of both companies. Banea still hopes to produce light helicopters at IAR, although whether they will be Ecureuils, or Bell 407s or 427s, remains to be seen. "We are still manufacturing products under licence from Eurocopter France, and we have an obligation to support these products," says Banea. No matter how the Eurocopter issue is resolved, IAR's future would seem far more secure under Bell than standing alone, as Romania struggles to recover from the revolu tion of its recent history. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 9 - 15 April 1997 31
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