World aeronautical industry heavyweights flex their muscles at "Romaero" fair

Major manufacturers in the aircraft industry took advantage of the fair in Bucharest to face each other, since the Romanian market can bring them consistent profits and is extremely permissive, even when it comes to machines which aren"t exactly cutting edge, and which other countries don"t want to have in their fleet.

American company Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of F-16 aircraft, seem to be the certain winners of the USD 1.3 billion contract to equip the Romanian army, in particular due to the weight America carries in NATO.

Bob DuLaney, former F-16 pilot and current international development director with Lockheed Martin, said that choosing F16 aircraft was a natural step for Romania, given the benefits that come with that selection.

"Given the fact that Romania is a NATO member, an organization whose members predominantly use F-16 aircraft, it is natural that it would make this choice, since in the event of an attack, its allies would also be using F-16 aircraft", says DuLaney, who stressed that American pilots will transfer their tactics, strategies and know-how to their Romanian colleagues.

"In the case of a war, allies are the most important factor", considers DuLaney, implying that Romania would not be left to fend for itself in the event of a major attack, even if it were to own latest generation aircraft.

F-16 aircraft are fourth generation, far easier to use and more powerful than the old MIG aircraft, which were third generation. Also the agreement the Romanian government concluded with the Americans provides that Romania will later acquire F-35 aircraft, which are 5th generation models.

On the other hand, Alenia Aeronautica, one of the manufacturers of Eurofighter, the main competitor of Lockheed Martin, claims that had Romania chosen Typhoon aircraft, it would have become part of a large scale European military and economic project.

"Alenia is disappointed by Romania"s decision, which chose not to get involved in one of the biggest European military and economic projects, which will create 150,000 jobs and which involves European countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Spain", said the company"s general manager, Giuseppe Giordo.

He said that Eurofighter planes cost the same as F16, except for the fact that Typhoon airplanes were new.

"Considering all of the above, Eurofighter offered a better price than the American group. Romania will pay 1.3 billion dollars for aircraft that will be replaced ten years from now. The new F-16 Block 50 or 52 cost no less than 100 million dollars. F-16 doesn"t come cheap at all, it costs more than Eurofighter, which is superior in terms of performance and abilities. What"s more, the offer of Eurofighter would have provided a substantial offset for the help to the Romanian aircraft industry", officials of the company said.

On March 23rd, The Romanian Supreme Council of Defense approved, , the proposal of the Ministry of Defense to buy 24 used F16 aircraft. The final decision however lies with the Parliament, which will debate the issue.

• Alenia is discussing potential investments with all profitable domestic players in the aeronautical industry

Alenia Aeronautica, the company that has already delivered the first two military transport aircraft C-27J Spartan, says that it is prepared to invest in Romanian companies operating in the sector, following the agreement it has concluded with the Romanian state, Giuseppe Giordo said for Bursa.

"Based on the off-set agreement, which specifies we need to invest in Romania, we are interested in the maintenance, logistics and engineering activities, and we are currently discussing with all companies in this sector. It is not hard to make a list which would include them, especially since there aren"t many companies of this type in Romania", Giordo said.

Alenia Aeronautica (Italia) has delivered two of the seven military transport aircraft C-27J Spartan, and it will soon deliver the third plane, under the terms of the contract worth 216 million Euros.

"A third plane is ready for delivery and the main goal is to begin training the pilots ", said Giordo. He said that according to the contract negotiated with the Romanian authorities the company will deliver seven aircraft at a price of EUR 216 million, with an offer to offset 80% of the value of the contract.

• Other Romaero participants

Apart from the heavyweights of Lockheed Martin or Alenia Aeronautica, other exhibitors include Eurocopter, which is presenting four of its most important helicopter models: EC 725, NH 90, Tiger and EC 635.

Other items on display at Black Sea Defense & Aerospace include IAR 99 Şoim (Falcon), the Puma 330 Socat helicopter, as well as a Hercules C130 aircraft.

A MiG 21 Lancer belonging to the Romanian Military Air Force flew for several minutes performing spectacular moves that attracted the attention of the visitors. It was followed by a demonstration of a C-27J Spartan aircraft produced by Alenia.

The exhibition, however was not just an opportunity for an air show, as some of the 180 companies of 17 countries which attended the fair also presented land military equipment. For instance, a novelty was the presence of Otokar, the main supplier of tactical armored vehicles for the Turkish army.

Also present at the fair is Polish group Brumar, specializing in the manufacturing of ammunition, radars, missiles and armor. Other participants at BSDA 2010 include Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, the main Norwegian torpedo manufacturer, Aeromaritime SystemBau, a supplier of communication technology, Austrian gun maker Glock and Terma A/S of Denmark.

Another premiere when it comes to the participation at the BSDA is Daewoo-Mangalia Heavy Industries, which in the last 12 years has built over 130 ships and repaired over 300.

Romanian companies which attended the fair include Romarm, Elprof, IOR, UTI, Aerostar, Avioane Craiova, Romcarbon and Romaero.

The Eurofighter consortium and Swedish group Saab decided not to attend the BSDA, following the decision of Romania"s supreme defense council to buy second hand F-16 jets.