Funny that the DSO was complaining that the Hawkeyes are too
expensive. Of course all AEW platforms are expensive. They do give
you value for money though.... LALEE would never be able to carry a
powerful radar to detect enemy fighters some 250km away. E-2C
happens to be one of the smallest platform to carry a meaningful
radar that is powerful enuff to give you a 360 degree coverage.
However, given the radar is mechanically steered, it is not as
effective as electronically steered phased array like Phalcon and
Erieyes or the MESA radar for the RAAF Wedgetails. The RAAF
Wedgetails will represent the most advanced AEW platforms when they
are being deployed. Both they also cost a bomb.
The application of LALEE type plaforms are only good for long
endurance survelliance from ground to maritime applications. Given
their relatively small size, they cannot carry a meaningful radar
to act as the "main" AEW platforms. They do, however, could be
still used for limited AEW application, but I don't not think that
replacing the Hawkeyes with an 'AEW' LALEE or Global Hawks is a
smart thing.
Back to the topic about locally designed fighter.... it is not
viable for ST Aero to design and build a fighter locally because ST
Aero simply lack the quality aeronautical engineers and engineers
who have previous experience with designing and building modern
jets. Even the Koreans who license built the Vipers could not come
up with an advanced jet trainer (T-50) without lots of assistance
from Lockheed Martin. Taiwan Ching Kuo project also got lots of
help from Lockheed Martin, so is the Japanese F2 project. Look, all
these countries have many years of experience building the latest
generation of combat aircraft (license built) but they still cannot
come up with a decent trainer or combat aircraft design without the
help from the Americans. Furthermore, you will notice that all
these projects are more or less based on the F-16 design.
Indian LCA project is in serious trouble and they are too asking
the Americans to help rectify the design flaws.
China J-10 design is essentially based on Lavi with some
modification (air intake redesigned to be more like the
Eurofighter). Previous J-7 are purely a modified Mig21 design.
Nothing new.
The Israeli are the only exception having designed and built their
own aircraft, but also not without the American's help. Even the
Lavi was based on a modified F-16 design, the PW engine is wholly
american, etc.
I think that if ST Aero can assemble some latest combat aircrafts
like the F-16 or even license build advanced jet trainers like the
T-50 or BAe Hawk, then I think ST Aero would have already achieve
something Singapore can be proud of. ST Aero should focus more on
UAVs and UCAVs and not spend more resource and time trying to
achieve something that is definitely beyond Singapore's capability.
We have to realised that it is just not viable from economic point
of view or from technical point of view. We do not have the scale
to justify such an ambition. Singapore would have to be at least 10
times bigger in terms of land mass and population to even
contemplate designing and building its own fighter.
ST Engg has already over-achieved by designing and building the
FH-88/2000 and the Bionix.
