http://www.dsti.net/News/57853.htm
泰萊斯公司對“陣風”戰鬥機出口保持信心
[據英國《飛行國際》2009年11月日15報導] 本次迪拜航展上，法國宇航聯合企業泰萊斯公司對達索“陣風”戰鬥機在中東地區獲得出口突破表示樂觀。該公司是這種戰機的主要供應商之一。
泰萊斯航宇高級副總裁Pierre-Eric Pommellet表示：“這次航展上有眾多出口項目，但‘陣風’無疑佔據著名單的前列。中東的防務航空市場具有巨大的前景。” Pommellet已經在泰萊斯工作了12年，最近接管了該公司的服務分公司。
泰萊斯公司正在期待法國政府能在近期內確認第四批次“陣風”的生產。該批次“陣風”中將裝備一種有源相控陣雷達，這種設備對於“陣風”的出口前景至關重要。
“陣風”出口名錄上的候選國家包括巴西、瑞士和阿聯酋。另外，科威特也是一個潛在用戶。Pommellet 說：“與阿聯酋的談判正在進行中。我肯定這將成為本次航展上一項特別重要的主題。這是我們在該地區所涉及的最大專案。科威特和法國之間已經進行的一些對話，內容包括‘陣風’。科威特可能會成為我們的一個良好客戶，但還要看科方的決定。”
泰萊斯公司的防務和民用收入分別占其航宇收入的60%和40%。
就軍用貿易而言，泰萊斯今年的成績很好，主要歸功於法國和英國空軍都在使用他們的飛機，兩國政府也並沒有縮減防務開支。另外，泰萊斯公司正在瞄準海上巡邏機任務系統市場，並已於今年早些時候開始為阿聯酋發展一種基於龐巴迪Dash 8平臺的任務系統。該專案已經達到關鍵設計評審里程碑。而在這期間，沙烏地阿拉伯也正在考慮裝備EADS的Casa C-295用於執行海上巡邏任務。
另一個逐漸吸引注意的領域就是無人機。為英國陸軍研製的基於Hermes 450的“守望者”無人機系統已經完成首飛，並將在2010年形成完全戰鬥力。而一個過渡型Hermes 450已經隨同英國軍隊在伊拉克和阿富汗執行任務了。
雖然空客的A400M軍用運輸機嚴重滯後，但Pommellet表示泰萊斯公司已經為這款飛機的首飛做好了準備。
在民用方面，泰萊斯在空客項目中的形勢不錯。雖然商務航空部分的情形不樂觀，但由於高生產率，2009年對於首次涉足該領域的泰萊斯公司並不是糟糕的一年。空客方面的消息稱其計畫在近期內保證A320系列單通道飛機生產率達到每月34架。
當然，泰萊斯公司也受到787推遲的嚴重影響。不過值得慶倖的是，同樣推遲了的蘇霍伊“超級噴氣”客機的首次交付應該能在明年完成，另外泰萊斯航電設備ATR 42-600最近完成了首飛，而裝備了一種泰萊斯產自動駕駛系統的灣流G650超長航程公務機也將在近期進行飛行。
對於空客首席銷售師John Leahy近期表示全新的窄體飛機不太可能在2024年前出現的說法，Pommellet 表示：“15年對於航空是一個很短的時間尺度，很多事情會發生。未來專案的主要問題將是風險管理。我們迫切的希望那些先進技術研究現在就能完成。”
Pommellet認為飛行中的娛樂部分是一種非常活躍的商業活動。在漢莎航空公司近期決定選擇泰萊斯競爭對手—羅克韋爾-柯林斯的eXConnect系統後，泰萊斯開始同幾家航空公司就提供一種綜合寬頻互聯網服務進行討論。
泰萊斯公司正在大力發展同當地夥伴的合資企業，為民用和軍用項目提供本地支援，目前已經同阿布扎比的Mubadala合資在當地建立起一個修理IFE系統的企業。該公司今年通過減少工作人員已經削減了大約20%的航展資金。（中國航空工業發展研究中心 褚世永）
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/11/15/334581/dubai-09-thales-confident-of-rafale-export-breakthrough.html
Dubai 09: Thales confident of Rafale export breakthrough
By Andrew Doyle
DATE:15/11/09
SOURCE:Flight Daily News
French aerospace conglomerate Thales is at the show optimistic of an export breakthrough in the Middle East region for the Dassault Rafale fighter, for which the company is a major supplier.
"There are a lot of export projects, and the Rafale is top of the list," says Thales aerospace senior vice-president Pierre-Eric Pommellet, who took up the reins at the division in June, shortly after the Paris air show.
"There are a huge number of prospects in defence aerospace," he adds.
Thales is expecting a fourth tranche of Rafale production to be signed off by the French government in "the coming weeks". This will introduce an active electronically scanned array radar, considered crucial to the Rafale's prospects in the export market.
"It is paving the way in terms of technology for the export process," says Pommellet.
Topping the list of Rafale export candidates are Brazil, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
"Negotiations with the UAE on Rafale are ongoing," he says. "I'm sure that this will be a very important topic at Dubai. This is the biggest project that we are involved in in this region."
Kuwait is also emerging as a strong prospect. "There have been some state-to-state talks, including on the Rafale. Kuwait could be a good customer for us, but it's their decision on whether to progress," he says.
Pommellet has worked at Thales for 12 years, most recently heading the manufacturer's services division.
Thales derives around 60% of its aerospace revenues from the defence sector, and 40% from civil. "This is coming from a position where we were more military," says Pommellet. "Civil and military are very complementary."
In terms of its military business, Thales is in a "good position" as there has been "no reduction" in French or UK government defence spending, he says.
Thales is also targeting the maritime patrol aircraft mission systems market and earlier this year launched a programme with the UAE to develop a mission system based on the Bombardier Dash 8 platform. This has reached the critical design review milestone.
"We are expecting further opportunities in Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries," says Pommellet. Saudi Arabia is meanwhile looking at equipping EADS Casa C-295s for the MPA role.
Another area of increasing interest is unmanned air vehicles. The Hermes 450-based Watchkeeper UAV system under development for the British Army is due to have its first flight by the end of the year and become fully operational in 2010. An interim-capability Hermes 450 is already operational with the UK armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Despite extensive delays to the Airbus Military A400M, "we are ready for the first flight", says Pommellet.
On the civil side, Thales is in "quite a good situation" on Airbus programmes and 2009 has been "not a bad year for first-fit" of Thales equipment thanks to high production rates, although the situation is "much worse" in the business aviation sector, says Pommellet.
Airbus is indicating that it plans to hold A320-family single-aisle production at 34 aircraft a month for the time being, although "they've said there is a risk that they will have to adapt in the months to come".
Thales is also "of course seriously impacted by the 787 delay", he says. Encouragingly, first deliveries of the also-delayed Sukhoi Superjet are due to take place next year, while the Thales avionics-equipped ATR 42-600 recently made its first flight and the Gulfstream G650 ultra-long-range business jet - sporting a Thales fly-by-wire system - is due to fly imminently.
"Civil is kind of a foggy environment, but there are a lot of new projects and programmes. It looks like the macro-economics will recover," says Pommellet.
Commenting on Airbus chief salesman John Leahy's recent assertion that an all-new narrowbody is unlikely to arrive before 2024, he says: "Many events can happen. Let's be very careful. Fifteen years, if it is 15 years, is a very short timescale in aviation. The main issue for the next programme will be to manage risk. We strongly urge that these advanced studies should really be done now.
"I'm not so worried by the date. Whatever the date, everything starts now."
The in-flight entertainment sector is a "very active business" at the moment, says Pommellet. Thales is in discussions with several airlines on the introduction of an integrated broadband internet offering, following Lufthansa's recent decision to opt for rival Rockwell Collin's eXConnect system. "People want internet access," says Pommellet.
Support and services activities have been badly hit as airlines run down their spares stocks in an attempt to preserve cash. "They are not ordering what they were ordering. However, a lot of airlines decide at the very last moment of the year to buy spares. We are ready for that," says Pommellet.
Thales has set up a local joint venture with Abu Dhabi's Mubadala to repair IFE systems, which the French company "has plans to develop".
"We are developing joint ventures with local partners to provide local support for both civil and military programmes," he says.
Thales' military servicing business has had a "good year", because the French and UK air forces are "using their aircraft".
Thales has meanwhile cut back spending on air shows by around 20% this year, mainly by taking fewer staff.
"We are relying much more on the people who are already based in the country, and bringing them the management support," he says. "We have a very high efficiency."
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