 |
| Search |
|
|
|
|
ACIG Special Reports
Project "Aquila" on tracks - first Austrian ‘Tigers’ delivered
The manuals of four Swiss F-5Es were officially handed over at Graz-Thalerhof on 9 July 2004
In February 2004, questions on how to secure the Austrian airspace-souvereignity and the civil movements over the central-European nation were boiling hot. Altough Austria has selected Tranche-2 Eurofighter-‘Typhoons’ as its new main combat-aircraft, these would not be delivered until mid-2007. Not because of EADS-delays - albeit the opposition is continously repeating that - than because Austria had early elections and coalition-negotiations between the type-decision in July 2002 and the contracts validity, as well as the same left-wing opposition was giving the contract a hard time in parlamentary-cycles. They could not prevent it in the end, but by August 22nd 2003 it was much too late for a 2005 Tranche-1 'Typhoon'-delivery as it was offered in 2002. Therefore Austria became the first Tranche-2 customer – even before that technical-level was figured-out in every detail. No wonder that that contract’s warranties as well as penalites are filling an own big binder…
In the meantime, the Austrian AF’s 23 existing Saab J-35OE 'Draken's' are the last operational ones in the world and are yet flown against any theory of probability. It is considered a masterpiece of maintenance and pilot-skills that none has been lost in an accident since their delivery in 1986/7. Everybody involved knows, that there was no way to stretch-out ther service-life to await the Eurofighters. But the Swedish-lobby in the Austrian-AF and MoD is - historical-naturally - strong. So negotiations with the Swedish AF, the MoD and the industry were ordered to look for a(nother Swedish) solution - paralell to ongoing talks on leasing 6 Tranche-1 Eurofighters from the four developer-nation's air-arms. Both directions were not developing well with obstacles out of wrong expectations and old bill's to be lustfully - but unsuspectingly - commented in the daily papers. In February it stood what looked a little like Swedish black-mail to buy an expensive warehouse of (very) old parts - without any guarantees on further Draken-ops - , against to pay some 250+ mill. € to - except German AF - more or less unwilling services awaiting their first Eurofighters at the same moment. While the first "option' was induced by a still deeply disappointed Swedish aviation-community on Austria not walking the expected 'Gripen-way', the other was simply much too expensive.
On a cold February-night in a remote Swiss guesthouse, Austria's defence-minister Günther Platter met his Swiss counterpart Samuel Schmid. It was targeted as an informal dinner around bilateral defence-relations under four eyes. The Austrian was also mentioning his ‘deadlock’ around the interim-solution – and went out with a solid offer for help by smart Samuel Schmid an hour later… Altough handled covertly in Vienna first, the direction towards leasing Swiss ‘Tigers’ was quickly stepped on and by March 9th it was inked. Austria will lease 12 single-seat F-5Es for 48 months until 2008. No two-seat F-5F was available but also not sought as Austrian pilots have flown the Swiss type in past exchanges and would return to Duebendorf to do the training. The costs were given with 14 mill. € / year by the Swiss agency ‘Armasuisse’ and with max. 75 mill. € in total by the Austrian MoD. This includes every repair-work above line-maintenance done by RUAG, rotable-parts and even the calculated fuel-costs. Everybody was happy, expect the Austrian media asking “why suddenly 40-year old scrap-jets can secure for what 2 bill. € for Eurofighters would be spent from 2007 on?” This was based on the facts that the F-5E has lost-out to the Draken in the 80s, but it was then mostly because of US-contract- and currency-details and not of performance. Also the local media are either ignoring or deliberately mistaken the aircraft with the F-5A from the late 50s. Nevertheless the 12 Swiss F-5Es were final-assembled at SWF-Emmen (now RUAG) between 1971 and 1984. The Draken-airframes from 1962-1964 are much more older and those were also called ‘scrap’ – up to the moment when Yugoslav JRV-jets flew over southern Austria in 1991.
A last obstacle to clear was the confirmation of the deal by the US-administration in the Pentagon and the Congress. US-disappointment not to have taken F-16/52s instead of the ‘Typhoon’ was feared a little by some Austrian levels – but it proved irrational. “The US are impressed and respect the Austrian type-decision [for EF] as something modern and interoperable…”, these were the official US-words in 2002 – and in that light they reacted when the Swiss-Austro transfer was secured in Congress very swiftly by early June.
As Swiss authorities have awaited this O.K. before letting lay Austrian’s their hands on the Tigers, it was as hurried as on the next day, that the first four Austrian Pilots were arriving in Zuerich-Duebendorf to start their training – as well as 30 Austrian technicians. Lt.Col. Georg Gappmeier, Cpt. Guenther Taschler, Cpt. Joerg Sandhofer and Cpt. Werner Kriebitz were immediately conducting F-5 familiarisation under the supervision of the Swiss AF chief-flight instructor Lt.Col. Peter Starkl. The flight-training programme was done on F-5F first and included: Emergency-procedures, a landing run with no flaps, one-engine handling, IFR-flying and reaching the end of the flight-envelope including spins. It was staged-up in four weeks steps, the first week saw theories and type-familiarisation, the next theoretical introduction to the radar and training flights doing landings and take-offs on F-5F, the third saw the four solo-flights all on June 24th, followed by tactical training and air-combat one vs. one on the F-5E. The last week last part brought formation leader training and air-combat two vs. two. Most of the flying involving “Project Aquila” was done in the airspaces around Santis, Davos, Chur and St. Moritz. According to Lt.Col. Starkl, the “Austrian’s skills and levels were absolutely ‘top’ – but I did not expect something else.”
According to technicians in Graz, only minor modification in the communications-sets (VHF/UHF combination) remains necessary to be installed locally by RUAG – according to operate the mixed-used airports in Austria where only Zeltweg is run totally military.
When the same four pilots delivered the first four Tigers silently on the evening of July 7th - two days before the official event - only the alert-pair on-duty Draken’s and a photoship Saab 105 (including the author) greeted them into their new environment. This was mainly handled that covert way because Austria’s unfriendly public climate vs. that "unnecessary money-wasting fun for 'hot-rods'...", developed by left wing media and politicians. It was therefore ordered just ”to create facts”. When Swiss Defence-Minister Samuel Schmid finally handed over the documentations of J-3005, J-3030, J-3033 and J-3065 last Friday, he underlinded the “considerably fast process of achieving certification and documentation within three bureocracies as well as the necessary crew-training, all between late February and early July!” The next batches of 4 F-5s each will arrive around Christmas and in June 2005. F-5Es will operate exclusively from Graz, while the declining force of Draken’s will stay at Zeltweg.
There will be time enough to present the “Tigris Austriacus” publicly on next years large “Airpower 2005” show at Zeltweg, celebrating 50 years of independent Austria and its Federal Army. After that event, the quick reduction of Draken-operations, large-scale construction-works for the Typhoons at Zeltweg and the first training-packages of Austrian pilots leaving for Laage to start Eurofighter-conversions, will considerably change the face of the past’s somehow “comfortable” Austrian AF.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
© Copyright 2002-3 by ACIG.org
Top of Page
|
|
|
Latest ACIG Special Reports
|
|
