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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2491.PDF
Paris retrospective JM| fundamental realignment in the relationship between commer- k cial airframe and commercial systems suppliers is on the hori zon. Opening the door to that change is the emergence of new interna tional airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) and airborne ground surveil lance (AGS) requirements, along with a US need for a Multi-mission Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MMA) and Multi-Role Command and Control Aircraft (MRC2A). The increasingly narrow selection of one-stop airframe/system solution has made it a difficult proposition for all but, effectively, Boeing. This is forcing integra tion powerhouses like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon, devoid of their own large fixed-wing jet platforms, to either offer their main competitor's air craft or shop overseas for airframe bed fellows such as Airbus and Fairchild Dornier. This was a major talking point at last month's Paris air show. Northrop Grumman has already taken the lead with the proposed NATAR solu tion to NATO's AGS requirement. The company recognised early on that a European substitute was needed for the US Air Force's Boeing 707-based E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) if the improved Multi-Platform- Radar Technology Insertion Programme (MP-RTIP) was to win NATO acceptance. "I believe it will be a European platform, primarily either an Airbus, Fairchild or some other existing aircraft like the Fokker 70/100," says Ralph Crosby, Northrop Grumman Integrated System Sector (ISS) president. The firm has already teamed with EADS to pursue a joint AGS architec ture and wants to merge MP-RTIP with Europe's proposed rival SOSTAR sensor, supplemented by a AGS-equipped Global Hawk dubbed 'Euro Hawk'. The AEW&C arena has also undergone a transformation in the wake of the recent success in Australia and Turkey of the Boeing 737 equipped with dorsal-mounted MESA radar from Northrop Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector. Repackaging Raytheon has repackaged its rival Elta Phalcon radar offering around the compa rably-sized Airbus A321 in order to better compete for the next battle in South Korea. The heavily modified airframe would house cheek, tail and nose-mounted elec- .tronically scanned arrays. Northrop Grumman ISS, conscious that the E-2C turboprop can no longer battle with jet-powered platforms outside of the nava*l market, is looking to migrate the next Advanced Hawkeye mission suite to the Fairchild Dorner 728JET. The aircraft, equipped with either a dorsal-mounted ADS-18 antenna or a UHF Electronically Steerable Array, would not be available before 2005, too late to compete in South Korea but a viable player for emerging Raytheon has picked the Airbus A321 as its AEW&C platform, at least in South Korea FOES US military requirements have instigated a changed relationship between airframe and system suppliers PAUL LEWIS / PARIS competitions in Italy, Singapore and Spain. Airbus and Fairchild Dornier, not con tent to confine themselves to the interna tional special missions market, are turning their attention to domestic US require ments. This has coincided with a shift away from older turboprop platforms towards higher performance turbofan air craft for new requirements such as the US Navy's MMA and the US Army's Airborne Common Sensor programme. Aside from large business jets like the Gulfstream V, the only indigenously pro duced mid-size platform that would lend itself to the MMA is the 737. EADS is keen to compete with a proposed MPA version of the A321, as is BAE Systems with the Nimrod MRA4, but the USN will entertain only domestic prime contractors. Lock heed Martin and Raytheon, accordingly, are looking at the 928JET and A321 as alternatives to their proposed P-3-based Orion 21 and Procyon offerings. The situation is mirrored by the USAF's requirement for a new MRC2A platform to replace its Boeing E-3 AWACS, E-8 JSTARS and RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic intelli gence platforms. Over the longer term, the air force is looking for a KC-X successor to its fleet of 500-plus KC-135 tankers. The only suitable civil off-the-shelf alternative to the proposed Boeing KC-767 is possibly the A330. Raytheon is already teamed with Airbus to sell internationally a tanker version of the smaller A300/A310. Most US aerospace observers believe that an Airbus-based MMA or KC-X would be a political non-starter with the US Congress. The only other option maintain ing any sense of competitiveness is for the US Government to direct Boeing to sepa rate its mission system and airframe busi nesses to allow Lockheed Martin and Ray theon to compete on a equal footing with their own 737- or 767-based solutions. • www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 3-9 JULY 2001 37
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