GRAHAM WARWICK / WASHINGTON DC
Despite flight-test pressures, there will be no shortage of manufacturers displaying their latest products at this year's show
With an increasing number of focused and regional shows competing for their patronage, manufacturers have a difficult task deciding at which events to showcase their latest products. The decision is harder when an aircraft must be pulled out of flight testing to make a public appearance, even at an event as prestigious as Farnborough International.
The mix of aircraft confirmed and rumoured for display at this year's show reflects the different choices companies have made when faced with that decision. For Aero Vodochody of the Czech Republic and Brazil's Embraer, the global audience offered by Farnborough makes it worthwhile to interrupt flight testing and bring their latest aircraft to the show. Aero's L-159B two-seat lead-in fighter trainer flew for the first time on 1 June and will make its first public appearance at Farnborough. The Embraer 170 regional jet will make its European debut at the show.
Confirmed as making their first appearances will be AgustaWestand's improved Super Lynx 300 helicopter, ATR and Aeronavali's converted ATR72 freighter and BAE Systems' ATP cargo conversion, and Connexion by Boeing's 737-400 demonstrator. Airbus may spring a surprise by bringing its 100-seat A318 and ultra-long-range A340-500, both of which entered flight testing earlier this year, but the large-capacity A340-600 is almost certain to make its Farnborough debut in the colours of launch customer and show sponsor Virgin Atlantic Airways.
Black Typhoon
Eurofighter plans to display the black-painted second development Typhoon, but Farnborough may see the public debut of at least one of the three instrumented production aircraft that have been in flight testing since April. BAE Systems will display a mock-up of the aircraft equipped with conformal tanks. Other aircraft new to Farnborough audiences will include the Su-25KM Scorpion upgrade of the Sukhoi attack aircraft by Israel's Elbit Systems and Georgia's Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing.
Another newcomer to the show will be Antonov An-74TK-300 convertible passenger/cargo transport, which will be displayed by the Ukraine's Kharkov State Manufacturing. In addition to its 70-seat 170, Embraer will bring the ERJ-135-based Legacy business jet, which had its European debut at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva in May.
The skies over Farnborough promise to be relatively quiet by air show standards, with confirmed flying displays by high-performance fighters limited to the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, Eurofighter, Lockheed Martin F-16 and Saab/BAE Systems Gripen. Dassault's Rafale was displayed at Farnborough in 1998, but will miss the event this year as it did in 2000. Other fast jets scheduled to fly include Aero's L-159B, BAE Systems' Hawk 100 and the upgraded Panavia Tornado GR4, which entered Royal Air Force service last year.
The show comes at a key time for Eurofighter, as the four-nation company works towards handing over the first production aircraft to customers by year-end. The Typhoon is still looking for its first export order, Greece having postponed negotiations until after the 2004 Olympics. South Korea rejected the aircraft in favour of Boeing's F-15K (two US Air Force F-15Es will be on static display), but Eurofighter is still in the running in Austria. Singapore will launch a fighter competition next year and Australia is a long-term prospect.
Also targeting Australia and Singapore, Boeing could arrive at Farnborough with its first export customer for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, with Malaysia believed to be close to signing an order. The F-16 and Gripen, meanwhile, will share the Farnborough skies at a time when the two aircraft are locked in procurement battles in Austria, Brazil and Poland. The Saab/BAE team's hopes of finalising a 24-aircraft order with the Czech Republic by Farnborough have faded because of delays in parliamentary approval for the deal.
Aero is also awaiting a Czech contract for its L-159B advanced trainer, although the two-seater is expected to be included in the air force's order for 72 L-159s. Export targets include neighbouring Slovakia as well as India.
Super Lynx debut
AgustaWestland's Super Lynx 300 will make its static display debut in production form, complete with glass cockpit and LHTECT 800 engines. Malaysia and Thailand have each ordered naval versions of the helicopter, while Oman has ordered 16 multirole battlefield variants. The Italian-UK company will also display the Apache AH1 and Merlin HC3.
Alenia and Lockheed Martin will bring the C-27 Spartan tactical transport back to the show having secured a launch order from Greece for 12 aircraft. An Italian air force order for 12 is pending and a competition is under way in Brazil. The C-27J's larger stablemate, Lockheed Martin'sC-130J, will be included in the US Department of Defense's static display.
Regional airliners will feature strongly, led by the Embraer 170, with the second prototype set to fly. Bombardier will have its 70-seat offerings, the CRJ700 regional jet and Dash 8-Q400, on static display, but attention will focus on the Canadian company's progress towards possible take-over of bankrupt Fairchild Dornier's 728/928 regional jet family. A decision could come in late July.
Regional turboprops are finding a niche in the cargo market, and two new programmes will make their debuts: the first large-door freighter conversion of an ATR 72, by Italy's Aeronavali; and a similar modification of the British Aerospace ATP by BAE Systems and West Air Sweden. The ATR 72 freighter is destined for launch customer Farnair of Sweden for use in FedEx's European operation.
The business jet presence is down significantly on last year's Paris show and Farnborough in 2000, in part because of the depressed market. Bombardier, Dassault, Piaggio and Pilatus are exhibiting aircraft, but Boeing Business Jets, Cessna, Gulfstream and Raytheon are not. While their latest designs are tied up in flighttest, manufacturers have had ample opportunity this year to present their established product lines at ILA in Berlin and EBACE in Geneva.
Source: Flight International
