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ightglobal.com 6-12 August 2019 | Flight International | 5War games
Small merci
Despite recent sales success, the A220 has received little analyst attention,
but production challenges elsewhere mean Airbus is grateful for its presenceI don’t see them yetA
US Marine Corps captain once asked
a group of officer candidates: “What
do we do?” None gave the correct answer:
“We fight wars.” Simple, really, and clas-
sic Marines; when called upon, be ready.
Except, of course, nothing is so simple,
either back then in the Cold War or today
in what, increasingly, feels like a new
Cold War. To be ready, soldiers – as well
as politicians and arms industry bosses –
had best ask some more difficult ques-
tions: Who will we fight? When? How?
Flight International’s report in this
issue on military aircraft engines high-
lights this dilemma. “Who” (and there are
no prizes for guessing this one) is China.
But when and how are moving targets.
For sure, success or failure will depend
on long-distance power projection over
the Pacific Ocean. If war were imminent
we would, obviously, fight with the forces
available today – which are both the
product of and a guide to strategy and
tactics. The same can be said for a conflict
some years off, except that the nature of
our forces – and hence strategy and tactics- will have moved on.
As for air war, experts today are
grappling with three key variables. One is
a fact: the Lockheed Martin F-35 does not
have enough range to operate stealthily
and penetrate China’s defensive perimeter
without putting ships, tankers and bases
at risk. Two are expectations: we will
deploy large numbers of expendable
drones to confuse and overwhelm defenc-
es, and hypersonic missiles will be part of
the arsenal – on both sides.
A lot of effort and money is being
directed at cracking the technologies
behind range, numbers and speed. An
equal – if not more urgent – challenge is to
devise winning air war doctrines that
might be realised by reliably deployable
technology in five, 10 or 30 years. ■
C
onsidering the degree to which the A
is quietly flourishing under Airbus’s
nurturing, the twinjet received surprisingly
little attention during the airframer’s
half-year results briefing.
Just a few hours beforehand, Air France,
the flag carrier of one of Airbus’s home na-
tions, had declared that it was intending to
take up to 120 of the type, the latest in a line
of high-profile agreements to follow the air-
framer’s 2018 acquisition of the programme.
Airbus is aiming to deliver 45 A220s this
year and preparing to open a new production
line in Mobile, Alabama, and it has already
embarked on enhancements to the airframe
that will increase its range.
But investors, like journalists, can be a
cynical lot, less interested in things that are
going smoothly and more inclined to poke at
exposed nerves.
This meant that Airbus’s chief, Guillaume
Faury, barely mentioned the A220 and spent
much of the briefing instead addressing con-
cerns about the rest of the single-aisle line –
particularly the A321neo, which is creating
its own set of frustrations as a consequence of
its evolution and increasing popularity.
Shifts in the single-aisle variant mix since
the re-engining programme have put produc-
tion pressures on the A321neo, not just in
terms of absolute numbers but crucially in
the level of complexity associated with the
model, as its fuselage reconfiguration and
longer-range capabilities have necessitated
substantial customer cabin redesigns.Single-aisle crisis management is hardly a
new experience for Airbus. Back-loading of
deliveries had almost become routine for the
company after technical snags affected
A320neo engine production and left dozens
of “gliders” awaiting powerplant installation.
Airbus is chasing a higher delivery target
this year, while having to cope with restric-
tions in the twin-aisle sector – the airframer is
limiting A330 output, as it transitions to the
A330neo, and A380 production is dwindling.All of this means that Airbus – facing the
nice-to-have problem of a colossal combined
A320neo-family backlog – is relying on a
smooth ramp-up of single-aisle assembly to
reach its target and provide confidence over
its ability to cope with even higher rates.
Airbus had not intended to count the A
in its production targets last year. As long as
the A321neo industrial issues remain “chal-
lenging and difficult”, the airframer is proba-
bly going to be fairly relieved that, in 2019,
the little jet will be playing its part in keeping
up the numbers. ■“About that rate rise, Mr Faury”Paramount/Kobal/ShutterstockSee Feature PSee This Week PShifts in the single-aisle variant
mix since the re-engining have
put production pressures
on the A321neo
Str/AP/ShutterstockFIN_060819_005.indd 5 01/08/2019 17: