Aviation Week & Space Technology/March 4, 2002
Singapore Fighter Race Begins by Robert Wall/Singapore
The competition to supply Singapore with the multirole fighter has
begun in earnest, with six bidders vying for one of the jewels of
planned combat aircraft azquisitions. Singapore initially plans to
buy about 20 new aircraft to replace its highly upgraded A-4s.
However, a follow-on order might be made to replace the country'd
F-5s, although that program could result in another competition,
industry officials said.
Singapore has been typically tight-lipped about the program,
prompting often boisterous fighter makers to adopt a similarly
cautious attitude. At the start of the competition, Boeing offers
upgraded F-15E and the F/A-18E/F;Dassualt its Rafale;Eurofighter
its export version, dubbed Typhoon; Lockheed Martin its F-16 Block
60, and Sukhoi with a tailored version of its Su-30MK.
The process of winnowing down to about three serious competitiors
will begin soon. Officers from Singapore's air force are slated to
perform flight trials of different suitors this summer. Three
contenders are likely to be eliminated next year, with a winner to
be chosen a year later.
Sukhoi, which is widely considered a long-shot, is basically
offering the Su-30MK which has been sold to China as the Su-30MKK,
India as the Su-30MKI and is competitng in Malaysia as the
Su-30MKM. However, there would likely be some difference in
avionics, according to Sukhoi's Alexandra Klementyev. The aircraft
would feature both thrust vector controls and carnards, something
that is part of mostbut not all Su-30s, said the company's Viktor
Polyakov.
Singapore is already an F-16 customer and should recieve the first
batch of its 20 Block 52 aircraft next year. The Block 60, which is
being put forward for the new program, is still in development and
will be for 3-4years. The UAE is the lead customer for the aircraft
that features conformal fuel tanks, an AESA radar, integrated
forward looking infrared sensor andnew electronic warfare suite.
Although Lockheed Martinhas a good relationship with Singapore
through the initial F-16 buy, one weapons contractor following the
competition said the deal could also be a handicap. Buying as a new
fighter one that look so similar to an existing aircraft may
present a perception problem, he argued.
For the F-15E, the Singapore competition could represent a last
chance to keep the program alive if the bid in South Korea is
unsuccessful. The production line is being kept open by a USAF
purchase of 10 aircraft several years ago. The first of these is
now in final assembly, although production is widely spaced to
avoid shutdown as long as possible.
Seoul is expected to make its fighter announcement either later
this month or early next month, says Michael D. Marks,
vice-president for USAF fighter and bomber programs. South Korea
has signed provisional contracts with all four competitiors that
also include Dassualt, Eurofighter and Sukhoi. The F-15E offered to
Singapore would likely be very similar to that offered South Korea,
featuring an enhanced electronic warfare suite and new radar.
However a loss in South Korea might knock the F-15E out of
Singapore because of a line shutdown. Marks maintains this is too
early to predict. However, if the fighter wins the production line
would not stay open, but the pace of production would increase to
about two fighters pewr month.
Boeing's F/A-18E/F offer would include Raytheon's new AESA antenna
that is still in development and the Integrated Defensive
Electronic CounterMeasures suite. So far the US government hasn't
cleared the AtFlir targeting system for export, although that is
likely to happen before Singapore makes its final decision. Any
F/A-18 buy would be folded into the USN's mulitiyear purchase
agreement and should help both customer obtain a lower price for
the aircraft, said a program official. Boeing also hopes to find
out before year-end whether Malaysia will buy the F/A-18E/F; its up
against the Su-30MKM and MiG-29MRCA.
Although Singapore hasn't ask for a weapons package yet,yet,
Europepan missile maker MBDA already has made its thoughts known.
MOreover, the company is establishing industrial ties in Singapore.
It has begun a codevelopment missile project with Singapore
Technologies Engineering , said Fabrice Bregier, MBDA's chief
executive officer. The company has partnered with two of
Singapore's defense science and technology agencies.
For Eurofighter, MBDA plans to offer ASRAAM for short range AA
requirements, Storm Shadow as standoff cruise missile, Brimstone as
a standoff guided missile and the ramjet powered Metoer as BVR
missile. The long delayed 6 nation contract to strart Metoer
development, which is still waiting Germany's aproval, shopuld be
signed this spring, said Alan Garwood, MBDA's chief operating
officer. Asraam could be offered for the F/A-18E/F, since Australia
is integrating the weapon on its F/A-18.
For the competing Rafale, MBDA will likely propose the Mica RF/IR,
Metoer and Scalp EG(the french name for Storm Shadow), the Exocet
AM39 anti-ship missile and countermeasures.
The European weapons maker will probably face the typical
competition from Raytheon in the AA area-Singapore is already an
AMRAAM customer and it would be offered the AIM-9X short-range
missile as well. Offers are also expected from BOeing, Lockheed
Martin and Raytheon air-to-ground weapons. The US government will
handle the weapons package seperate from aircraft, said the US
industry official.
The Saab, Bae System team of Gripen is not in the Singapore
competition. Instead. the company is focused on East Central Europe
where it has already won in HUngry and Czech Republic. The contract
for Hungary has been signed and the deal with the Prague is slated
to conclude in the next two months. MOreover, Gripen officials
believe Slovakia may have an emerging fighter program. There are
opportunities for the single engine fighter as well, but not
immediately. Down the road, the aircraft will likely compete in
Malaysia and Thailand, which is cash strapped and presently getting
only very basic F-16 air defense fighters under a deal with
Washington.
So far, the competitions are moving ahead without any sign that the
end-or-the-decade emergence of the JSF is having an impact. In
fact, even Lockheed Martin expects to be selling F-16s after the
JSF enter production, said Dain M Hancock, president of the
corporation's Aeornautics Co. The F-16 order book already reaches
to 2008 and "will go well beyond 2010."
