EFL: Singapore has dropped the Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet from a $1 billion-plus warplane order, narrowing the race to replace its locally-upgraded but aging fleet of A-4SU Super Skyhawk light attack aircraft. "The committed schedule for the delivery of the Typhoon and its systems did not meet the requirements of the Singapore Air Force," said Singapore's Ministry of Defence in a statement. This decision narrows the race for the pivotal Singapore contract to the French Dassault's Rafale jet and Boeing Co.'s F-15.
Singapore is known globally as a sophisticated arms buyer, and its choice for its 20-plane order could influence other countries considering new fighters. The Singapore order is also pivotal because Boeing needs orders for the F-15 to ensure continued production, while Dassault and Eurofighter are hunting for their first export orders from beyond Europe. The Rafale has yet to win its first export order after Dassault lost out on orders from Norway (F-35 or Eurofighter), the Netherlands (F-35 Joint Strike Fighter) and South Korea (F-15K).
Singapore's decision deals a blow to the four-nation Eurofighter consortium, which includes Franco-German Airbus parent EADS, Britain's BAE Systems, and Italian Finmeccanica's Alenia Aeronautica. Until recently Eurofighter was confident that its performance in Singapore's 2004 evaluation had gone a long way to answering critics questioning the aircraft's capabilities. The multi-national December 2004 announcement of $16 billion in funds for Eurofighter Tranche 2 production and development was also seen as a significant boost to the plane's export prospects. The Eurofighter is slated to enter service with its development partners UK, Germany, and Italy, as well as Spain, Greece, and Austria. There has been talk of order cutbacks from several of these countries, however.
Singapore currently has a mixture of F-16s and locally-upgraded F-5 and RF-5 fighters in their combat inventory, as well as the soon to be retired A-4SUs. Singapore-based sources told Reuters the French Rafale would probably be competitively priced, but that Boeing could benefit from Singapore's close links to the United States. Singapore hosts a U.S. military communications and logistics command centre, U.S. Navy ships regularly call at Changi Naval Base, and U.S. aircraft are permitted to use the republic's air fields. In May 2003, the two countries signed a bilateral free trade agreement. |