Gilbert Sedbon/PARISAndrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
FRANCE IS TO CUT its orders for Eurocopter Tiger and NH90 military helicopters by half, according to a recently published parliamentary report.
The cuts follow a drastic defence-budget squeeze, threatening 1,000 aerospace jobs and calling into question France's commitment to developing its rapid-reaction forces.
According to figures provided in the Senate defence and foreign-affairs committee report, the army will receive only 120 Tiger attack helicopters, instead of the 215 planned earlier, and NH90 troop-transport helicopter numbers have been cut to 68, instead of the expected 160.
The Tiger purchase will include 50 HAC anti-tank variants, instead of the hoped-for 140, and 70 HAP escort and fire-support versions instead of the expected 75.
The navy, which had planned for 60 maritime NH90s - 40 for anti-submarine warfare and 20 for transport missions - will get only 27 machines to replace its ageing Super Frelon and Lynx helicopters in all roles.
The report has triggered outrage in Germany, with Government negotiators now calling for a re-arrangement of work-share on the helicopter programmes. According to industry sources, Germany is pushing for a greater work-share in both programmes, and is also trying to persuade France to drop plans for a French Tiger production line. Bonn also wants France to drop its HAC variant of the Tiger in favour of the UHU anti-tank/support version destined for the German army.
Eurocopter Deutschland says that it has still had no official notification of any change in France's production off-take.
Drawing parallels with the recent acrimonious debate over work-share in the Eurofighter programme, German industry sources say privately that local officials are furious that the French Government takes such decisions without first informing the German Government or industry.
Five Tiger prototypes, jointly built by Aerospatiale and Daimler-Benz Aerospace in the Eurocopter partnership, are now flying in the flight-test programme. The NH Industries consortium - consisting of France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands - has produced two NH90 prototypes to date.
Source: Flight International
