Julian Moxon/PARIS
A meeting of the partners in the European Future Large Aircraft (FLA) programme, scheduled to take place in Moscow on 11 March, is being described by officials close to the project as a "critical point" in the programme. At the same time, Lockheed Martin is still talking to the FLA companies about a possible tie-up.
The meeting of a special FLA policy group has been called to resolve whether the programme should remain an essentially Western European endeavour, with possible Russian partnership, or be designed around the Russian/ Ukrainian Antonov An-70 transport aircraft.
The An-70 consortium, comprising primarily Antonov and the Russian and Ukrainian defence ministries, is promoting a Westernised version of the aircraft, dubbed the An-77, to meet the seven-nation FLA requirement. This would have Western avionics and equipment, but would still be powered by ZMKB Progress/ Ivchenko D-27 propfans.
Western industry sources say that the chance of the An-77 being accepted, even with strong German political support, is slim. "We will look at ways of co-operating with the consortium," says one, "-but the aircraft does not come near the original FLA requirements".
An earlier meeting, in Madrid, had been called to resolve what one source describes as the "debacle" resulting from German-inspired negotiations in Ukrainian capital Kiev at the end of January. This brought together the FLA partners, including France, Italy and the UK, their respective ministries of defence and the An-70 consortium. The meeting rejected any further unilateral moves to change the project's direction, but the question of any Russian/Ukrainian involvement remained open.
With the FLA programme facing collapse, Lockheed Martin continues discussions with FLA partner companies in an effort to stitch together a transatlantic military transport programme.
Source: Flight International