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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3839.PDF
DEFENCE PROCUREMENT Dassault pulls Mirage out of Austrian offer Dassault will not bid the Mirage 2000-5Mk2 for Austria's fighter competition as it does not think it can win. Austria released a request for proposals (RFP) in October to Boeing for the F/A-18E/F, EADS for the Euro- fighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin for the F-16 and Saab/BAE Systems for the Gripen, as well as to Dassault. The RFP is for 30 fighters - 24 single-seaters and six two- seaters - and responses are due by late January. Industrial offset of 200% is required. The requirement to take the Austrian air force's Saab J350E Draken fighters and Saab 105OE trainers as trade- in for the new aircraft also makes bidding unattractive, says the French manufacturer. Vienna has suggested a decision could be made towards the end of 2002 lead ing to deliveries from 2005. The Gripen is acknowl edged as lead contender because of the Austrian air force's links with its Swedish counterpart and Saab. The F-16 is considered to be the other principal contender. ATTACK HELICOPTERS PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC Kuwait revives Apache buy in deal including Longbow radar Proposed $640m sale will include Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missile Kuwait is poised to relaunch its Apache acquisition Kuwait is reviving long-standing plans to order 16 Boeing AH-64D Apache helicopters complete with Lockheed Martin Longbow fire- control radars, while neighbouring Saudi Arabia is looking at price and availability data with a view to procuring an additional 24 of the attack machines. According to Department of Defense sources, a letter of request from Kuwait is expected shortly, following changes at the local min istry of defence. This will start a period of informal and formal noti fication to the US Congress of the proposed $640 million foreign mil itary sale, which will include Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missiles. It is hoped to issue Kuwait a letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) early next year. Boeing (and before that Mc Donnell Douglas) has been trying to sell the Apache to Kuwait since 1993 without success until now. A letter of acceptance was issued once before in 1998. The proposed deal has been frustrated by a series of issues, including the US govern ment's refusal to sell Kuwait the Longbow millimetre-wave radar. Kuwait was then considering buy ing an armed version of the Sikorsky UH-60L until Washington blocked the sale of sensitive AAQ- 16 forward looking infrared and laser designation technology. More recently, Bell has been try ing to interest Kuwait in the improved four-blade AH-1Z Super Cobra, which is in development for the US Marine Corps. Other pending sales to Kuwait include four Lockheed Martin C-130J transports and two KC-130J tankers, as well as airborne early warning and control systems, prob ably Boeing's 737-based Airborne Early Warning systems (Flight International 13-19 November). Saudi Arabia is considering acquiring up to 24 Apache Long bows to complement its fleet of 12 AH-64As. In the longer term, the United Arab Emirates is expected to sign an LOA to remanufacture its 30 machines to AH-64D standard, while Egypt has signed a $242 mil lion contract to similarly upgrade its 35 AH-64Ds by 2006. The latter, however, will not have been cleared to receive the Longbow radar, owing to the sensi tivities of neighbouring Israel. GOVERNMENT CO-OPERATION French twist partners' arms on A400M contract France has staged a series of meet ings to discuss the Airbus Military Company A400M tactical transport in an attempt to get a contract signed by the end of the year. The French government has held meetings with Germany and Italy during which the troubled programme was on the agenda. A contract was scheduled to be inked in Berlin last month, but Germany declined to sign. The Germans have been drag ging their feet by conducting a last- minute effort to reduce the cost of the aircraft by around 8%. It has committed to the programme's largest off-take, 73 aircraft, and is responsible for funding the biggest share of the $16 billion project. Many observers doubt Berlin's intention ever to take the number it is committed to. The participating countries - Belgium, France, Germany, Luxem bourg, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the UK - have been planning to conclude a deal by the end of this year, but there are limited occa sions when the defence ministers will be together, making a meeting in Brussels on 18 December the most likely date for a signing. Berlin, with the other partici pants, gave responsibility for nego tiating the A400M contract to the pan-European OCCAR arms pro curement agency, and is "not in a position to re-negotiate the con tract individually", says an indus try source. AMC says it could re-negotiate the deal with OCCAR, but that would delay the programme beyond the end of the year. French political leaders met with their Italian counterparts last week continuing attempts to persuade Rome to maintain a presence in the programme. The Italian defence minister, Antonio Martino, has already declared that Italy will not partici pate, and the previously pro- A400M industry minister, Antonio Marzano, recently said, "the indus trial fall-out of the A400M pro gramme is not so relevant for the Italian industry and I think that there are different instruments to play foreign politics with other than buying aircraft." Without a contract signature before the end of the year, UK participation could also be in jeopardy. It needs A400Ms to be delivered on schedule in 2008 to replace its ageing first-generation Lockheed Martin C-130K Hercules Cl/3s. AMC says it can deliver the first A400M 71 months after contract signing. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4-10 DECEMBER 2001 15
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