04. februar 2008. godine
Francuska, koja kupuje par stotina američkih protivtenkovskih raketa Hellfire II za svoje helikoptere Tiger, platiće ih po istoj ceni po kojoj ih plaća i američka vojska, koja kupuje na hiljade ovakvih projektila.
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PARIS — France, which is buying a few hundred American-built Hellfire II anti-tank missiles for its Tiger attack helicopters, will pay the same price as the U.S. Army, which buys the missiles by the thousands, a French procurement official said.
“We benefited from the special price accorded to the U.S. Army,” said Roland Codde, director of the management unit for missiles and drones at the Délégation Générale pour l’Armement procurement office.
Codde spoke at a presentation ceremony for the Hellfire deal, a Foreign Military Sales order organized by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, at the U.S. Embassy here.
Lockheed Martin negotiated with France using prices proposed to the U.S. Army, said John Ward, vice president for international business development at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas.
The U.S. Army exercised an option to buy 439 Hellfire rounds for $29 million under the Hellfire II Buy 13 contract, Lockheed said in a Jan. 7 statement. Taking up the option meant a total of 4,622 rounds bought under the contract, worth $305.9 million, the company said. The extra rounds would go to the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force, and to Britain, under a foreign military sale.
France's purchase used the same pricing. The U.S. Army authorized Lockheed Martin to offer the Hellfires to France at the same price as that negotiated with the service, a French official said.
The U.S. Army is looking to buy up to 18,000 more units under a new three-year deal, covered by Buy 14, 15 and 16, company executives said here.
Under the announced deal, France will buy 230 Hellfire II operational rounds, with first delivery in 2011 and entry into service in 2012, the DGA official said. The price also covers support and logistics, the details of which are expected to be settled by June.
More will be bought for training and exercises, he said.
At the presentation ceremony, which was attended by French officers from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Embassy officials, Lockheed executives presented to the DGA an original painting showing a Tiger firing Hellfire missiles, entitled, “The Tiger’s Teeth.”
‘Straightforward Decision’
The DGA received clearance to buy Hellfire in February 2007, and the decision was finalized in December. The decision had been “a straightforward one,” and the selection of Hellfire “not a surprise,” Codde said.
France was seeking an interim weapon to equip its Helicoptère d’Appui Destruction (HAD) Tigers for five to seven years. The competitors were American, Israeli and European.
The American missile will boost French capability and improve interoperability with the U.S. Army and in NATO operations, Codde said.
The purchase also showed France is open to acquisitions outside European borders and without demands for industrial offset, he said.
Lockheed Martin has teamed with MBDA, which will integrate the Hellfire missile launcher onto the Tiger and provide technical support. A French industry official said MBDA’s role made sense for the relatively small French order, for which providing local support would have been costly for the U.S. manufacturer.
Most integration work has already been done to fit the Tiger for Hellfire, thanks to Australia’s decision to buy the missile six years ago. Australia is likely to field the Tiger in Afghanistan soon, to support combat troops fighting in the south against insurgents, according to the specialist newsletter TTU.
The Hellfire uses a semi-active laser seeker that guides the weapon to a laser spot on the target, and allows it to be diverted at the last minute if necessary.
In the Tiger competition that just ended, MBDA proposed its planned Multi Role Combat Missile and Israel’s Rafael the Spike. Spain has bought the Spike for its ground troops and for the Tiger aircraft.
The market is still open, Codde said. Once the interim period covered by Hellfire is over, the DGA will seek a new weapon. The selection of that system will depend on what cooperation agreements might have been signed in the intervening years, he said.
Infantry Missile
In a separate requirement, the French Army and DGA completed tests in December for an infantry anti-tank missile.
The Javelin from Lockheed and Raytheon is up against the Spike and MBDA’s Milan (Extended Response). The evaluation has been long because the authorities wanted to take into account training, simulation and life-cycle costs, and officials were keen that the process be seen to be fair and open.
A completed report is expected to be handed in to the Defense Ministry in the summer, and a decision could be made in the autumn, depending on work done on the new multiyear military budget law, which starts in 2009.
