Defense companies fly high for jet fighter tender

The battle to equip Poland's Soviet-era air force with new combat jets went airborne last weekend as U.S., French and Anglo-Swedish planes put on breathtaking displays at a Polish air show. The dogfight was equally intense in the hospitality tents at the Radom air base near Warsaw as U.S. Lockheed Martin, France's Dassault and Gripen International, which comprises Britain's BAE Systems and Sweden's Saab, pitched their wares. At stake is an order worth $3.5 billion for 48 "multi-role" planes capable of aerial defense and ground attack, which Poland needs to bring its air force up to NATO standards. But with Poland in economic trouble more than a decade after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact - the political and military alliance comprising the former Soviet Union and Eastern European socialist states - bidders know that price and politics will be just as important as the plane's performance when it comes to a final decision. Final offers for Lockheed's F-16C, Dassault's Mirage 2000-5 Mk 2 and the JAS-39 Gripen must be submitted by Nov. 12. Prime Minister Leszek Miller's left-wing government is due to announce its choice by Dec. 28. The winner will replace, among others, Soviet-made MiG-21 jets, a model that first came into service in the Polish air force more than 40 years ago. Defense experts say that the tender is an acid test of Poland's commitment to the NATO alliance, the military coalition of North American and European states that it joined in 1999. "If we don't complete this tender, it will be impossible to take Poland seriously as a NATO ally," said Krzysztof Zalewski, the editor of Lotnictwo Wojskowe (Military Aviation) magazine.

But analysts wonder, too, whether national pride might lead Poland to throw money at replacing obsolete Soviet planes while neglecting reforms for its military, which lacks the rapid-reaction capacity that NATO seeks from its members. The Czech Republic, another new NATO member, demonstrated the risks of such orders when it cancelled plans to buy 24 Gripens after recent flooding nixed its spending plans. Meanwhile, Hungary, which also joined NATO in 1999, has taken the low-cost route of leasing 14 Gripens. Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at the defense industry consultancy Teal Group in Washington, said that the jet tender was "expensive and ambitious, but something like it has to be done sooner or later. "Unlike its neighbors, Poland would be advised to have its financial and strategic ducks lined up before making a dubious commitment," he said. Beauty contest If the planes are judged on their war records, the tender would be a head-to-head contest between the Mirage and the F-16 - both combat-proven aircraft that have seen recent action in the Balkans and Afghanistan. Dassault officials highlighted the Mirage's rapid reaction capability, its reliability, a mighty radar system that enables it to see enemies first and its powerful weapons package. "Six French Mirages arrived in Kyrgyzstan last Feb. 28 and started bombing missions over Afghanistan on March 2," said Olivier Cloup from the Dassault sales team. William Perkins, Lockheed's point man for Central Europe, said the sales record of the F-16, which flies in 27 air forces worldwide, spoke for its quality. In a survey, Lotnictwo Wojskowe gave the Mirage the overall edge over the F-16. It said that the delta-winged Mirage was superior in aerial combat, but tipped the F-16 as better in ground attack.

Is newest best? The Gripen, despite being the newest of the three jets, was originally designed for the air defense of neutral Sweden and lacks the true multi-role capability of its rivals, critics said. It falls short on maximum speed, range and the size of the weapons payload it can carry, according to a scorecard compiled by Dassault. Lars Campner of the Gripen sales team had heard those criticisms before. But he dismissed arguments that the Gripen was not equipped for mid-air refueling and that it lacked strong weaponry, calling them unfounded claims by the company's rivals. Still, Campner is convinced that Gripen offers the best "offset" terms, under which the company awarded the aircraft tender must plow back investments into Poland's defense sector. "I have no problem with winning that contest," he said. When the contest comes down to politics Poland - which hopes to wrap up talks to join the European Union by the end of the year - will have to choose between stressing its European credentials or its traditionally strong ties with Washington. The talk in Warsaw is that President Aleksander Kwaśniewski has his sights on becoming NATO's secretary general after his term expires in 2005. Buying a U.S. plane certainly wouldn't hurt his ambitions. But it is Miller, not Kwaśniewski, who heads the government making the decision. His political priority is to get Poland into the EU. And he is keeping mum for now. "The plane has to best fulfill the needs of the modern theater of battle and offer the most interesting offset proposal," Miller said. "We need new planes, and the tender must be completed by the end of the year." - Reuters