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por Penguin » Dom Jun 02, 2013 8:19 pm
Aviation Week & Space Technology / April 15, 2013
Defense
Anyone's Race
At long last, Brazil nears a fighter decision
Bill Sweetman Rio de Janeiro
Brazil's purchase of 36 new fighters, a key target for competitors Boeing, Saab and Dassault, is “on the desk” of President Dilma Rousseff. Industry executives seem united in believing that the decision cannot be deferred much beyond the summer without costing Brazil more money—or even putting force structure at risk—as aging fighters are forced into retirement. Competing officials also report signals from the Brazilian military that the deal will move quickly through the contract stage once Rousseff has made her choice.
However, none of the competitors believes it is in the lead and none are agreed on what factors will weigh most on the ultimate decision. They also recognize that the competitive picture has changed since 2009, when the then-presidents of France and Brazil, Nicholas Sarkozy and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, announced that they were uniting on a Rafale order.
In particular, Sweden has now launched development of the JAS 39E version of the Gripen, and in advance of the LAAD Defense and Security International Exhibition here last week, has disclosed details of its offer and a potentially valuable follow-on in the shape of further progress with a carrier-based Sea Gripen that could be co-developed with Brazil.
Saab's Gripen sales director, Eddy de la Motte, disclosed here that the Swedish government's EKN export-import bank has agreed to offer a generous financial package to Brazil, in which the customer would not have to make any payments to Saab until the last aircraft in the initial batch had been delivered. After that, Brazil would have 15 years to pay “on flexible terms.” Saab's leading local partner—presumably Embraer —would have access to source code for the development of future upgrades and weapon integration, and would lead marketing and produce aircraft for Latin America markets. Saab would retain Europe; the rest of the world would be divided case-by-case.
Saab is also ready to award subcontracts for up to 80% of the JAS 39E aerostructure work to Brazilian companies. This work would be sole-source, de la Motte says, so Brazilian suppliers would be providing components for Swedish aircraft and for export. In a new teaming arrangement, Saab has tapped Brazil's AEL Sistemas, an Elbit subsidiary, to provide the JAS 39E's new widescreen cockpit displays.
Also, Saab has announced that its work on the Sea Gripen has reached a point where the company's leadership believes that the program can be offered to either of the likely candidates—Brazil or India—as a fixed-price package. This has been the work of a 35-strong team established last year in the U.K., including engineers familiar with carrier operations. Saab now says a Gripen N prototype could be ready for catapult/arrest tests within 36 months of a go-ahead and that production aircraft could be available two years later. A $250 million price tag is projected for a co-development package.
The Gripen N study team concluded that a catapult-arrest system is best for the aircraft, because short-takeoff/arrested landing (Stobar) limits takeoff weight, payload and range. The group also reviewed airframe loads, and Saab will propose the Gripen N with an 8,000-hr. life in land operations and 6,000 hr. at sea. The tailhook design was reviewed and changed in light of the problems encountered by the F-35C. A thrust boost of about 10% is being discussed with General Electric, for the JAS 39E as well as for the N model.
Saab says the Gripen's approach speed is on the high side for carrier work, but that its low landing weight counters that, making it acceptable in terms of arrester gear loads. Also, the approach attitude is flat enough to avoid over-the-nose visibility issues, the manufacturer notes.
Brazil and India are the leading candidates because possession of a carrier is a prerequisite for a Gripen N partner. India's first catapult-arrest carrier is under construction at Kochi, a port city on the west coast of India, and Brazil is working on establishing a fully operational air wing of A-4 Skyhawks (acquired from Kuwait and newly upgraded by Embraer) and Grumman S-2 Turbo Trackers, to be operated from the carrier Sao Paulo, previously France's Foch. (Rafale is too large to operate from Foch without limitations, and the same may apply to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.)
U.K. officials have also been briefed on Gripen N as a fall-back in case of further problems with the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Fitting the U.K.'s new carriers with catapults would be prohibitively expensive at this point, but the combination of their long decks, a hold-back device to allow the engine to open to full throttle with the aircraft static, and an uprated engine would reduce the Stobar penalty.
Dassault, however, continues to see the Super Hornet as its leading rival and the Gripen as an aircraft “in a different category,” according to a company executive here. A key advantage of Rafale, the company says, is that it is unaffected by U.S. trade restrictions (Gripen has high U.S. content including the engine and flight-control system).
Saab also regards Boeing as its leading rival, partly because of the U.S. company's developing relationship with Embraer Defense & Space and partly because U.S. government's high-level influence may be a bigger factor for Rousseff than for defense chiefs. Boeing announced the formation of a small research and technology center in Brazil at the show, but stressed that it was not directly linked to a Super Hornet order.
Sempre e inevitavelmente, cada um de nós subestima o número de indivíduos estúpidos que circulam pelo mundo.
Carlo M. Cipolla
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