두바이 쇼크, UAE 의 무기도입 사업은 정상적으로 진행될 수 있을까?

 

두바이 침몰 혹은 두바이발 쇼크 라는 제목으로 제2의 글로벌 금융위기가 발생할 것이라는 예측 가운데, 두바이가 속한 아랍에미리츠

(UAE) 가 지난 수년 동안 막대한 비용을 들여가며 추진하고 있는 국방력 증강사업이 과연 앞으로 정상적으로 진행될 지 관심이 가는

대목입니다.

 

마침 11월 23일자 AW&ST 지에 최근 UAE 가 구매하기로 한 방산 물품에 대한 분석기사가 있어 소개 합니다. 이 기사에는 현재 두바이

경제위기와 관련된 언급은 없습니다. 또한 국방, 외교 분야에서의 결정권은 아부다비에서 가지고 있으므로, UAE 라는 국가 전체적으로

볼 때, 이번 금융 위기는 곧 마무리 될 것이라는 조심스러운 관측도 있습니다. 그리고, 기존에 추진하던 무기구매 사업도 정상적으로

진행될 것이라는 의견도 지배적 입니다.

 

그러나, 최종 계약에 이르지 못하고 가격 협상 중이거나 MoU 단계에 있는 일부 무기도입 사업은 연기 혹은 취소될 가능성을 예측하는

의견도 있습니다. 이런 가운데 다시금 아래 기사를 한번 참고해 보는 것도 도움이 될 듯 합니다.

 

1998년 5월 UAE 가 프랑스 닷소 라팔을 최종 순간에 탈락시키고 Lockheed Martin 의 F-16E/F Block 60 Desert Falcon 을 도입한 바

있는데요, 그 동안 제기되어왔던 Block 60 의 문제점에 대해서도 간략한 언급이 있습니다. Block 60 모델은 UAE 가 유일한 도입, 운용국

이며, 최근까지도 파키스탄, 그리스, 터키, 이집트 등은 Block 50/52 를 지속적으로 도입하고 있습니다.

 

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  © Lockheed Martin

 

Ready When You Are

Aviation Week & Space Technology 11/23/2009

Author: Robert Wall

 

The United Arab Emirates has embraced a conservative systems-acquisition approach to avoid development surprises and is focusing its latest round of purchases on proven systems.

 

The country’s air force was stung by development problems on the F-16E Block 60, which was delivered even though some of the electronics subsystems were not up to par. Northrop Grumman expects to deliver another software installment next year to finally cure shortfalls in the F-16’s electronic support measures system.

 

The UAE’s latest acquisitions, including last week’s decision to buy two Saab 340-based Erieye airborne early warning and control systems and 25 Pilatus PC-21 basic trainers, signal the more conservative approach, particularly when it comes to the AEW&C asset. The Saab purchase is billed as an interim solution, with the UAE still looking at the Boeing 737 Wedgetail, Northrop Grumman E-2D and Saab 340 for a permanent solution, says Maj. Gen. Faris Al Mazrouei, chief of logistics for the UAE armed forces.

 

When the next round will be awarded has not yet been determined, but it will be driven in part by the entry into service of the 737 and E-2D. The UAE did not want to commit to a new platform until the contenders are in the field.

 

Al Mazrouei says the interim program was executed to start training personnel in airborne warning and control procedures. The UAE believes it will be cheaper to transition operators from the Erieye than have them learn the basics of these missions immediately on the eventual platform.

 

The Saab order is valued at €148.3 million ($221 million). The first Erieye is to be handed over in the third quarter of 2010 and the second will follow in early 2011.

 

The aircraft will be refurbished Swedish air force assets, says Sten Soderstrom, vice president for sales and marketing at Saab. Although formal work has not yet begun to meet the tight time line, the company has made preparations to deliver on time. Details of the configuration are not being released, but in addition to refurbishing the aircraft, some equipment is being added and some removed for the UAE. Missions for the full operational system once it is fielded have not been set yet.

 

Australia is slated to receive its first two Wedgetails on Nov. 24, with the aircraft due to reach initial operational capability late next year and full operational capability in 2012, says Air Marshal Mark Binskin, chief of the Royal Australian Air Force. Boeing and radar provider Northrop Grumman are still performing development work on the system, but Binskin says the RAAF is starting to take delivery of the aircraft to commence training crew.

 

“The stability of the system has climbed tremendously,” with the focus now largely on fixing system integration bugs, says John Johnson, Northrop Grumman’s general manager of the aerospace division. The system will give the RAAF an 8-hr. endurance at an operational range of 300 nm., or 2 hr. on station at 1,400 nm.

 

Meanwhile, the first of the E-2Ds should be delivered to the U.S. Navy in May, with operational evaluation to start in July. Initial operational capability is planned for 2014. The U.S. government has offered the UAE four aircraft, with a fifth as an option, says John Beaulieu, who runs the Navy’s E-2 foreign sales efforts.

 

The PC-21 order is valued at 520 million Swiss francs ($513 million) and doubles the number of orders Pilatus has secured for the PC-21. The first aircraft is to be handed over in the fourth quarter of 2011 and deliveries are to conclude in the subsequent quarter.

 

The UAE is modernizing its entire training system in a program begun in 2003, reducing its fleet types from six aircraft to three. The goal is to prepare pilots better for the current generation of fighters, the Mirage 2000-9 and F-16E Block 60, by fielding trainers with advanced avionics.

 

Al Mazrouei notes that discussions are continuing regarding the M-346 advanced trainer acquisition.

 

The UAE is hoping the overhaul of its pilot training program could cut training costs as much as 30% starting around 2012, Brig. Gen. Ibrahim Naser Al Alawi, the service’s deputy commander, told the Dubai Air Chiefs Conference on the eve of the Dubai Airshow. The savings primarily will come from offloading training now performed on the Mirage 2000s and F-16s onto the PC-21 and the advanced jet trainer. For instance, the PC-21 will allow pilots to become familiar with the symbols used in an advanced radar at an early stage, rather than doing so later on aircraft with higher per-hour operating costs.

 

  © Lockheed Martin