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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2217.PDF
HEADLINES DEFENCE STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC US Navy courts MMA investors Formal negotiations on international co-operation deals to start next year as Boeing seeks to avoid mistakes of JSF The US Navy has identified Australia, Canada and Italy as likely candidates to each invest $300 mil lion early next year to join the Boeing Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) programme. Formal negotiations are to start in January on separate co-develop ment deals with the three govern ments, says Capt Steve Eastburg, MMA programme manager. Ideally, agreements would be completed before the third quarter, giving the foreign industries a few months to bid on contracts before the bulk of the MMA design is frozen in September 2005. Although foreign partners will Star Alliance insists its strategy to bring Chinese flag carrier Air China into its family has not suffered a setback, despite Oneworld member Cathay Pacific outlining plans to acquire a one-tenth share. Last year the Lufthansa-led alliance highlighted China, along with India and Russia, as "white spots" on the global network dia grams lacking significant Star Alliance hubs. The alliance identi fied Air China as the best fit for its strategy and is understood to have not have access to work on compo nents that are common to the base line Boeing 737-800, they can com pete for the MMA-specific items, such as the weapons bay, wing pylons and mission systems, says Tony Parasida, Boeing vice-presi dent maritime systems. Govern ments with co-development deals also may be granted indigenous facilities to perform sustainment work on a potential worldwide fleet of up to 150 aircraft, he adds. But misgivings caused by the troubled international industrial alliance for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which includes Australia, Canada and Italy, must be over- started initial talks for possible entry. However, last month Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways agreed a tentative agreement that would see it take 9.9% of shares at the time of privatisation in a deal that includes scope for future co operation. Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance chief executive, says: "the Cathay ownership of part of Air China is actually no hurdle to it joining, but we keep out options open. There are three alliances and three major carriers in China, so if come. The navy hopes not to repeat the mistakes of the Lockheed Martin-led JSF team. "You don't set up false expectations - not that the JSF team did," Parasida adds. "We are not guaranteeing any degree of industrial participation." The navy's actions seem to echo the early days of the JSF interna tional marketing effort. Again, the US side has approached each of the interested governments with busi ness cases showing potential finan cial returns from investing in the project. Also, foreign bidders will have to operate under short time lines to secure the necessary ech- nology transfer clearances and it could make sense to admit one of the others." Meanwhile, Albrecht says joint definition of aircraft is high on the agenda of the alliance, following the pilot scheme of combined specifica tion of regional jets between Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, Luft hansa and Scandinavian Airlines earlier this year. Albrecht says Boeing "fully supports this method of standardised aircraft, as it makes it easier for spares, services and other support". Albrecht concedes compete for work before most of the contracts are awarded. Seven other countries seeking a replacement aircraft for the anti submarine warfare mission also have shown interest in the project. Boeing won the $3.9 billion MMA contract in June, promising to deliver the first in-service unit a year early and generate $1 billion in savings. Five months later, Boeing and the navy are holding to the early delivery strategy, but some of the savings may have been lost by the navy's decision to delay the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance programme by three years, says Parasida. that individual airlines were scepti cal of the project, before they calcu lated the savings associated with bulk purchasing. The logic has now been applied to joint Jet A purchas ing through Star Fuel at Los Angeles, San Francisco, London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports. Brock Friesen, Star Alliance vice- president of financial strategy, says joint purchasing, which includes advertising and computer systems acquisition, has saved members "tens of millions of dollars". GENERAL AVIATION Centurion certificated Thielert Aircraft Engines (TAE) has received European Aviation Safety Agency certification for its Centurion 4.0 V8 turbodiesel air craft engine. The 310hp (230kW) Centurion 4.0 is set to fly early next year, TAE says, on High Performance Aircraft's TT62 Alekto five-seat piston twin, underdevelopment. Chemnitz, Germany-based TAE says it is targeting established aircraft including the Beechcraft Bonanza and Cessna 206. BUSINESS AVIATION Global Express XRS wing and fuselage mated Bombardier has mated the wing and fuselage of the first Global Express XRS ultra-long-range busi ness jet at its Downsview facility in Toronto, Canada. The 28.65m-span (94ft) wing is designed and manu factured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Nagoya, Japan and shipped to Bombardier for final assembly. First flight and certifica tion of the XRS, which supersedes the Global Express in production, is scheduled for next year, leading to service entry in the first quarter of 2006. The XRS features an additional 670kg (1,490lb)-capacity forward fuel tank in the wing/body fairing that boosts range to 11,400km (6,160nm)atMach0.85. Bombardier is also fitting as stan dard its enhanced vision system and Rockwell Collins integrated cabin electronics. AIR TRANSPORT JUSTIN WASTNAGE / SEATTLE Star defends Air China strategy despite Cathay 4 9-15 NOVEMBER 2004 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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