Farnborough Report New aircraft may not have been in as much evidence as at previous Farnborough displays, but the level of advanced technology on show still made this the highest value event in Europe, if not the world, for 2004. Admittedly, the Society of British Aerospace Companies felt it necessary to introduce a more family-orientated approach to entice the public on the last two days, but the amount of business processed through the five trade days was reportedly higher than at the 2002 show.
Above: New positioning of static aircraft and a completely redeveloped north side underscored the Farnborough Show’s first year under full CAA control. This was the last big aviation industry exhibition before the Airbus A380 makes its dominant appearance next year, but the European consortium still gained prime-time coverage with orders, pithy comments by its CEO in the battle of words with Boeing, and a centre-stage slot in the flying display for two of its products, the slow-selling A318 and the long-fuselage A340-600. Boeing on the other hand made much of an order from Emirates for 777s and from fledgling Etihad for the 7E7. At the regional end of the civil market, Brazilian manufacturer Embraer brought two of its new family of twin-jets, Bombardier laid the foundations for a projected 120-seat design and the Dornier 328Jet returned under the AvCraft name. To try and meet the clear success of the European Business show in Geneva, the SBAC set aside an area specifically for business aircraft. This might have suited some exhibitors, but for many visitors it served to stretch out the static park which was thin to begin with and isolate this sector from the rest of the show. The ‘Government executioner’ in the form of the UK Defence cuts overshadowed the military side of the show (see International News), but Eurofighter survived as did the Nimrod MRA.4, albeit in reduced numbers, when the announcements were made on the Wednesday. It was small comfort to most when the UK Watchkeeper UAV selection was announced (in favour of Thales). Aircraft in export markings have traditionally been part of the Farnborough scene and this year the first Super Lynx 300 was officially handed over to Oman in the AgustaWestland (now owned by Finmeccanica) helicopter park; also delivered was the last of 67 Apache AH.1 attack helicopters to the British Army. The fast jet displays were dominated by the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet and Lockheed Martin’s F-16, but the crowds had clearly come to see the Eurofighter put through its paces. Initially not down to fly, some urgent calls were made and after validation, the RAF undertook a measured routine which was clearly nowhere near the aircraft’s display limits. With purely British-designed aircraft now almost extinct, it was left to the Slingsby Firefly to fly the flag but even this design has its origins in France. Was this a vintage
Farnborough? Probably not, if you have memories of past shows with
the personalities that made up the SBAC organisation who knew the
industry and ran an efficient, friendly operation. Reports of major
changes after the 2006 display could see a different approach to
the aerospace exhibition, and going by this year’s event which
mixed ageing bombers with advanced airliners, the flying displays
appeared to have no heart and little of the panache of past events.
Is there still a need for flying on the trade days? Maybe separate
the flying from the exhibition altogether and take the stands and
chalets to a totally different location – Excel perhaps. Aermacchi displayed the company’s old S.211 demonstrator in the static park to draw awareness to its plans to upgrade the cockpit of the aircraft with a new digital cockpit in the near future as the M.311. While the company is still promoting the type, no new examples have been built for years and so the upgrade is primarily aimed at current operators of the advanced trainer. The air forces of Singapore and the Philippines operate S.211s, the former from Pearce in Western Australia. Singapore is currently seeking a new fighter and thus will probably be aiming to improve its trainers in the near term,
Above:The Agusta Bell AB139 was displayed in prototype form in the static park and had previously been demonstrated at Westland’s Yeovil airfield. (Photo, AgustaWestland). AgustaWestland’s products were displayed in large numbers at Farnborough. An example of the AgustaWestland EH101 for the Italian Navy and the first for the Royal Danish Air Force (in UK military test markings) were displayed in the static park. The latter is due to be delivered during the last quarter of 2004 and was equipped with a pair of winches on the starboard side. In service the search and rescue variant will equip No 722 Squadron from 2005. Others will serve with the Danish Army Air Corps in the troop transport role carrying 16 fully-equipped troops, for which they will be fitted with DIRCM and an electronic warfare suite. The first KH101 (KHI01) for the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) is being built at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil plant in Somerset. The helicopter is the first of 14 examples of the EH101 for the service, and will undergo a clearance programme in the UK before being shipped to Japan in mid-2005. Kawasaki Heavy Industries (hence the KH designation) will then fit the aircraft with its mission equipment, including communications, defensive aids and mine countermeasures warfare equipment. The helicopter is due to replace the JMSDF’s fleet of MH-53J Sea Dragons and the Sikorsky S-61As used on Antarctic support vessels. The other 13 KH101s will be assembled in Japan from kits produced by AgustaWestland, with the first Japanese assembled aircraft to begin assembly in the final quarter of 2005 and to be delivered in 2007. Japanese pilots will undergo training at RNAS Culdrose, Cornwall. On June 1 an Italian Navy EH101 successfully fired a Marte Mk 2 anti-shipping missile for the first time in the Salto di Quirra firing range over Sardinia. The service has also accepted the airborne early warning version of the EH101. Four AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin HM Mk 1 helicopters deployed to Iraq for Operation Telic and over a period of three months successfully undertook 1,650 deck landings, accumulated some 800 flying hours and achieved 90% reliability. As well as basic anti-submarine missions, which were not generally relevant on Telic, the four RN machines undertook ‘lift and shift’ vertical replenishment, trooping and long-range helicopter delivery between ships and shore bases. At a Lockheed Martin Farnborough briefing, Capt Chris Palmer RN, CINCFLEET, considered that the Merlin was ‘the best maritime patrol aircraft in the world’ mainly on account of its ‘swing-role’ ability which was amply demonstrated in the Gulf. More recently, Merlins have exercised with the German Navy and in shallow water (a traditionally difficult environment to track submarines with dipping sonar) successfully hunted and ‘killed’ underwater targets. On the subject of the recent tail rotor hub failure on an RN aircraft, Capt Palmer noted that the problem was fixed by switching to the hub design used on the Italian and Canadian 101s. In the meantime, the Merlin performance envelope is being expanded with loads of over 4,500kg being lifted while electro-optical IR pods have been installed on aircraft operating from HMS Lancaster and Monmouth in the Caribbean. The decision for a new Presidential helicopter, for which the US101 is competing, is not expected until the end of this year. A fully-furnished mock-up of the cabin has been built in the USA and over 200 American suppliers from 41 states will be involved in the programme should the US101 be selected over the Sikorsky S-92. The European design is also being put forward for a US Air Force medium-lift helicopter requirement for combat search and rescue. The Service favours the three-engine approach and if selected in the 2005-06 timescale, up to 200 will be needed. Bell will build the airframe in Texas, the European contribution being the rotor blades and gearbox.
Above: Helicopter hive. The Agusta (Finmeccanica) Westland exhibit with Lynx, EH101s, WAH-64 and the Agusta range clearly identifiable. (Photo, AgustaWestland). In a reflection of the worldwide recovery in airline operations, Airbus announced that it would increase the manufacture of narrow body aircraft by 50% and wide-body airliners by a third within 18 months. Output of the single-aisle range would rise from 20 to 30 per month while wide-bodies would go up from six to eight. Overall, production would rise from the current 300 aircraft per year to more than 450. The company also expected that its deliveries in 2004 would continue the lead it first achieved over Boeing last year as in the first six months it had delivered 161 aircraft, ten more than its American competitor over the same period. The total included 39 A330s/A340s, five A300s/A310s, three A318s, 44 A319s, 54 A320s and 16 A321s. Meanwhile the A380 is moving rapidly towards a roll out early next year with the first full test of the huge Goodrich main landing gear due to take place at the time of going to press on a purpose-built £1.7m test facility at the company's Bristol-Filton facility. Measuring 44.5m long, 39m wide and 16.7m high, this is the largest test rig of its kind ever built and will check every aspect of the operation of the two six-wheel fuselage gear bogies, two wing mounted four-wheel units and the Messier Dowty twin-wheel nose gear. The Airbus Military A400M military transport is also steadily moving towards reality with a contract for cockpit displays signed at the show with Thales and the start of construction of a new production facility in Bremen that will eventually complete one fuselage every eight weeks. First metal is due to be cut in 2005 with a first flight in 2008. A total of 180 are on order for seven European air forces and the French AF will take first deliveries in 2009 with the RAF following with acceptance of the first of 25 units in 2010. With increasing oil prices, ATR reported trends of significant market recovery in the regional turboprop market and forecast a requirement for 500 new aircraft in this category over the next ten years. Compared with ten ATR42/72 orders in the whole of 2003, the company had already secured 12 new sales this year and was well on course to achieve its target of capturing at least a 50% market share. A parallel second-hand ATR42/72 business is also buoyant with 29 aircraft already placed in the past seven months compared with 43 over the whole of 2003. Although these businesses might appear to be competitive with each other, ATR said that they provided a good equilibrium between supply and demand and were mutually supportive. With a life extension programme allowing a design life of 105,000 cycles and a viable 40-year economic life-cycle due to be certificated in 2005, the low depreciation this was creating helped stimulate new and second-hand sales in specific market niches that didn't materially overlap. Announced at the show to boost after sales support was a new 'Aerochain' Internet portal for ordering spares and downloading technical manuals which has been set up in conjunction with Embraer. ATR also reported a significant market for freighter conversions with 30 already in service and another 30 undergoing modification. A new wider freight door has now been certificated that allows full-size cargo containers to be carried and gives added flexibility for aircraft in military support roles. An ATR72-500 of Air Binter of Spain and an Italian Guardia di Finanza ATR42 were on static display. As part of the J-UCAS programme Boeing displayed a mock-up of the X-45C unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV), which is due to make its first flight in 2006, powered by a General Electric F404-102D. While looking similar to the Northrop Grumman X-47B mock-up also displayed, Boeing plans to build at least three and maybe as many as 12 of the UCAVs for development and demonstration trials. Below: A Royal Netherlands AF Boeing AH-64D Apache from No 302 Sqn appeared in the static fitted with Terma self-protection pods. These provide passive UV missile warning and incorporate flare dispensers. The pods equip Dutch Apaches deployed to Afghanistan. (Photos, Av News).
Team Osprey was busy promoting the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey at Farnborough. A total of 18 MV-22Bs will be delivered to the US Marine Corps during the calendar year 2004 and a single CV-22B for the US Air Force. Seven MV-22Bs at Patuxent River, Md, are continuing high priority development testing. These aircraft are Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) aircraft 8 and 10, and Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) aircraft 21, 22, 23, 24 and 34. VMX-22 based at MCAS New River, North Carolina, is responsible for training of initial crews and operational testing of the Osprey for the Marines, using eight LRIP aircraft. The US Air Force has a pair of CV-22Bs (EMD 7 and 9) undergoing trials at Edwards AFB, Calif, covering terrain-following radar and electronic warfare tests. The additional CV-22B will be delivered in November 2004. A total of 50 CV-22Bs is to be acquired for long-range special operations as a replacement for the MH-53J/M Pave Low fleet. A model of the version for the US Navy was on display in the Team Osprey stand. The service has a requirement for 48 for combat search and rescue, special warfare missions and logistic support. Although Britten-Norman elected not to exhibit an aircraft at Farnborough, they had a presence in the Halls and report a heavy production workload on a batch of Defender 4000s for an unnamed customer. The type is currently being strongly promoted for the homeland security role. The Bembridge factory on the Isle of Wight, recently refurbished two former Belgian Gendarmerie BN-2 Islanders for supply to Nepal and the company remains hopeful that the Trislander will return to production in the future.
In a bold announcement as the show started EADS claimed it could overtake Boeing at the top of the aerospace market within ten years and that it was only a matter of time before its defence and space generated revenues exceeded those of the American company. Reporting a smooth French, German and Spanish integration since the multi-national conglomerate was formed four years ago, the company was confident it could increase sales by 25% to a value of E40bn by 2007 and triple its current level of defence, US homeland security and Asia-pacific business into a 30% share of its overall market by 2015. By contrast, though, its Farnborough announcements were relatively low-key and included the signature of an agreement with Russian Irkut to market the Rolls-Royce BR715-powered Beriev Be-200RR firefighting amphibian through a new French-based joint company and the supply of Upper Class bed-seats for Virgin Atlantic's A340-300s. Displayed by EADS was a small model of a TBM700 in Armee de l’Air colours with an impressive antenna farm on the dorsal and ventral rear fuselage, and an electro-optical/infra-red gimballed turret under the nose. Known as the TBM700 Easy, the model was the only evidence of a programme to provide an aircraft for the ‘homeland security’ role, involving the use of commercial off the shelf equipment. It is believed that interest has been expressed in the concept from several countries and that a contract may be close to being signed for two examples. The last of nine Eurocopter EC635s for the Royal Jordanian Air Force was handed over in July. Five of the helicopters are dedicated to special operations roles, while the other four are tasked with supporting the police in the country. The aircraft were diverted from a cancelled Portuguese contract. Below: Embraer’s 170 in Alitalia Express colours – it was delivered after the show. (Photo, David Willis).
Since the days of the Bandeirante, Embraer has been a staunch supporter of the Farnborough Show and this year the Brazilian company brought three aircraft, the second prototype of the 100-seat 190, a 170 in Alitalia Express colours and a Legacy business variant of the 135/145 series. Now labelled E-Jets, the order book for the new range has reached 273 while the smaller rear-engined range now totals 920 aircraft. Embraer had delivered 27 170s to three operators (Alitalia, LOT and US Airways) and flown around 10,000hr by the start of the show and was ramping up production to seven per month by December 2004. The longer Embraer 190 continues flight-testing with two aircraft flying and two more due to join the programme in August (No 3) and September (No 4). Launch customer for this version is JetBlue which is expected to take the first of its 100 aircraft in the third quarter of 2005; the American low-cost carrier holds options on a further 100 of the twin-jets. When delivered, the airline’s 190s will incorporate dual head-up displays, provided by Rockwell Collins, which will be the first in commercial use, and passengers will have access to live television in the cabin. The 195 programme is progressing with a first flight for the 110-seater due in the last quarter of 2004 and deliveries in 2006. While none of Embraer’s military family was on show, the company announced that it would be delivering the first of 99 Super Tucano observation and light attack turboprops this autumn to the Fuerza Aerea Brasileira for the Brazilian Government’s Amazon Surveillance Program (SIVAM). Prior to starting its service trials, EADS exhibited a Lockheed P-3B Orion of the Spanish Air Force’s Ala 22 based at Moron de la Frontera that had undergone the Operational Upgrade Program (OUP). It is one of five P-3Bs and a pair of P-3As that are due to be upgraded. OUP replaces the original maritime patrol suite with the EADS Fully-Integrated Tactical System (FITS) linked to a 360° search radar with automatic track-while-scan and image nodes, a retractable forward-looking infra red (FLIR) turret under the nose, electronic support measures, Link 11 datalink and a 32-channel acoustic system. Existing communication systems have also been replaced and the navigation equipment upgraded. EADS also will provide a new mission support facility as part of the upgrade contract. The aircraft on display was modified at Getafe near Madrid from 2002. Meanwhile, the first two CASA 212 Patrulleros for the Mexican Navy were delivered in July, equipped with FITS, a search radar and an infra-red and TV turret. The other six aircraft are due to be modified in Mexico. Another country interested in FITS is Brazil. Global Airtanker Service, a joint venture between Omega Air and Evergreen International Aviation, displayed a DC-10-40 in the static park at Farnborough. The aircraft is fitted with a flying boom capable of pumping 900 gal/minute, a centerline Flight Refuelling FR 300 hose drum unit (HDU) and had a pair of Flight Refuelling FR Mk 32-300 pods under the wings, although it is not cleared to fly with them in place at the moment. The FR 32-300s can dispense fuel at a rate of 500 gal/min. The aircraft, an ex-Japan Airlines example, was delivered in April 2004 and will become the prototype KDC-10 when it is plumbed to operate the refuelling gear it carries. Internal tankage will also be increased from the present 258,000lb to 350,000lb by fitting an auxiliary tank in the wing centre-section. All work will be undertaken at Mojave, Calif, and it is expected to be available as a tanker in 2006. The idea is to operate a ‘as needed’ service, by which military forces can get in contact with Global Airtanker Service as required to provide air-to-air refuelling. Omega Air currently has a contract with the US Navy for such a service, using modified Boeing 707s. The DC-10 will be able to off-load higher amounts of fuel, and up to 20 could be modified if the demand can be found. A new Indian low-cost airline came to the fore with a show announcement of four A320 orders, four leases and options on a further eight. Called Kingfisher, the airline is named after one of the country's most popular beers and has become part of a 30-year lifestyle campaign designed to counter the Indian Government's ban on alcohol advertising. The brand is widely recognised as standing for exuberance and lifestyle and this will be reflected in the new carrier's services. The company had previously unsuccessfully launched as UB Airlines but had failed because of difficulties encountered with liberalisation of the Indian regulatory regime. Gripen International held many interesting press briefings at Farnborough, reviewing the status of the multi-role combat aircraft. The Czech government has signed a contract for 14 aircraft including a pair of two-seaters. They will be to JAS 39C and 39D standard, with some adaptation to Czech requirements. The contract will include maintenance and support for the aircraft in service, with an option to buy the aircraft at the end of the contract. The first will be delivered in 2005, while the first Czech Air Force pilots commenced training in August 2004 with F7 at Satenas. The Czech deal is a government-to-government agreement, as is that for Hungary which will buy its 14 aircraft at the end of the lease. The first Batch 3 Gripens (JAS 39C/Ds) for the Swedish Air Force are just starting to be delivered. The air force will take a total of 204 of the aircraft, while total Gripens contracted for come to 232 examples. The next Swedish defence decision is to be released on September 20 and will outline the near future for the Swedish armed forces. It is widely expected that a cut of 4 bn kroner will be made in the 40 bn budget, but how this will effect the Swedish Air Force remains to be seen. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has ordered from SaabTech the BOL countermeasures dispensing system to be integrated with its F/A-18A Hornets. Below: Saab Gripen in Czech markings. (Photo, Saab).
For the rest of this article please see the September 2004 issue. |
