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Scramble 459
for things to happen. In January 2012 Southern Aircraft Con-
sultancy bought both airframes, initially with the intention
to bring them back in the air. That plan was abandoned not
long after as the A310 career was not as bright as predicted so
spare parts collection and the scrap man was the only option
remaining. In January 2017 the first start was made with one
of the two being completely gone by June and the second
one also made good progress and is hardly recognisable as
airplane.
We conclude the Belgian news with the rejection of SAAB
in the Belgian F-X tender, the race for the successor of the
F-16AM. On 10 July the deadline for bidding tenders passed
and after the earlier withdrawal of Boeing and their F/A-
18E/F Super Hornet, SAAB followed with their Gripen E/F.
In the support contract certain guarantees over government
backed agencies are demanded in the Belgian RfP and this
is not possible for SAAB. This leaves Dassault/Rafale, Airbus
Militairy-EADS/Eurofighter and Lockheed/F-35A in the com-
petition over the 3.5 billion euro tender for 34 new fighter
airplanes. A final decision on the received tenders will not
be made before August 2018 and the favours for the F-35A
selection will remain high. On the other hand the current
F-16AM/BM fleet will soldier on until 2028 before they are
all replaced by the new fighter, making Belgium the longest
operator of the F-16 in Europe.
Austria
Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte (AF)
Surprising news from Austria: the Österreichische Luftstreit-
kräfte is to phase out its fleet of fifteen Tranche 1 Eurofighter
EF2000s from 2020. Defense Minister Hans Peter Doskozil’s
decision follows the advice of an expert commission, which
had studied options for securing the country’s skies after
2020. At that time, the Saab 105OEs would reach the end
of their economic lives and would be retired anyway. And
because the fleet of fifteen Eurofighter EF2000s are of the
early Tranche 1 generation, those aircraft also are considered
militarily not the right choice in their current configuration
and economically unsustainable.
Continued operation of the fifteen EF2000s jets would cost
between €4.4 billion and €5.1 billion over 30 years, according
to the expert commission. Eventually, the decision was made
to go looking for a single-type fleet, fifteen single-seaters
and three double-seaters, which would begin operations in
2020. As the Saab 105OEs are also used for training missions,
the report also signals Austria’s possible intention of replac-
ing its fleet of Pilatus PC-7 turboprop trainers at the same
time. If the PC-7s are phased out it will look to buy training
hours from a European partner in the short term, while in
the longer term, the Österreichische Luftstreitkräfte would
upgrade its simulator training and purchase a “high-effi-
ciency trainer” aircraft.
Earlier this year, it emerged that Airbus and the international
consortium that builds the Eurofighter faced a criminal
investigation in Austria into alleged fraud over a €2 billion
deal struck in 2003 for the Eurofighter EF2000s. In April,
after it was revealed that he was being investigated as part
of the probe, Tom Enders, chief executive of Airbus, accused
the Austrian government of trying to score “cheap political
points” and of abusing the legal system.
France
Armée de l’Air (AF)
With a lower production rate and higher operational cost of
the Rafale the French have decided that the Mirage 2000D
will get an MLU. Fifty-five aircraft will be updated to keep
them flying until 2030. Most remarkable part of the upgrade
will be the possibility to carry gun-pods which were once
used by the Mirage F1s.
LFOJ = Orleans Bricy
LFRL = Lanveoc Poulmic
Alpha Jet E
E158/8-RF nn ex PdFrance jul17
E166/705-RW EAC00.314 ex PdFrance jul17
E173/8-MA EE03.008 ex 705-MA jul17
C-135FR
475/31-CF GRV02.091 ex 93-CF 18684 jul17
C-160R
R87/61-ZE std LFOC ex ET00.064 87 jul17
R89/61-ZG std LFOC ex ET00.064 89 jul17
R90/61-ZH std LFOC ex ET00.064 90 jul17
R91/61-ZI std LFOC ex ET00.064 91 jul17
R94/61-ZL std LFOC ex ET00.064 94 jul17
R95/61-ZM std LFOC ex ET00.064 95 jul17
R96/61-ZN std LFOC ex ET00.064 96 jul17
EC225
2741/SY GAM00.056 ex EH01.067 2741 jun17
2752/SZ GAM00.056 ex EH01.067 2752 jun17
On 19 July 2017, the first upgraded RNLAF PC-7 L-01 was re-delivered from Stans-Buochs after receiving various modifications. During the
testing and certification phase, Pilatus was officially the owner of the aircraft and flew it with its c/n as registration. (Stephan Widmer)
