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FLA MAY GET ITS RFP IN SEPTEMBER
by Karl SchwarzThe FLA industry team can look a little more optimistic into the future. At a meeting of the so called "policy group" at the Aérosalon in Le Bourget, at least France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Turkey announced that "they are ready to issue a request for proposal to Airbus Industrie, Alenia, and Turkish Aerospace Industry."
While this sounds promising, some problems need to be solved before the RFP is really on the table. 
Great Britain, for example, wants to think about the participation "during the summer", while Belgium and Portugal are just reverting to an observer status for the time being.
Another open question is, who will pay for the pre-launch activities which are estimated to amount to approximately DM 130 million. The industry expects these to be paid by the governmental contractors which, however, don't have funds available. It was exactly for this reason that the nations insisted on a commercial approach to push governmental funding as far as possible into the future.
Should this problem be solved by early fall of this year, the official incorporation of the Airbus Military Company is next on the agenda. Under its lead, a "binding offer including the basic aircraft specifications, fixed prices, delivery schedules, performance guarantees, and a support package" will be worked out.
Finally, the new company is to sign binding contracts with the individual nations concerning the number of aircraft, which are to include guarantees and drastic penalty clauses for the case of a program exit. The contracts will also specify the payment modalities. Here, different ways are possible (governmental budgets or commercial credits) for the individual countries.
The work share of the industry partners will depend on the number of orders. Still, the work share should agree mostly with the share of the civil Airbus programs. However, there will be a free competition on the level of the suppliers.
Should the program be launched by mid-1999, the first deliveries can be expected for the end of 2004, just in time to fill the urgent need of the Royal Air Force - if Great Britain participates.
From page 18 of FLUG REVUE 8/97
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Last updated July 4, 1997
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