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Aviation History
2002
2002 - 0621.PDF
ASIAN AEROSPACE 2002 ENGINE PROCUREMENT Engine Alliance whs Emirates deal Joint venture pulls ahead of rival Rolls-Royce in firm orders and commitments to power Airbus A380 Engine Alliance has stormed into the lead in the battle to supply engines for the Airbus A380 follow ing confirmation of the deal between the General Electric/Pratt & Whitney joint venture and Emirates, first revealed by Flight International (5-11 February). Emirates has signed a $1.5 bil lion memorandum of understand ing for 88 GP7200S plus 10 spare engines to power the 22 A380s it has on firm order. The Dubai-based airline says it will become the first DEVELOPMENT India orders production start for Light Combat Aircraft The Indian government has autho rised Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to start limited series production of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), and has ordered eight aircraft for delivery from 2006. The second General Electric F404- powered LCA prototype is due to make its maiden flight imminently, says HAL chairman NR Mohanty. The first LCA flew in January last year, but progress has been slow due to US sanctions following India's nuclear test. However, Mohanty SATELLITE IMAGING ImageSat International is develop ing a technique that will allow it to offer satellite imagery at 0.6-0.7m resolution. The development comes as the company, owned by Israel Aircraft Industries, El-Op and Core Software Technology, contin ues to plan the launch of a second satellite at the end of next year or in early 2004. The satellite imaging company launched its first satellite, EROS A, in December 2000. The company offers 1.8m resolution black and GP7200 operator in September 2006. Singapore Airlines is due to be the first A380 operator, with scheduled delivery of its Rolls- Royce Trent 900-powered examples in March 2006. Selection of the GP7200 over the Trent 900 is a blow to the UK man ufacturer, which was the incum bent supplier at Emirates on its Airbus A330s, A340-500s and Boeing 777s. The deal also puts Engine Alliance ahead of R-R on the A380 expects work* on the project to accel erate following the USA's recent decision to lift the embargo. HAL now aims to buy more F404s to power development and produc tion-standard LCAs rather than using the indigenous Kaveri powerplant. "The Kaveri is not meeting require- - white images as standard, which ) can be improved to lm using "a l technique we call oversampling, t and we're now working on hyper- r sampling to boost this to 0.6- 1 0.7m", says chief executive - Menashe Broder. 1 EROS B will offer colour as well r as black and white images, says Broder. Resolution will depend on r the satellite's orbit, which has yet , to be decided. The craft is initially ' likely to be placed at 480km (300 1 miles), providing 0.6-0.7m resolu- r in terms of firm aircraft. Of the 97 o A380 firm orders and commit- li ments, 32 are GP7200-powered (10 ;- for Air France and 22 Emirates) and s 28 are Trent-powered (12 for Qantas, 10 for Singapore Airlines e and six for Virgin Atlantic). Engine i- competitions remain for 15 FedEx i- Express A380s, five aircraft for s International Lease Finance, 15 for d Lufthansa and two for Qatar Airways, e Emirates chairman Sheikh 0 Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum ments," says Mohanty. "More F404s are coming in the next few months." Among other HAL development programmes, Mohanty is confident its Intermediate Jet Trainer (IJT) will have its first flight by year-end. The fuselage of the first IJT has been completed, and the aircraft's h tion monochrome images and a 2.5m colour. Later the satellite g, would be boosted into a 600km r- orbit, allowing 0.8-0.9m black and S- white resolution and 3.5m colour, e The company purchases its buses from Israel Aircraft Industries 11 while Elop produces the camera. is ImageSat plans a constellation of n five craft, "which will give near ?t real-time imagery", says Broder. ly The three remaining satellites will 0 be launched within two years of l- EROS B, he adds. says the GP7200 was selected as it is "the best deal for Emirates. The performance of the GP7000 will support the long-range mission of the A380s" on Dubai to New York and Sydney routes, he adds. Observers note that R-R's share price has not fallen on the Emirates news, which suggests that the manufacturer has made clear to analysts that it declined to match the terms offered by Engine Alliance. Snecma Larzac engine will be deliv ered in July. "We want to develop this engine to have a full-authority digital engine control and more thrust," says Mohanty. He expects the air force to acquire "a minimum of 200" IJTs. Meanwhile, HAL has finally deliv ered the first two Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to the Indian army after a protracted delay. Mohanty says another six ALHs will be handed over to the air force, navy and coastguard by the end of this month. Plans to assemble ATR 42 turbo- props could be resurrected later this year if the Indian Coastguard pro ceeds with plans to acquire a couple of aircraft, he says. Mohanty aims to establish the state-owned company as an active player in global markets and outsource the bulk of "low- and medium-tech" jobs to the private sector. The company offers three usage levels. Satellite operating partners have an uplink as well as a down link. This gives them a "timeshare" of the system, says Broder, which allows a country to control the image-gathering and to "keep what they're imaging to themselves". ImageSat's priority acquisition service does not offer a control uplink, but images can be provided within two weeks, "and often four days", says Broder. The company also sells images over the internet. ImageSat works to achieve higher resolution The indigenous Kaveri powerplant is not meeting LCA requirements www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 MARCH 2002 9
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