EADS Military Aircraft and the U.A.E. Air Force and Air Defence give further proofs for progress and maturity of the joint Mako program
Paris/Munich, 01 June 2001
At the 44th international Aerosalon at Paris - Le Bourget further proofs for the progress and the maturity of the Mako program are given by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) and the U.A.E. Air Force and Air Defence (U.A.E. AF & AD). For the first time the Mako Cockpit Demonstrator (MCD) will be shown and jointly presented to potential customers and partners as well as to the public. The sophisticated exhibit that features a glass cockpit able to compete with modern contemporary and future fighter cockpit layouts is designed as a state-of-the-art simulator. Therefore, the MCD offers the opportunity to ,fly' the Mako according to the genuine Mako flight control laws both in a conventional simulation mode in the front cockpit and in a Virtual Reality mode in the rear cockpit. (For more detailed information on the technical features of the MCD a separate press release is available).
The development of the MCD is based on jointly elaborated technical and operational definitions for the Mako light combat aircraft and advanced trainer family between the EADS and U.A.E. AF & AD. The two partners who have already signed their second MoU during the IDEX exhibition in March this year are intensively working on pushing the programme to the next big milestone, the launch of the prototype development envisaged for the Dubai Air Show in November this year. For this purpose the U.A.E. AF & AD I EADS team continued to present the common results of the jointly developed technical and operational definitions to selected aerospace companies and conducted a number of workshops with major systems suppliers.
The seriousity of the supplier consultation process is also represented by the participation of candidate partners in the realisation of the MCD providing the following equipment:
-
Throttle and sticks by BAE Systems North America and Essex Industries
-
Ejection seat (front cockpit) by Martin Baker
-
Ejection seat (rear cockpit) by Goodrich
The U.A.E. AF & AD I EADS team members intensively support the Mako program, which they predict a bright future due to the unique family concept offering the optimum solution for future fighter pilot training and the light combat aircraft (LCA) role. Airframe, general systems, core avionics and the engine concept will have a very high degree of commonality for all Mako roles. E.g., the avionics will be of modular design which enables ample growth potential for the LCA version and special features for the trainer version, such as in-flight simulation. The powerplant will be a family concept in itself, providing low life-cycle cost in the derated (trainer) variant, and high performance in the enhanced Mako version.
Looking at the international market, a change in the trainer segment with high-performance turbo-prop aircraft covering even more capabilities in advanced training is obvious. At the same time, next-generation fighter aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon provide for a major performance leap, leading to a training gap between contemporary jet trainers or their derivatives now under development and the future front-line fighters. The U.A.E. AF & AD I EADS team is convinced that Mako will cover this gap by having excellent capabilities as a companion trainer. This strong Mako advantage will save training hours on the high-performance fighter aircraft and thus give the air forces a remarkable cost reduction. In the fighter segment, the advent of the next-generation combat aircraft will shift performance into higher dimensions. Below this high-end aircraft category there are no new dedicated fighters in the LCA area, except the Mako. The market here is currently characterised by used third-generation fighter aircraft, with have low unit costs at first glance, but will punish their new customers with tremendous life-cycle costs in operation. Mako is the only aircraft in this class that will provide air forces with a modern flying weapon system at low cost of ownership featuring modern avionics, high agility, low signatures thanks to a stealthy design, a broad stores compendium and seven hard points.
Your contact:
Military Aircraft Wolfram Wolff
Phone: +49-89-607 25711
Fax: +49-89-607 22455
Börsenkurse
| ||||
 |
