Australia buys the Tiger

The Australian Army has selected Eurocopter International Pacific's (EIP) Tiger as its new Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) in preference to Boeing's Apache and the Bell Helicopter Textron ARH-1Z Cobra. As the first export customer for the Tiger, which is in production for the armies of France and Germany, Australia will acquire 22 aircraft worth an estimated $1.3 billion.

ADM understands that the Bell tender has been set aside and could yet be advanced in the unlikely event that negotiations fail with EIP. The Boeing Apache bid has been excluded from the competition.

Dubbed "Aussie Tiger," the helicopters will be based on the French Army's Tiger HAP configuration and will, reportedly, be assembled at a new assembly and support facility in Brisbane. They will equip two operational squadrons and a training unit at the Army's Aviation centre at Oakey, near Brisbane.

While all official statements to date have been emphatic that assembly as well as deep maintenance will be conducted in Queensland, a state government source expressed surprise at that proposition and indicated that negotiations with at least two state governments were on-going at the time the announcement was made. Assembly and deep maintenance in Queensland makes sense given where the aircraft will be based, but the ultimate assembly location will be driven at least in part by the availability of suitability qualified skilled personnel.

The aircraft, which are being acquired under Defence's Project Air 87, are scheduled to enter service in 2004, according to the Minister for Defence, Mr Peter Reith.

The Tiger will be the Australian Army's first dedicated armed reconnaissance helicopter. At present the Army uses Vietnam War-era UH-1H Iroquois helicopters for aerial fire support and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters for airborne reconnaissance, but these lack modern sensors, communications and electronic warfare self-protection systems essential for increasingly high-risk reconnaissance missions, while the UH-1H is too slow to escort modern troop-carrying helicopters such as the S-70A Blackhawk.

Both helicopter types will be replaced by the Tiger which will carry a 30mm cannon, free-flight rockets, laser guided Hellfire missiles with blast fragmentation warheads and a suite of electro-optic and thermal imaging reconnaissance and fire control sensors for 24-hour operations. It will also have an advanced communications suite with digital datalinks to allow the exchange of tactical data between individual helicopters and between the helicopters and ground forces. EIP will also deliver a flight simulator and full training equipment package as part of the prime contract.

"The Tiger will transform Army's ability to conduct tactical reconnaissance by day or night and provide a vital capability to escort and protect our Black Hawk helicopters as they transport troops and supplies," Reith said.

Project Air 87 is the first major acquisition project to use the SMART (Strategic MAteriel Request for Tender) 2000 procurement methodology, unveiled last year by DMO chief Mr Mick Roche as a response to criticism of the department's lengthy and expensive equipment selection and procurement process.

SMART 2000 is designed to reduce the cost of tendering and accelerate the introduction of new equipment into service, Reith said. "In the past, it has ty
The department called for tenders for Project Air 87 in December last year. Eurocopter, Boeing, Bell and Italian firm Agusta submitted their tenders for the contract on April 30 this year, and the department plans to complete contract negotiations and sign the prime contract with EIP before the end of the year, Reith said. ADM understands that project staff are under no pressure to tie up the deal before the impending federal election expected on November 17, but could not elicit any official comment on the issue.

There have been persistent stories that negotiations between the Commonwealth and Eurocopter had already begun some weeks before the announcement and that the selection of the Tiger pre dates the Collins combat system decision. A Defence spokesman refused to comment on the proposition and would neither confirm nor deny the presence of an Australian negotiating team in Europe.

The SMART 2000 process has been played out on a level playing field, according to Brendan Roberts, general manager of the Canberra office of France's defense and aerospace export marketing organisation, Sofema. The fact that the DMO was able to select a prime contractor so quickly demonstrates the quality of the process, he said.

All of the contenders had criticised the complexity of the Project Air 87 tender document when it was released, Roberts said, but it was very detailed and comprehensive and so had resulted in an unambiguous decision. ADM understands that the Tiger was a clear winner on a value-for-money capability basis.

Eurocopter's success in Australia is significant for two reasons according to Roberts. Project Air 87 is the first in the world to seek an armed reconnaissance helicopter rather than a dedicated battlefield anti-tank helicopter. The distinction is important, he said: the Apache is still the pre-eminent 'tank-buster' for high-intensity conflict, but many customers such as Australia don't need the Apache's full capability, requiring instead a lighter, cheaper helicopter. As a result, the Australian Army's operational requirement in Project Air 87 favored the Tiger.

Secondly, Roberts said, the Tiger is now in full production for the French and German armies and so will be able to meet delivery deadlines for export customers such as Australia. This was not the case when the Tiger was competing against the Apache in earlier contests in the Netherlands and Britain three years ago.

The Tiger's win in Australia was due to a good all-round proposal by EIP, said Gilbert Dangleterre, chief executive officer of EADS Australia Pacific Pty Ltd. EIP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EADS. The Tiger is the most modern airframe design offered to Australia, he said, and the Eurocopter bid reflected the company's understanding of Australia's operational requirements as well as the need for a meaningful level of Australian Industry Involvement (AII).

The Tigers will be assembled at a new facility to be established, most likely in Brisbane, by another EADS subsidiary, Aerospace Australia Pty Ltd, which EADS acquired last month from Hawker Pacific. The new facility will provide in-service support for the Tigers and will also incorporate an assembly line for Eurocopter's EC120 Colibri single-engined civil helicopter for which there is a growing Asia-Pacific market, Dangleterre said. This facility will produce 30-50 helicopters a year.

Eurocopter's Australian industry partners include ADI Ltd, which will be responsible for systems integration and the training and simulation aspects of the contract; and Brown & Root Services Asia-Pacific Pty Ltd, which will be responsible for supporting and maintaining the helicopters and their training systems and simulators.

By Gregor Ferguson & Daniel Cotterill, Adelaide & Canberra