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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1971.PDF
HEADLINES DEFENCE MURDO MORRISON / ATHENS Greeks to re-ignite fighter contest Eurofighter partners urge new Athens government to sign for Typhoon, but Dassault steps up campaign to push Rafale The battle to secure Greece's fighter commitment shifted up a gear last week, with the Eurofighter partners offering Athens a greater role in the programme and Dassault predict ing a renewed competition. A Greek order for 60 Eurofighter Typhoons, plus 30 options, has remained stalled since the election of a new government in March and due to the mounting $9.3 billion costs of the Olympic Games. Defence export ministers from Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK last week urged their Greek coun terpart to sign a commitment for the Typhoon during the Defendory show in Athens. Greater involve ment for Greek industry may be offered as a lure. "It is a priority to create a role for Greece," says Giorgio Zappa, chief executive of Eurofighter partner Alenia Aeronautica. "We welcome Greece inside the programme." Offering the Rafale, Dassault says the centre-right New Democracy administration has pledged to revisit all procurement decisions made by its socialist predecessor. "We have asked the Greek govern ment to reopen the competition and they have said they will do that," says Benoit Dussaugey, Dassault's vice-president military sales for Europe. The company is promoting the Rafale's cost and weapons interoperability benefits with Greece's Mirage fighters. However, a Eurofighter source says there is "little point in a smoke and mirrors new competition when the Rafale was rejected on technical grounds in the first place". NBAA FIRST NEWS GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES Bombardier bets on 'hot and high' Learjet 40 variant in Las Vegas Bombardier is launching at this week's National Business Aviation Association Convention in Las Vegas the Learjet 40XR, an improv ed performance "hot and high" ver sion of the Learjet 40 with upgraded Honeywell TFE731 turbofans. The new variant, orders for which have already been placed, will be delivered from the first quar ter of 2006, says Learjet product planning manager Brad Nolan, who expects the aircraft to be cer tificated in late 2005. The changes, which are almost all associated with the upgrading of the TFE731-20AR to "BR" standard, will also be retro- fittable to "any aircraft we deliver up to that point", adds Nolan. The initiative has been "driven by the market" he says, and comes NBAA FIRST NEWS on the heels of Bombardier's recent launch of the similarly re-engined Learjet 45XR - the first of which was delivered in June 2004. The change dramatically boosts hot and high take-off performance, allowing for increased range out of high altitude, short runway desti nations for current Learjet 40 oper ators such as Aspen, Colorado and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. "There's been so much interest on the US West Coast to retrofit these engines that we just couldn't resist launching the XR," says Nolan, who says the result is "a night and day difference". Although generating the same amount of thrust as the -20AR vari ant, the improved -20BR is flat rated to take conditions in still air up to 25°C (77°F), versus 16°C for the initial powerplant. Maximum take-off weight is also increased, from 9,240kg (20,3501b) to 9,530kg "for people who really want to load up the aircraft ahead of the new [US Federal Aviation Admini stration] requirement", says Nolan. This requirement will increase the amount of weight per passenger for take-off calculations, and is expected to have a significant impact on operations of some air craft in marginal conditions. Bombardier expects retrofits of the existing fleet, which could number up to 25 by the time the first production -40XR is delivered, to occur concurrently with deliver ies of the new XR. SEE NBAA FIRST NEWS P9 NBAA FIRST NEWS Legacy will fly higher Embraer is to raise the operating ceiling of the Legacy super mid size business jet from 39,000ft (12,000m) to 41,000ft in response to customer requests. The Brazilian manufacturer is also close to deciding on a head- up display and enhanced vision system for the aircraft. The higher ceiling will make the Legacy, based on Embraer's ERJ-135 regional jet, more com petitive with dedicated business jets, and will be available as a service bulletin in March 2005, says head of North American sales Scott Callister. Other improvements planned for next year include high-speed data satellite communications using Inmarsat's Swift64 service and Chelton Systems' new con- formal antenna. ATG and IAI team to aim Javelin jet at civil and military markets Colorado-based Advanced Technology Group (ATG) and Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) are to announce a joint venture to co-develop the Javelin very light jet as a civil personal transport and an advanced military trainer. "With this agreement we're taking it to the next level," says ATG president George Bye, who describes the relationship with IAI as a "strategic alignment" between the two companies. Details are being revealed at NBAA, although it is believed the agreement covers joint development, manufacture and marketing. ATG will assume responsibility for the commercial variant, while lAI's Lahav division will oversee development and production of the advanced trainer variant with IAI avionics. ATG, which unveiled the virtually complete prototype at subcontractor Soloy in Olympia, Washington on the eve of NBAA, expects to begin taxi tests of the Williams FJ33-4-powered aircraft "within a few weeks". 4 12-18 OCTOBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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