By Craig Hoyle at Farnborough air show
Copenhagen's interest in airlifter boosts Boeing's ambition to supply shared fleet
Boeing's aspiration to supply a pooled fleet of C-17 strategic transports to NATO received a boost during the Farnborough show, when Denmark became the first nation to sign a letter of intent (LoI) with the organisation to operate the aircraft on a "power by the hour" basis.
Defence minister Søren Gade says multinational backing for a shared NATO fleet could initially lead to the provision of three or four aircraft - understood to be from as early as 2007, but he says Denmark has yet to conduct discussions on how many hours it will seek to contract on the aircraft a year to support expeditionary and humanitarian relief operations.
Denmark has already committed funds to NATO's Short-term Airlift Interim Solution scheme, under which 15 nations will gain access to six Antonov An-124 outsized cargo aircraft leased from Volga-Dnepr Airlines and ANTK Antonov until 2009 (Flight International, 28 February-6 March). The country has also acquired four Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transports, but Soren says: "The money is there" to also fund use of C-17s if the proposed deal advances to a contract award.
Wider participation by additional European NATO members could be discussed on the sidelines of November's Riga summit in Latvia, says Soren. "I'm sure there will be many nations that will follow," he adds.
Boeing declines to comment on possible additional users of the proposed NATO C-17 fleet, but has previously mentioned interest in the aircraft from France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and non-NATO member Sweden, which has joined SALIS. Canada is also considering the direct acquisition of four aircraft to meet its national airlift requirements.
Source: Flight International
