Stewart Penney/LONDON
Boeing is joining Team Meteor, the European consortium competing in the UK's Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) competition to select a weapon to arm the Eurofighter. A decision is expected by early next year.
Boeing joins a European grouping that includes the Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD), Alenia Marconi Systems (AMS), LFK, Saab Dynamics and Casa.
Mike Boyce, vice-president international business development for Boeing Military Aircraft & Missile Systems Group, says the US giant will not take an equity stake in Team Meteor. But it will provide knowledge on supplying the US Department of Defense, lean manufacturing and large-scale systems integration. Fabrice Brégier, MBD chief executive, says the European team will retain control of key technologies, manufacturing and exports.
Lean manufacturing will help the European team reduce the cost of its proposal. It is recognised as being higher than Raytheon's bid, which is based on developments of its Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). Boeing's integration skills will make it easier for Team Meteor to fit its missile on non-European fighters, particularly Boeing's F/A-18E/F.
Boeing specialises in precision guided air-to-ground weapons such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). Meteor will act as a "springboard" to propel Boeing into the air-to-air missile business, says Boyce. Boeing and Lockheed Martin - which has agreements with Israeli missile houses - are keen to compete against Raytheon.
Brégier says the deal will give Meteor access to the US market. Importantly for the European team, the move gives it a transatlantic counter to the US Government's offer to create a UK/US missile development team if Raytheon is selected (Flight International, 22-28 September).
Boyce concedes that Boeing "today has no indication that the US would buy Meteor other than the Clinton Administration's words about transatlantic co-operation". In August, Bill Clinton wrote to UK prime minister Tony Blair describing BVRAAM as an "important opportunity for Anglo-US industrial co-operation" (Flight International, 18-24 August).
Boyce confirms that the ramjet-powered Meteor will not fit in the weapons bay of stealthy aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin/ Boeing F-22 or the Joint Strike Fighter, but he says Meteor's application would be for non-stealthy aircraft, such as the F/A-18 and Boeing F-15, to improve their performance. "The US Government has plans for non-stealthy aircraft for years," he adds.
Boyce says that it is too early to decide where missiles for US customers or Boeing-brokered export sales would be made. Nor will Boeing promote Meteor sales on its aircraft as "most customers don't ask for total solutions", but the manufacturer offers to "assist" customers to pick weapons, he adds.
Raytheon says it is "delighted that MBD has validated our transatlantic approach. Because of that we will probably get down to debating the real issue of jobs, costs, and technology."
Source: Flight International
