Chasing El Tigre

摘要

Even in good times, manufacturers would fight hard to win a $l.l-billion aircraft competition. These are hardly good times, but even so, Spain's protracted competition to replace its 23-year-old combat helicopters has more riding on it than the money and the promise of an order for a couple of dozen aircraft. The competition, for which Spain is expected to pick a winner soon, could determine whether one aircraft rules the combat helicopter market or is forced to square off again and again with an up-and-coming contender. The Spanish army aviation command, Fuerzas Aero-moviles del Ejercito de Tierra, or FAMET, operates one battalion of 59 BO-105s. These aircraft, which entered service in 1980, are due to be phased out by the end of the decade. Three different versions of the basic design, some of which are armed with HOT anti-tank missiles and a belly-mounted automatic cannon, are used for reconnaissance, scout and anti-tank missions. For several years, FAMET has been looking at ways of procuring a modern combat helicopter to replace its antitank BO-105s. It evaluated the Bell AH-1W SuperCobra, the ! AH-64D Longbow Apache and a new, multi-mission version of Eurocopter's Tiger, designated HAD (Helicoptere d'Attaque et Destruction). The last two have been effectively shortlisted, although the selection process has not been formalized to that degree. Boeing and Eurocopter are doing all they can to win the sale, because both see the Spanish contract as a key to the future international market for attack helicopters.