Andrew Doyle/HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ
Boeing has switched the focus of its east European fighter marketing campaign to the F-15 after it emerged that the US company would be unable to submit competitive F/A-18-based bids to the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
The manufacturer chose the Czech International Air Fest (CIAF2000) in Hradec Králové on 2 September to unveil the "F-15R" (renewed), which would be produced by reactivating and refurbishing stored US Air Force F-15A/Bs. Boeing has already received US Government approval to market the F-15R throughout central and eastern Europe.
A two-seat US Air Force F-15D being exhibited at CIAF2000 was flown by Czech air force commander Lt Gen Ladislav Klima on 2 September.
The long-running F/A-18 marketing campaign in the region has effectively been derailed by the end of production of the C/D variant, leaving only the more expensive E/F available for new aircraft sales. The US Navy meanwhile has indicated it is not willing to release any of the early-model F/A-18s currently in storage. Complicating the issue is the complete lack of two-seat F/A-18s in storage.
In contrast, a significant number of USAir Force inventory Lockheed Martin F-16A/Bs are available for sale or lease and are being offered by the US Government to several European countries.
However, more than 115 F-15A/Bs are also in desert storage in Tucson, Arizona, where they have had their radars and some other parts removed to provide spares for in-service aircraft. "Those aircraft can be returned to active flying status in their original air-superiority configuration, or upgraded to a world-class multi-role configuration," says Boeing.
The company is proposing to install a customer-specified radar in the aircraft, upgrade their Pratt & Whitney F100 engines to the latest -220E variant and update the avionics to the USAF F-15C multi-staged improvement programme (MSIP) standard.
"What has really kicked this off is that we have been talking to some countries that have expressed an interest in the aircraft," says Boeing F-15 business development manager aircraft and missile systems, Mike Ridnouer.
Ridnouer says the F-15Rs could be delivered with a minimum of 6,500h of airframe life remaining before major overhaul, which he believes would equate to 30 years of service. The surplus F-15A/Bs were placed in storage 10 years ago, having accumulated between 1,800 and 4,200 flying hours.
The aircraft could be offered to cash-strapped Eastern European countries for lease or purchase. However, Boeing would not expect the placement of F-15Rs with new NATO members the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary to open the door to sales of new-build F-15s. "We do not believe they are ever going to be able to buy an F-15E type of aircraft," says Ridnouer.
Some of the F-15R refurbishment work could be performed by Boeing's part-owned Czech affiliate Aero Vodochody to satisfy industrial offset requirements, should Prague commit to the aircraft.
Though the F-15 would be more expensive to acquire and operate than the smaller single-engined F-16, Ridnouer argues that its superior performance means fewer aircraft would be required.
The Czech Republic is expected to issue a request for proposals for up to 36 supersonic fighters by the end of this year. Recipients will include: the US Government; Saab/BAE Systems, offering the Gripen; Dassault Aviation, proposing the Mirage 2000; and Eurofighter.
• The US Air Force has firmed up options for two more Boeing F-15Es using supplemental defence funding. The fighters are in addition to three funded in the 2000 defence budget and ordered in May. F-15E deliveries will restart in early 2002 almost two years after the last US fighter was produced. Defence appropriation for 2001 includes funding for further five aircraft.
Source: Flight International
