The Netherlands is intent on holding Lockheed Martin to its JSF promises
The Netherlands government is quite certain about what it expects from Lockheed Martin's JSF programme - and is not afraid to hold the company publicly to account.
In early October, foreign trade minister Karien van Gennip reminded the US aerospace giant that when the Netherlands joined JSF as a Level 2 partner in June last year, it had effectively been guaranteed work packages worth $800 million.
His statement was widely circulated by the Dutch government to ensure that talks with Lockheed Martin this month would be seen as delivering results for local companies. The Netherlands JSF programme was largely on track, Van Gennip said, "but we've a long way to go yet, and we're keeping our finger firmly on the pulse". The statement reminded Lockheed Martin of the commitments it made in November.
A high priority in that campaign was to secure a major stake in future European support for the JSF, preferably in the form of a multinational support centre at the Netherlands air force base at Woensdrecht.
According to John van den Heuvel, manager of air force business for the Netherlands Defence Manufacturers Association, such a centre could see each European JSF partner country "bring specialities as they did in the [European] F-16 [mid-life upgrade] programme - engines, avionics and so on".
The hard-line Dutch position with Lockheed Martin comes in the wake of a difficult domestic political debate over the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase membership during late 2001 and early last year. After three separate attempts to get parliamentary ratification, the $800 million investment was approved. There was a caveat however: Dutch industry would have to repay the loan with a contribution to the government of 3.5% of turnover achieved, once production begins.
The domestic political debate is continuing. Early this year, the Dutch parliament explored whether or not it should withdraw from SDD because of a perceived lack of work opportunities for local industry.
AnxietyVan den Heuvel says the $800 million entry fee paid by the government positions the industry well for the JSF production phase. However, "the Dutch parliament is anxious about whether it will get this money back", he says, adding: "We're not looking at recouping $800 million during the SDD phase. We're focusing on the total production picture. The entrance fee gives us access to some really big numbers out there." He says the returns to Dutch industry up to 2030, based on a 6,000-aircraft production run, could exceed $8 billion to $10 billion. "That's not unrealistic," he adds.
SDD phase contracts won by Dutch companies amount to around $175 million. Stork Fokker alone secured $112 million to design and manufacture cabling for JSF prototypes ($57 million) and in-flight opening doors ($55 million).
Stork's Fokker Elmo division is separately under contract to develop the JSF wiring harness, and will produce complete sets for 14 of the 22 development aircraft.
There is "potential for more", says Stork president Kees Koning. "We're trying to extend the partnership on moving edges for SDD. There's a synergy with in-flight opening doors. We think we're in a good position because we're one of the top companies in this area."
Thales NL has been selected to supply cryogenic coolers for the F-35 electro-optical systems ($580,000), while FCS is on contract to supply F-35 structural test systems ($8 million). ATS Kleizen is providing tooling for composite control surfaces and leading edges ($3.6 million), while SP Aerospace has been selected to design the arresting gear system.
National co-ordination has been given a high priority in the workshare campaign, says van den Heuvel. In part, this was assisted by the Netherlands air force completing replacement planning for its Lockheed Martin F-16s just as the JSF was moving into planning for the SDD phase. It was subsequently selected from a shortlist that included the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon.
During the initial JSF design competition, the Netherlands joined Denmark and Norway in April 1997 to promote their industrial potential to the battling US prime contractors. It also staged its own technical demonstrations for potential US partners - Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric - with 50 Dutch companies involved, and formed a grouping called the Netherlands Industry Fighter Aircraft Replacement Programme, comprising 53 companies to search for potential business opportunities. "So when the air force chose the JSF, we were already prepared to go out and push our technologies," says van den Heuvel. "This gave us confidence that we would get fair participation." He adds that the selection of Lockheed Martin in October 2001 was a "positive factor" because the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway had worked with it on the European F-16 Mid-Life Upgrade programme.
The Netherlands plans to decide on acquiring up to 85 conventional take-off and landing aircraft in 2006. Van den Heuvel says that during the political debate about SDD participation, there "never was an issue over whether JSF was the right aircraft".
Additional reporting by Peter La Franchi
Source: Flight International
