Defense News
02/20/2012
Asian Jet Fighter Competitions
Heating Up
By Andrew Chuter and Wendell
Minnick
SINGAPORE — Details of fighter
decisions in Japan, South Korea and Australia came into clearer focus at the
2012 Singapore Airshow last week.
Japan’s December decision to
procure 42 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) from Lockheed Martin for roughly
$8 billion raised questions about how Lockheed would fulfill Japan’s local
industrial participation requirements. Japan is not a partner on the JSF program,
which includes nine primary customers and financial partner nations who each
have a piece of the manufacturing and production pie.
However, “there is a substantial
amount of work on the program that is not being done from within the
partnership,” said David Scott, director of F-35 International Customer
Engagement for Lockheed.
With U.S. government approval,
Lockheed Martin offered Japan an F-35A final assembly and check out site,
“which is where they put the four major structural components of the airplane
together, install the engines and all the electronic systems, do the codings,
do the test flights,” he said. Lockheed also “offered construction of major
structural components and subcomponents, engine assembly, integration and test,
and light maintenance and repair.”
The F-35 beat Boeing’s F/A-18
Super Hornet and Eurofighter’s Typhoon in Japan’s competition to replace aging
Mitsubishi-built F-4EJ Kai Phantoms. Now the F-35 is challenging Boeing’s F-15
Eagle and the Typhoon in a competition in South Korea worth $7.4 billion.
There are suggestions the Japan
decision will build momentum for an F-35 win in South Korea. Not so, Boeing
officials at the air show argued, pointing to the fact that the F-15 is already
in the Korean Air Force’s inventory following an earlier buy and that
relationship will take precedence over competitors.
However, Boeing’s Super Hornet
lost two big competitions in India and Japan. But this year, the company is
hoping for better news from Australia and Malaysia where the fighter has
chances of landing new orders.
Malaysia could decide later this
year on an order for 18-plus aircraft with the Super Hornet, Typhoon and
Dassault’s Rafale as the main contenders.
In Australia, officials are
reviewing options in the face of F-35 delays and questions over cost. The
country will decide later this year whether to stick with F-35 or buy
additional F/A-18s to bolster its existing fleet of Super Hornets.
Most eyes, however, will be on
South Korea where Boeing is pitching its latest version of the F-15, the much
upgraded and stealthier Silent Eagle variant, for a 40-aircraft order.
Jeff Kohler, vice president of
business development at Boeing Military Aircraft, told reporters at the air
show that the company will submit its response to a recent request for
proposals in mid-June and expects a decision from the South Koreans by late
September or October.
Few see the Typhoon as a serious
contender, saying it is evidence they expect a U.S. win for political and
requirement reasons.
The South Korean and Australian
decisions will be the litmus test for JSF’s near-term prospects in the region
following the crucial deal with Japan, defense industry executives said at the
show.
They believe the F-35 is the one
to beat in the South Korean competition as the country’s military will want to
match anything its neighbor, Japan, has in terms of capability.
But Boeing executives are banking
on the company’s relationship with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) while
questioning Lockheed’s ability to deliver in the 2016 timeframe demanded by the
Koreans.
“From an industry standpoint, they already build the
F-15 wings there. If they go for the Silent Eagle, [KAI] will help on [the
development and manufacture of] the conformal weapons bay in Korea as well,”
Kohler said.
No comments:
Post a Comment