Graham Warwick/ATLANTA
An Austrian air force team has visited the USA to evaluate the Lockheed Martin F-16C/D and McDonnell Douglas F-18C/D as it prepares for a fighter competition expected to get under way in 1997. Evaluation of aircraft, including in-country demonstrations, is expected to be complete by March 1997, to be followed by a request for tenders.
Austria requires around 30 aircraft, to replace Saab J35OE Drakens, and could place an order as early as 1998. The air force has had talks with its counterparts in Switzerland and Finland, both F-18 operators, about the possibility of co-operation on support, says Bud Mitchell, McDonnell Douglas Aerospace vice-president, F/A-18 international programmes.
Mitchell says that Austria could be the first of several European nations now planning fighter purchases to place an order, although he believes that Poland could yet accelerate its requirement for some 50 aircraft. The Czech Republic and Hungary, which each want around 30 aircraft, are viewed by MDC as being sales prospects for fiscal year 1999.
Norway plans to reduce its list to two fighter candidates in April 1997, and chose a winner in 1999 to meet its requirement for 48 aircraft to replace Northrop F-5s, according to Mitchell.
The Philippines, meanwhile, has re-emerged as a potential fighter purchaser, and price and availability data on the F-18 will be provided by early December. Data on the F-16 has already been provided. The Philippines wants fewer than 20 aircraft, Mitchell believes, and a decision could be made in fiscal year 1998.
MDC is hoping for export sales in 1998 to offset the planned end of F-18C/D orders from the US Navy - a crunch which was delayed when the US Congress added six aircraft to the Navy's fiscal year 1997 budget. Mitchell says that Malaysia and Thailand are both looking at ordering second batches of F-18s in 1998, and he reveals that Kuwait is again, looking at purchasing additional aircraft.
Source: Flight International
