Held between February 11 and 16, the 2014 Singapore Air Show attracted more than one thousand companies from 147 countries and highlighted capabilities and products from across Asia and the western world, including Australia.
According to Mr Jimmy Lau, the retiring Managing Director of show organisers Experia Events, the number of exhibiting companies was up by ten percent over the previous event, held in 2012. Floor space within the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC) on Singapore’s east coast was fully subscribed some time before the event and several larger companies had to construct two-storey stands to fulfil their space requirements.
Post-event figures released by Experia indicated that over US$32 billion worth of deals, spread across both civil and military sectors, had been announced and an increase in trade visitors over the first three days of the show from 38,000 in 2012 to 40,000 in 2014.
Military hardware on display
Although the sales announced during Singapore 2014 were heavily in favour of the civil aviation market, most notably the larger airframe manufacturers such as Airbus, ATR, Boeing and Embraer, there was a lot of military hardware on display and several types were making their debut at an Asian air show.
The United States was the feature country at the 2014 event and Boeing in particular had a range of hardware on display in the hope of forthcoming regional sales.
The MV-22B Osprey, produced in partnership with Bell Helicopters and operated by the US Marine Corps appeared in both the static and flying displays, as the two companies pursue a potential near-term sale to Japan. The US Navy also had a Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft on view for part of the show.
This latter aircraft is one of several currently forward-deployed to Japan and it flew down to Australia after the show to serve as the back-drop for the Abbott government’s announcement that eight P-8As, with four options, would be acquired for the RAAF.
Maritime Surveillance was a major theme, with SAAB displaying its 340MSA (Maritime Surveillance Aircraft), including a local demonstration flight for an undisclosed Asian customer. According to the Swedish company’s head of marketing and sales in the maritime surveillance area Rickard Hjelmberg, discussions were being held with five or six customers in the Asia-Pacific region, against the forecast of a global requirement of between 15 and 20 aircraft over the next five years.
Newly rebranded Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Airbus Military) had a C-295MPA at the show, on loan from the Portuguese Air Force, which departed for Auckland immediately afterwards, on demonstration to the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Buoyed by recent sales success in Bangladesh, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) displayed an example of the Yakovlev YAK-130 advanced jet trainer, which shared its time between the static and flying displays as the corporation sought wider interest from the region.
From an Australian perspective, an RAAF Super Hornet took part in the daily flying display and a range of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were represented in the CEC under the ‘Team Defence Australia’ umbrella.
Unmanned vehicles
Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4B Global Hawk programme received welcome news during Singapore 2014 with both South Korea and Japan showing increased interest and, in the weeks following, the Australian government has of course announced its intention to purchase the MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance version.
Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) used the show to formally unveil the latest version of its Heron UAV, dubbed the Super Heron HF – the ‘HF’ standing for ‘Heavy Fuel’. According to IAI President and CEO, Joseph Wise, the Super Heron displays enhanced payload, rate of climb and cruising speed over the earlier Heron I, such as those operated by the ADF in Afghanistan. “We are proud to introduce the new generation of IAI’s leading UAS. The Super Heron introduces the latest technology and redefines Medium Altitude, Long Range UAS,” he said.
Local market
The Singapore Defence Force is a secretive customer and several exhibitors at the show were prevented from speaking about the state of their respective campaigns, but there was plenty of action behind the scenes.
One announcement widely expected was the selection of the Airbus Defence & Space A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) by the Republic of Singapore Air Force, but the company could only offer the ‘no comment’ response to questions.
Some time after the show had finished the Singapore Defence Force announced that the RSAF would acquire six MRTTs and also confirmed earlier media reports that a further two Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopters were on order.
Arguably the major talking point at Singapore 2014 however is the ongoing battle between Northrop Grumman’s SABR (Scaled Agile Beam Radar) and Raytheon’s RACR (Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar) to be included in several regional F-16 upgrade programs, including that of Singapore.
SABR has been selected by the US Air Force for its’ own Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) upgrade of the F-16 (if it goes ahead) and also by Taiwan, whereas RACR has been selected by the Republic of Korea for its KF-16 upgrade program. Singapore has announced it will upgrade 60 F-16Cs and F-16Ds but is yet to select the radar.
