Contender for Polish multirole fighter tender makes its case

Published: 3/16/2000

DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA), one of three European contenders for the Polish multirole fighter contract, has called on the Polish government to adopt a horses for courses approach to industrial participation, in what seems to be a last ditch attempt to stay in the running for the tender. Rumours have been circulating that Lockheed Martin has been selected as the winning bid, although this is not confirmed and the official line is that a decision will be announced later this year. According to Winfried Guenther, Marketing Director, Military Aircraft at DASA, the company has visited Mielec and Swidnik and considered that, at Mielec, the workforce is very well trained with good technical expertise. He stressed that DASA will not buy into Polish aerospace companies, unless the government is prepared to make a long term procurement commitment, but claims that defence industries will come to rely more and more on sharing knowledge. DASA's tender proposal involves the upgrading of MiG-29s, so extending their lives by another decade, while Poland intergrates into the NATO structure. In the short term, DASA intends to sell Poland equipment such aa radar jamming and decoying system. This equipment has been successfully tested on F-4 Phantom and Tornado aircraft and will also be used with the Eurofighter Typhoon. It is also planning to sell the laser radar Hellas system, that warns helicopter pilots of cables, pylons and other obstructions. DASA has sold 25 of these units to the German border guard. Another item of helicopter equipment, primarily with a civil role is the Eurogrid digital map display system, which has been jointly developed with the French company, Sextant Avionique.

Article ID: 1687