Blow to BAE deal
BAE Systems and its Eurofighter Typhoon partners looked to have been dealt a fresh blow to their export ambitions for the jet as reports from South Korea suggested the country was set to choose rival Boeing’s F15 in a £4.7bn order.
BAE (up 3p at 440.4p) builds Typhoons with Italy’s Alenia and EADS in Spain and Germany. India recently rejected the Eurofighter in favour of Dassault’s Frenchmade rafale. A final decision from South Korea is not expected until midSeptember. But reports suggested the country’s arms procurement agency found only Boeing’s bid to supply 60 fighters to be below the price ceiling it set.
Lockheed Martin’s F-35, which is also partly made by BAE in Lancashire, is believed to be too expensive for the contract.
THE appearance of just one jet fighter at last month’s Royal International Air Tattoo prompted corporate guests to down knives and forks and step outside in search of a better view.
Assembled dignitaries gathered on the terrace of RAF Fairford’s patron’s pavilion to watch pilot Jamie Norris put the Eurofighter Typhoon through its paces in a blistering display of power and precision flying.
Two hundred miles away in Lancashire, the first aircraft in the third tranche of Typhoons was rolling off the assembly line at BAE Systems’ Warton site.
The huge factory, the aerospace and defence company’s biggest with more than 5,000 workers, is home to the Military Air & Information (MAI) business.
Warton boasts an illustrious history since opening in 1940, with historic aircraft including the Canberra, Lightning and Jaguar built here, as well as the Tornado, which remains in service with several countries including Britain.
Final assembly of RAF Typhoons takes place at Warton, along with flight testing, maintenance and upgrading of the fleet. And 72 aircraft for the Royal Saudi Air Force will be built here, where 70 years ago 10,000 Americans worked round-theclock shifts at the height of the Second World War.
Today Warton is the cradle of the most technically advanced machines in the modern military inventory.
The delta- shaped Eurofighter was developed by a consortium including Europe’s leading aviation firms: BAE Systems, Alenia Aeronautica of Italy, EADS in Germany and EADS CASA of Spain.
First delivered in 2003, Typhoon is in service with the air forces of Austria, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the UK and 12 have been ordered by Oman.
But BAE and its partners are desperate to book more overseas orders as domestic defence budgets are slashed, eroding its traditional customer base.
HAVING relied on Ministry of Defence procurement for decades, FTSE100-listed BAE is facing up to the need for exports to drive the business forward.
Peter Anstiss, business development director at the MAI unit, explains that by 2016 international sales will be half its work, making connections with foreign governments vital to future prosperity.
Anstiss says BAE works ‘ hand in glove’ with the Government and UK Trade & Investment, which promotes British business overseas.
‘Despite the shrinking size of the market in the UK, there is the potential to grow the business rather than just sustain it. To do that the industry must be sustained in key technologies,’ Anstiss says.
Growth for BAE’s military aviation business depends both on the company continuing to deliver support and servicing for its existing Typhoon customers like the RAF and Saudi Arabia, but also on winning new international orders to grow its footprint overseas, Anstiss adds.
Competition for new fighter aircraft remains fierce across the globe. Revamped versions of Boeing’s proven F-15 and F-18 jets remain strong contenders along with Lockheed Martin’s new F-35 stealth fighter – which is made with partners including BAE – and France’s Dassault Rafale.
Despite potential setbacks in South Korea and India, which chose the Rafale for a 126-aircraft order, BAE is eyeing Malaysia, which needs 24 jets, and the UAE.
Meanwhile, Anstiss says, BAE is investing in developing products and services while also ensuring critical skills and key facilities are sustained.
His point rings true with shop floor veterans – men like supervisor Tony Butterworth who takes pride in his role passing on vital engineering skills to BAE apprentices.
‘I get a real buzz from seeing those younger guys coming through the company,’ Butterworth says. ‘It’s important to pass on these skills to the next generation because they could be making these parts for the next 40 years or so.’
The business of making aircraft is a far cry from the metal-bashing and fettling of components of yesteryear. These days all parts are precision made and interchangeable, meaning that during the RAF’s involvement in Libya, Typhoons returning from missions were rearmed, refuelled and had systems debugged within an hour-and-a-half of landing – an astonishingly quick turnaround for any frontline aircraft.
Back at Warton and the building housing the Typhoon final assembly line, with its treasure trove of aircraft in various stages of completion, is a physical demonstration of how this can be achieved with laser accuracy.
The third tranche of Typhoon about to be delivered to the RAF can carry more weapons, fly further and process information faster than its predecessors and can switch from dogfighting enemy aircraft to bombing ground targets at the flick of a switch without the need to land.
Wing Commander Richard Wells, who led the RAF mission in Libya, said: ‘In capability terms, Typhoon has growth potential and is robust for the future. I have confidence when I look at it. It is a massive success story.’