UAE Shortlists Jet Trainer Contenders - Defense News, India,Andrew Chuter, Pierre Tran,26/Feb/2007,Monday,13h06
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has narrowed the field of contenders vying to win basic trainer and lead-in fighter trainer contracts for the Air Force here. It’s a selection that could be made as much for its industrial content as the performance of the aircraft. Shortlists of three candidates for each requirement were announced at the IDEX-2007 arms show here Feb. 21. The Gulf state is expected to buy more than 60 aircraft across the two trainer types and says it hopes to decide by the end of the year. The United Arab Emirates likely will require the winners to partner with local industry in production and assembly facilities as the government looks to build local capabilities in the sector. The lead-in fighter trainer contest here has grabbed most of the attention, with the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 and BAE Systems advanced Hawk conventional trainers going up against the Korean Aerospace Industries’ T-50 supersonic jet trainer. With around 40 aircraft expected to be purchased and an almost certain requirement for local assembly, the lead-in fighter trainer is the more significant of the two deals. For the basic trainer contest, Alenia Aermacchi’s jet-powered M-311 finds itself in a battle against two turboprops — Embraer’s Super Tucano and the Pilatus PC-21. Industry sources said that requirement is likely to exceed 20 aircraft. Under normal circumstances, that’s hardly sufficient to justify creating a local assembly line. Only Alenia Aermacchi has a contender in both competitions. The company already has a handful of training aircraft in service with the UAE Air Force. Within the last month, the Italian company was asked to submit information to the United Arab Emirates based on a combination of its M-311 and its twin-engine M-346 trainer, Chief Executive Carmelo Cosentino said at IDEX. Others also have been asked for proposals on how they would manage the combined training fleet. The Air Force here currently uses older versions of the Hawk and the PC-7 for the bulk of its training. BAE Sales Director Mike Rudd, for example, said his company is proposing to keep the current PC-7s in service, possibly with an upgrade, and replace the Hawk 63s now doing basic jet training with the newer Hawk 102s currently doing lead-in fighter training. Twelve international bidders were lined up for the competition. The United Arab Emirates is looking for a total training solution that includes aircraft and ground-based simulation capabilities, and some of the contenders were specialist training suppliers without also being platform makers. The United Arab Emirates is looking to upgrade its pilot training capabilities as new aircraft like the Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60 and upgraded Dassault Mirage 2000 come into operation. Lockheed Martin is a partner in the South Korean T-50 jet trainer program. Eleven have been delivered to the Republic of Korea Air Force, the sole customer to date. The timing of the in-service date for the new UAE aircraft isn’t yet clear, but industry executives here said the Air Force is short of pilots and, in addition, quickly needs new-generation trainers to match the high-class front-line equipment now appearing in the service’s inventory. Industry Considerations While the evaluation of the six short-listed aircraft intensifies, a second key battle is developing over the industrial packages the contenders can offer the United Arab Emirates as it moves to build its defense and aerospace capabilities. IDEX was marked by a flurry of visits by high-ranking government officials all putting the industrial case for their respective trainers to the UAE government. British, Italian and South Korean ministers all participated in separate defense industrial discussions with senior UAE government officials. At the same time, all the major industry players were holding high-level talks with Mubadala Development, the investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government. Mubadala is expected to play a central role in the creation of any joint venture to assemble and manufacture trainers here. The Arabian Gulf state is following a similar path taken by Saudi Arabia, which has been building up local capabilities with the help of partnering investments with players like BAE. Part of the deal to buy 72 Typhoon fighters from BAE and its Eurofighter partners involves, for the first time, the local assembly of the aircraft. Abu Dhabi, one of the UAE emirates, has funded development of cruise missiles by the British and the Block 60 variant of the F-16, and is now moving into local production of weapons itself. Local ventures such as the Caracal semi-automatic pistol and the target and surveillance drones from Adcom Military Industries on display at IDEX signaled the determination to build up a domestic industrial base, a UAE official said. The trainer has long been earmarked as a potential platform to develop aerospace capabilities here. The United Arab Emirates originally inked a memorandum of understanding with EADS to fund co-development of the European company’s MAKO jet trainer. That deal eventually foundered. Aermacchi’s Cosentino told reporters Feb. 19 that his company’s response included parent firm Finmeccanica opening a UAE of-fice in mid-2007. Management sees the country as a market and an industrial partner. The UAE development agency is looking at investing in Italy, especially in high-tech sectors; Finmeccanica offers opportunities in energy and transportation, he said.
A concorrência para os treinadores dos Emirados Árabes
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