Airbus Military offering SA choice of two maritime aircraft types
Date: 15 May 2011
European aerospace company Airbus Military is offering South Africa dual role aircraft for the country´s Project Saucepan maritime surveillance aircraft programme.
Saucepan is being accelerated because of the spread of Somali piracy to Southern African waters.
The company can offer the CN235 or C295 aircraft for maritime surveillance.
The South African Air Force (SAAF) has already indicated that it is looking at quite small aircraft to fulfill the maritime surveillance role, and wants to receive them as soon as possible after placing any order.
A type cited as an example is the Beechcraft King Air 350.
« The [King Air] 350 is a very good plane, » Airbus Military senior VP: commercial Antonio Rodriguez Barberán told Engineering News Online in Seville, Spain, on Tuesday.
« Typically, what we would present to the SAAF are aircraft with a dual role. A CN235 could be a preferred solution for South Africa. Even a C295. »
The two roles these aircraft can execute are maritime surveillance and transport whereas, as he pointed out, the King Air 350 has limited transport capability.
Although the CN235 is larger than the King Air 350, it is not a large aircraft.
It is already in service in the maritime surveillance role with a number of customers, including the US Coast Guard.
The C295 is larger than the CN235, but offers even greater flexibility.
With the C295 « you can have a mixed configuration in which you can use the front half for maritime surveillance (systems) and the rear half for transport, or for anti-pollution equipment, » he highlighted. « This offers huge benefits for an air force. »
The SAAF´s current maritime surveillance aircraft, refurbished and modernised Douglas C-47TP Dakotas, are also operated in the transport role (although different aircraft are assigned the maritime surveillance and transport missions).
Airbus Military could deliver the first maritime surveillance configured CN235 or C295 24 months after the contract was placed. For aircraft configured only in the basic transport role, the time period from contract signing to first delivery would be 12 months.
Regarding industrial participation packages should South Africa order an Airbus Military aircraft type, Barberán stated « we have not put forward any offset programme (yet) but we have held discussions with Denel and Aerosud ».
He added that Airbus Military was in a better position that any other company to offer offsets to South Africa, citing the work packages already placed with Denel and Aerosud under the A400M transport and air-to-air refuelling aircraft programme.
(Separately, A400M programme head Cédric Gautier gave the assurance that the company had no intention, at this time, of removing any A400M work packages from South Africa.)
The SAAF currently operates both the CN235 and King Air in the transport and communications roles respectively.
Source: Engineering News
