Andy Nativi/ROME
Alenia Aerospazio president Giorgio Zappa says the European Military Aircraft Company (EMAC) venture between the Finmeccanica subsidiary and EADS will include minority-owned trainer specialist Aermacchi.
He adds that the company could be enlarged to encompass Dassault, which is part-owned by EADS but offers the Rafale fighter in rivalry to Eurofighter, in which EMAC has a controlling stake.
The new firm will bring together most of the fighter, transport and trainer aircraft capabilities of the two companies, but has faced problems involving product overlap.
Zappa says the next few months will be crucial for Alenia Aerospazio. Its Alenia Aeronautica division is to be established as a fully independent company (like Alenia Spazio, of which he is chairman) before the formation of EMAC, which is likely to be renamed after the partner companies.
"Discussions are ongoing, and although it is not easy to negotiate an agreement that makes all the sides involved happy, I think we shall succeed," he says. "But you have to give us a little more time - we started only six months ago, and this is going to be the 'mother of all agreements' in terms of its economic and industrial relevance."
Zappa says he would be "delighted to have Dassault on board" and that this "is not ruled out", while on "the Italian side, the alliance will also involve Aermacchi". The trainer specialist is 25% owned by Finmeccanica, which is negotiating a full buy-out that could be worth L500-600 billion ($230-275 million).
Zappa is also keen to see Alenia involved in the Joint Strike Fighter programme, but says this depends on Italy providing $1.3 billion for a 5% stake in the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase.
"There is a definite need to obtain a fair share of technological and industrial return," he says. "There are many uncertainties. Nobody really knows if the JSF will become a reality in the proposed forms and numbers, what the real cost will be, what technologies will be used and what access Europe will have to JSF know-how."
Zappa also sees a potential clash between spending on JSF and "a possible European replacement attack aircraft" (envisaged under the Future Offensive Air System programme). He adds: "Every choice is to be carefully made."
He says Alenia should also play "a reasonable role" in developing the Airbus Military A400M, of which 16 will be ordered by Italy, and that it would be "a waste of resources not to consider the platform as the basis for other applications, such as a maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) and an airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft".
Italy has a requirement for 14 MPAs and two to four AEW aircraft, but Zappa adds: "There is a lot of talk of European co-operation, but sometimes - in the MPA field, for instance - many prefer to defend their national interests. The A400M could be seriously considered for something different than just military airlift."
Source: Flight International
