Rumoured to be one of the contenders for a future RSAF LIFT requirement.
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http://www.flightdailynews.com/singapore20...nce/blocks.shtmSingapore fighter trainer runners on starting blocks Contenders could include latest versions of the Hawk (above) and the Aermacchi M-346.
Hard on the heels of the three-way fight for Singapore’s Next Generation Fighter Replacement programme, set to be decided in about 12 months, the tiny island-state will also soon be in the market for replacements for trainer aircraft to prepare pilots for the new fighter.
Industry sources say up to seven manufacturers responded to a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Request for Information (RFI) issued last February for a new basic trainer aircraft to replace its 30 ageing SIAI Marchetti S211 jets.
Change The RFI requested information on both turboprop and jet basic trainers. Following the US Air Force’s change in the late 1990s from T-37 jet to T-6 Texan turboprop basic trainers, Singapore may also be considering the more cost-effective solution of turboprops.
Meantime, industry observers also believe the RSAF could be issuing an RFI soon for replacements for its ageing McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk advanced trainer, converted by Singapore Technologies Aerospace to two-seat TA-4SU configuration.
The RFI could go out by the end of this year, if the RSAF wants deliveries of the new advanced trainer to coincide with planned arrival in 2008 of the initial batch of next generation fighters.
But it is understood that the RSAF’s TA-4SUs, some of which are based in Cazaux, France, have had life extension work performed on airframes. The TA-4SUs are used to transition pilots to all of the RSAF’s frontline fighters – the A-4SU, F-5, and F-16. Advanced pilot training averages about 100 flying hours.
The RSAF conducts almost all of its basic training, which averages 100 flying hours, through 130 Squadron, which has been based at RAAF Pierce in Western Australia since 1993. But a handful of selected Singapore pilots go to the NATO Flight Training in Canada (NFTC) centres at Cold Lake, Alberta, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, for final, Phase 4 advanced training.
Because the NFTC uses Bombardier CT-155 (essentially BAE Systems Hawk Mk115) trainers, industry sources say the Hawk is a front-runner as a replacement advanced trainer. Various versions of the Hawk are currently operational in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia.
It has been selected by Brunei, pending contract, and ordered by India.
Officials BAE Systems officials say they will offer the Mk128 version of the Hawk, the latest, which Bahrain is using, if Singapore requires deliveries before 2008, and the Mk129 version if deliveries are required after 2008.
Meanwhile Aermacchi, which bought the S211s’ maker SIAI Marchetti in 1997, could be offering its new M-346, an extensively redesigned derivative of the Russian Yak-130.
The M-346 is considered one of the front-runners for the Eurotrainer competition. It is due to fly around mid-year, and production deliveries should be possible by 2007, just ahead of initial deliveries of Singapore’s next generation fighter.
