Air 87 - sifting the sales pitches
All four shortlisted contenders for Air 87 overcame the first hurdle in the contest when they submitted their tenders on April 30. Developing a compliant tender was not an easy task...
After years of delays and studies, the shortlisted contenders for the Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter project, Air 87, finally submitted their bids on April 30. Although a relatively small project by global standards, Air 87 is the biggest armed helicopter project in our region, worth nearly $1.5 billion, and has pitted Boeing's AH-64 Apache and Bell Helicopter Textron's Cobra AH-1 against the Franco-German Eurocopter Tiger and the Italian Agusta 129 Scorpion helicopters, after these aircraft were short-listed (not without some controversy) last year.
"All's set," Eurocopter chairman and chief executive officer Jean-Francois Bigay told ADM. "We've done our home work and submitted our copy [proposal], hoping to meet fully Australia's requirements and specifications. Aussie Tiger has good chances and more than ever before we are confident in winning this most coveted contest by the year's end."
At Eurocopter headquarters in Marignane, southern France, their confidence is based on Australia's reputation for fair play in defence procurement and for seeking the best defence equipment at the best affordable costs, barring undue foreign political pressure
Eurocopter is currently building the first 160 Tigers for the French and German armed forces - 80 aircraft each - at an initial production rate of 20 per annum over eight years, but with a total requirement for 427 aircraft for both countries at a stepped-up annual output. The French Army air arm ALAT (Aviation Legere de l'Armee de Terre) and the German Bundeswehr will begin to receive their Tigers in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Germany has opted for the antitank combat version while France has gone for the standard armed reconnaissance and air support version. The Aussie Tiger is near-identical to the French model. Essential modifications for the Air 87 project are confined principally to the required communications fit, otherwise the two models share the same composite airframe, engines, sensors and weapon systems.
The Aussie Tiger is proposed with full technology transfer for all-local support and comes at a convenient time for the Air 87 project as the Commonwealth will benefit from the experience of the launch customers and enjoy the logistic, managerial and operational benefits of being part of a large fleet.
Eurocopter claims that, unlike the other upgraded or retrofitted aircraft in the race, Aussie Tiger offers the most up-to-date, integrated technology in all areas:
* only contender to offer a near full-composite airframe, with maximum payload and minimum wasted weight, more damage tolerance, free from any crack propagation or salt corrosion problems, and easly repairable
* nap of earth power and manoeuvre margin with hingeless rotor head technology
* unprecedented weapon aiming accuracy sets a new benchmark for combat efficiency and a rapid, effective response
* high-precision sight for rockets and 30mm gun with latest generation thermal imager mounted on roof to take advantage of available cover
* leading edge mission management system
* 24-hour operation capable
* standard range at maximum take-off weight with internal fuel: 800km ( 1,300km ferry range with two external tanks)
* it sets a new benchmark for reliability, availability and maintainability and so requires much reduced manpower
* latest generation modular engines with full FADEC for maximum economy
* bearing-less, rigid rotor head with long-life blades.
Eurocopter boasts its own subsidiary in Australia, Eurocopter International Pacific, an Australian company established in Sydney 17 years ago. A wholly owned subsidiary of Eurocopter, it supports more than 250 Eurocopter helicopters in the region, including those of the ADF. Expertise and resources are concentrated in its bases in Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, with appropriate facilities to repair all composite blades. EIP's turnover was $35 million in 2000, with a 39-strong staff.
The Aussie Tiger team also boasts strong, reliable Australian partners to maximise local support as well as the local content of the Air 87 bid. They are:
* ADI Ltd, one of Australia's leading defence, engineering and systems companies, 50 per cent owned by France's Thales (formerly Thomson-CSF), which brings to Australia its systems development, integration and support, project management and training and high-level simulation expertise. ADI has also established strong relationship with EADS
* Brown and Root: training system, operation and support. Brown & Root is a subsidiary of the Halliburton Company, one of the world's largest engineering, construction, maintenance and project management companies, with strong defence client bases in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and various other countries worldwide.
* Celsius Hawker Pacific: assembly and test, platform support. Celsius Hawker Pacific is Asia Pacific's largest independent aviation sales and product support companies, providing aircraft, helicopter and equipment sales, airframe repair, overhaul and modification, spare parts distribution and technical support.
"The die is cast, and after the short list in August and the flight tests in Australia the following weeks and perhaps months, hopefully we'll know by Christmas the Aussie Tiger has won Air 87," a senior Eurocopter source told ADM.
By Gilbert Sedbon, Gregor Ferguson, Paris, Mesa & Adelaide