DAVID McINTOSH
Dassault’s Rafale, left, appeared to some to have the inside track for the UAE fighter contract, in part due to the country’s decades of experience with Dassault Mirages. But now it might be a new contract. The Eurofighter team positioned an additional two Typhoons here for the show. The team also took the positive step of painting its stand model in UAE colors, above.
UAE blasts fighter bid wide open uContinued from page 1 Here in the UAE, Dassault and its partners have been pursuing the sale of the Rafale for more than three years. The allFrench combat jet would replace a similar number of Dassault Mirage 2000-9 fighters. Aging Fleet
Half of the UAE’s Mirage fleet is nearly 30 years old. In 2009-10, the talks were reported to have been snagged by the country’s desire for more powerful engines, a helmet-mounted display, an electronic warfare upgrade and an upgrade to the Rafale’s new AESA radar to provide more range and additional modes. France balked at paying several hundred million euros to develop these upgrades, since the French air force and navy did not yet require them. The UAE was also expecting France to take back the UAE Mirage 2000 fleet in part-exchange.
Dreamliner realized
uContinued from page 1 the A350XWB (see page 67). Indeed, a kind of reversal of fortunes seems at work here in the desert, as Airbus assumes the role of answering for program delays while Boeing can concentrate on making a splash with likely order announcements from the likes of Emirates Airline for 777s. For its part, Airbus looks ready to snag a significant orders of its own from Qatar for at least five A380s and as many as 50 A320neos, along with another deal from lessor ALAFCO for more of the reengined narrowbodies. Still, with Airbus’s recent announcement that it had “ter-
Last September, French newspaper Les Echos reported that a team led by Dassault had returned to Abu Dhabi at the request of the UAE, bringing a firm technical and commercial offer. In mid-October, French defense minister Gerard Longuet said negotiations had reached a final stage and chances of agreeing on a contract by the end of the year were strong. Boeing officials told AIN that the UAE requested and received classified briefings from the U.S. government on the F-15 Strike Eagle and the F/A-18 Super Hornet last February. But when contacted yesterday, they had no knowledge of a formal RFP. Riad Kahwaji, CEO of local defense thinktank INEGMA, said the UAE might consider a re-order for Lockheed Martin F-16s. The British source said the UAE requirement was for 60 aircraft to be delivered from 2017. The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) made a late decision to boost the Typhoon here; it added two Typhoons to the airshow
that were previously scheduled to return direct to the UK from the recent Air Tactical Leadership Course at Al Dhafra airbase, UAE. Also, Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Dalton, chief of the UK air staff, was a late addition to the program at yesterday’s Air Chiefs Conference.
minated” production of the long beleaguered A340 and its now well documented problem with the A350, the appearance here of the 787, a flydubai 737-800 with a new Sky interior and a Qatar Airways 777-200 on static display marks something of a shift for Boeing, whose relationship with Qatar, in particular, had suffered through some rocky patches over past years.
cial crisis in Europe. A region known for its hunger for big commercial airplanes, the Middle East will continue to generate considerable demand for Boeing’s 777, which this year has drawn orders for 132 examples and for which Albaugh said the company has entered contract talks with “half a dozen” airlines. On the prospects of a new 777X, Albaugh reiterated the need to wait first for Airbus’s definition of an A350-1000. If the Airbus product enters the market some time around 2018, Boeing would react soon afterward. Albaugh said the company’s $273 billion backlog “sounds great” to Wall Street, but “it’s hard to tell customers to stand in line” for as many as eight years for an aircraft. “If we get to 10 [Dreamliners] per month, we’ve got to take a hard look at
‘Contagion’ Concerns Yesterday during a roundtable discussion with journalists here in Dubai, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh expressed optimism about the region in general, notwithstanding the complications presented by the so-called Arab Spring. He did acknowledge, however, the possibility of “contagion” from the looming finan-
Licensed Production
Negotiations between the Saudi Arabia and UK governments over the supply of 72 Eurofighters began in early 2006 and reached a conclusion in September 2007. The first 24 aircraft were assembled, flown and delivered to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) from BAE’s Warton factory during the past two years. The remainder were to be produced under license in the Kingdom. BAE Systems built a big new facility at Dhahran airbase for the purpose. Depot maintenance of the RSAF’s BAE Tornado fleet has been transferred to there from Riyadh. But instead of being shipped to Dhahran, AIN understands that
major subassemblies for at least the next seven Typhoons have gone into storage at Warton. “The Saudi Arabian government is considering options for the assembly of the final 48 aircraft,” a spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defence told AIN. Meanwhile, in October last year, the U.S. government
notified Congress of the huge Strike Eagle package. Worth no less than $29.5 billion, it included an upgrade to the RSAF’s 70 existing F-15 Strike Eagles, as well as the 84 newbuilds, plus a very comprehensive equipment and weapons suite. Boeing Military Aircraft officials have declined to comment on the deal. However, Boeing chairman and CEO Jim McNerney told financial analysts last month that the company had invested in long-lead time items for the Saudi package because he was “confident” that it would be confirmed. Saudi decision-making has always been opaque, and the recent death of Crown Prince Sultan, 81, may further complicate the situation. He had been defense minister for the past 40 years. His successor in that role is Prince Salman, 76, another veteran of the Al Sudairi clan. o
Rafale Versus Typhoon in India India’s choice between the Rafale and the Typhoon for the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement is eagerly awaited. After two years of technical evaluation, the four other MMRCA contenders were eliminated last April. All of the 124 aircraft required, except the first 18, must be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL). The commercial bids from Dassault and EADS representing Eurofighter were opened in New Delhi 10 days ago. The Times of India reported that the unit flyaway cost of the Eurofighter was found to be higher than that of the Rafale, while the Deccan Herald reported the opposite. The MMRCA contest rules require that the winner now be chosen on price. No credit for extra performance will be carried over from the technical evaluation. But the commercial bids comprise some complicated pricing for training and logistics, including life-cycle costs and the cost of transferring technology. During the contest, India upped its offset requirement to 50 percent. The process of clarifying all aspects of the commercial bids could yet take some months. –C.P.
11 and then 12,” said Albaugh. “Burning the backlog” for virtually all its models stands as one of the company’s biggest challenges, he said, despite warnings by some analysts of market saturation and overproduction. Despite his keen interest in moderating the company’s backlogs, Albaugh said the company made a decision “about six or nine months ago” to boost Boeing Capital’s market exposure, primarily because the company’s customers have expressed a desire for more financial support. Not long ago the company had made a strategic decision to draw down its exposure to aircraft financing. However, “I wasn’t here then,” said Albaugh. Here in Dubai, yesterday, Boeing was particularly bullish about the prospects for the new re-engined version of the 737
narrowbody known as the 737 MAX. Now holding commitments for some 700 of the CFM Leap-1B-powered airplanes, Albaugh predicted that Boeing would “pretty much” equal the Airbus A320neo’s backlog within six months or so. To date Airbus holds firm orders for 1,100 A320neos, and total commitments for 1,300. Albaugh insisted that Airbus’s A320neo did not drive the decision to re-engine the 737. Although, he said, as an engineer, he would have liked to have seen Boeing introduce an all-new airplane, the timing didn’t work. Customers wanted a more efficient airplane “now,” he said. Boeing couldn’t run the risk of alienating them with more delays and fall victim to a production system ill-equipped to produce as many as 60 composite airplanes a month. o
www.ainonline.com • April 2011 • Aviation International News 69