Boeing believes that 17 years' experience of flying the F-15E will be a significant factor in its bid for the Singaporean contract. "We have what we think is the lowest-risk offer in the competition," says Tom Lillis, regional director Asia/Pacific in Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' International Business Development Group.
"The aircraft we're offering is an upgraded version of the US Air Force's F-15E. That aircraft entered service in 1989 and we've gone through several models of that aeroplane and upgraded systems so it has kept abreast or ahead of the threat. The other competitors are really just getting into production and the capabilities of both of those other aircraft are being developed.
"We go further, we go faster, we carry more weapons. In an air defence mission, for example, we can climb to combat altitude, accelerate and be down-range some tens of miles further away than the competition.
"I can take a combat payload in excess of 1,000nm, I can hold over the airfield for 3-4h without aerial refuelling."
Lillis declines formally to confirm a Flight report from October 2003 that its F-15T bid will almost certainly include the active electronically-scanned array version of Raytheon's APG-63 radar, but describes the article as "pretty accurate speculation". An active electronically-scanned radar brings "significant decreases in life-cycle costs" over mechanical or passive scan sets, he says.
Boeing is leasing two F-15Es from the US Air Force to give displays at Asian Aerospace. They are coming straight from the production line - "hot off the grill", as Lillis puts it - and the flight displays will particularly showcase the aircraft's thrust and lift performance.
Astute
In addition, "there will probably be the opportunity to fly some VIP flights", to boost the F-15T's chances in the competition. There will also be two US Pacific Air Force F-15Es in the static park.
The next step in the evaluation process will come immediately post-show, when the proposals will be handed over; all three competitors will then undergo flight evaluations.
Lillis has high regard for the Singaporean selection processes: "Singapore is an incredibly intelligent, astute customer. They know what they want, they are very good at defining that to the competitors, whether it be for a commercial aircraft or a military one.
"They have a thirst for data, to be able to make comparisons and decisions. We've had literally hundreds of people working on this. There are very detailed documentation requirements; we had a massive amount of information asked for in a very short time."ALAN DRON
Source: Flight Daily News
