Flight International – 11 June 2019

DEFENCE

16 | Flight International | 11-17 June 2019 flightglobal.com

T

he US Government Account-
ability Office (GAO) has
denied a protest from the Ad-
vanced Turbine Engine Company
(ATEC) following the US Army’s
selection of GE Aviation’s T901-
900 for its Improved Turbine En-
gine Programme (ITEP).
ATEC, a joint venture between
Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney,
says it is reviewing the decision
and will lobby the US Congress
to fund a prototype development
competition between its T
and the GE powerplant.
Via its ITEP effort, the US
Army plans to replace the en-
gines on 1,300 of its Sikorsky
UH-60 Black Hawks and more
than 600 Boeing AH-64 Apache
attack helicopters after 2025.
Both types are currently pow-
ered by GE T700s.

U

pgrading Kuala Lumpur’s in-

service fleet of Hawk aircraft

could be a cost-effective way for

the Royal Malaysian Air Force to

address its future attack require-

ments, BAE Systems believes.

Natasha Pheiffer, the company’s

managing director in Asia, be-

lieves such a modernisation activ-

ity is a viable alternative to Malay-

sia’s plans to buy 36 fighters under

its light combat aircraft (LCA)

competition. She contends that

such a move could also free funds

for the nation’s long-frozen multi-

role combat aircraft (MRCA) ac-

quisition of 18 advanced fighters.

Cirium’s Fleets Analyzer

shows that Malaysia currently

operates 18 Hawks, comprising

13 single-seat 208-standard ex-

amples used for ground-attack

duties and five two-seat 108-

model trainers.

Kuala Lumpur issued a request

for information earlier this year

for an LCA fleet, with candidates

including the Chengdu/Pakistan

Aeronautical Complex JF-17,

Hindustan Aeronautics Tejas,

Irkut Yak-130 and Korea Aero-

space Industries FA-50. However,

it is still considering its options

for the requirement, and it is not

clear when, or if, a request for

proposals will be forthcoming.

BAE did not receive the LCA re-

quest, but Pheiffer says this was

mainly due to the air force’s view

that it is already intimately familiar

with the Hawk platform, after oper-

ating it for a quarter of a century.

While potential bidders no

longer view Malaysia’s MRCA ef-

fort as an active competition,

hopes remain that the nation

could eventually acquire ad-

vanced new fighters to replace its

stored RAC MiG-29s. Previous

contenders included the Boeing

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Das-

sault Rafale and Saab Gripen,

with BAE having led a Typhoon

campaign on behalf of the Eu-

rofighter consortium. ■

W

ashington has detailed a
proposed $1.67 billion sale
of eight Lockheed Martin F-16V
fighters to Bulgaria, after securing
Department of State approval for
the potential deal. Also included
are sensors, weapons, training de-
vices, in-service support and
spares, the US Defense Security
Cooperation Agency (DSCA) says.
“Bulgaria currently relies on the
United States and the United
Kingdom to participate in joint air
policing,” says the DSCA. “By ac-
quiring these F-16s... Bulgaria will
be able to provide for the defence
of its own airspace and borders.”
Sofia is seeking to replace its 15
RAC MiG-29s. In January, it began
talks with the USA for the F-16V,
having also been offered Saab Grip-
en C/Ds by Sweden and used Eu-
rofighter Typhoons from Italy. ■

PROCUREMENT GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES

ITEP work to resume after protest fails

GE targets resumption of T901 engine development as rival bidder’s appeal against selection rejected by watchdog

MODERNISATION
GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

Bulgarian F-

purchase given

$1.67bn target

CAPABILITY GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE

BAE guns for Malaysia Hawk update

Nation’s air force flies 13 ground-attack roled single-seat examples

AirTeamImages

US Army

Programme will replace the powerplants on more than 600 Apaches

The new engine is also intend-

ed to power the service’s Future

Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft

(FARA) – a scout and light attack

rotorcraft to be fielded by 2028.

“The GAO findings notwith-

standing, a procurement this cru-

cial should never be made based

on paper proposals. Indeed, it is

customary for the Pentagon to

thoroughly test competing en-

gines before making a final

downselect,” says ATEC president

Craig Madden. “Testing provides

clear, unequivocal evidence of en-

gine capabilities that cannot be

obtained through a proposal.”

Following the ruling, GE

expects a “stop work” order on

ITEP’s engineering and manufac-

turing development (EMD) phase

to be lifted shortly. In February,

the company was awarded a $

million contract to perform the ac-

tivity on its 3,000shp (2,240kW)

T901, but this was subsequently

frozen due to ATEC’s protest.

“GE Aviation is committed to

accelerating the T901 EMD sched-

ule ahead of the army’s baseline

plan, to support an earlier fielding

in Apaches and Black Hawks, in

addition to supporting the FARA

programme,” the company says.

The army has previously out-

lined a target for development

work to be completed by August

2024, with low-rate production

anticipated soon after. ■