U.S. battles Eurofighter over Qatar’s tender for 72 jet fighters

WorldTribune.com ^ | November 19th, 2013

[sukhoi-30mki]

WASHINGTON — The United States is battling to win Qatar’s multi-billion-dollar fighter-jet competition.

Industry sources said the administration of President Barack Obama has been lobbying the Gulf Cooperation Council emirate to select a U.S. warplane for Doha’s largest combat air project.

The sources said the administration has succeeded in delaying Qatar’s tender, which included proposals from Britain and France. “After Saudi Arabia, the Qatar project will be the biggest aircraft procurement for years to come,” a source said.

The sources said Qatar, which established an evaluation panel, was moving slowly in a tender for up to 72 advanced fighter-jets, a project that could cost up to $20 billion. They said Washington was lobbying Doha to select either the F-15 or the F/A-18 Super Hornet, both produced by Boeing. Qatar’s fighter-jet fleet has been based on the Mirage 2000 by France’s Dassault Aviation.

Qatar has agreed to a U.S. demand to delay the deadline for submission of Request for Proposals. The sources said the deadline for the RfP was September 2013, but Washington obtained a three-month extension that could last even longer.

The U.S. aircraft faces competition from the Eurofighter by Britain’s BAE Systems and France’s Rafale. The Qatari tender called for 36 fighter-jets with an option for a similar number of platforms.

Over the last two years, Qatar, under its new emir, Tamim Bin Hamad, has moved from France to the United States as the prime supplier for the emirate’s military. Doha has ordered the C-17 strategic air transport, C-130J tactical transport and the AH-64 attack helicopter.

“Tamim clearly wants to move quickly on the fighter-jet project, but he understands that his country is very limited in trained personnel, technology and logistics,” the source said. “The likelihood is that the emir will use any procurement as leverage for a strategic relationship.”

[Bender2]

Hey, let's sell them one of the coolest looking warplanes we ever had... the Bell Aircuda. Take a look:

From Bell YFM-1 Airacuda Wikipedia Page : "The Bell YFM-1 Airacuda was an American heavy fighter aircraft, developed by the Bell Aircraft Corporation during the mid-1930s. It was the first military aircraft produced by Bell. Originally designated the "Bell Model 1," the Airacuda first flew on 1 September 1937. The Airacuda was marked by bold design advances and considerable flaws that eventually grounded the aircraft.

"The Airacuda was Bell Aircraft's answer for a "bomber destroyer" aircraft armed with two forward firing 37mm cannons. Although it did see limited production, and one fully operational squadron was eventually formed, only one prototype and 12 production models were ultimately built, in three slightly different versions."

Link to Youtube video

Link to Spanish Youtube video

Gadzooks, that was... a great looking aircraft!

Too bad the design flaws... never got fixed.

The only US twin engines fighters that were successful were the US Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning and the Marines Grumman F7F Tigercat.

Both the Royal Air Force and Luftwaffe went the "Heavy Twin-engine Fighter/Bomber Destroyer" route with the Brit's de Havilland Mosquito and Bristol Beaufighter and Nazi Germany's Messerschmitt's Bf-110, Me-210 and Me-410. Only the Mosquito was a real winner in this group.

[AlmaKing]

Maybe I’m not up to speed on the relative sizes of air forces of different countries, but why does Qatar need 72 jet fighters? Do they even have 72 qualified pilots? I’d be surprised if they had 72 infantryman.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

>why does Qatar need 72 jet fighters?

The virgins aren’t allowed to drive?

[AlmaKing]

If the 72 virgins are flying, where’s the pilot?

[sukhoi-30mki]

Enough and more qualified Pakis and Egyptians are available as is the case with many Persian Gulf states.

[Joe 6-pack]

"The only US twin engines fighters that were successful were the US Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning and the Marines Grumman F7F Tigercat."

While somewhat limited in mission, I think a pretty good case could be made for the success of the P-61 Black Widow and the F-82 Twin Mustang. The former was the US's first purpose built night fighter and served well in the war, although like the first of anything it was not without a few bugs. The latter turned out to be a stop gap at the dawn of the jet age and had the first three kills of North Korean aircraft in the opening days of that conflict.

[Bender2]

Okay, perhaps I should have said, "The US twin engine fighters in World War Two that were the most successful were the US Army Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning, Northrop P-61 Black Widow, North American P-82 Twin Mustang and the Marines Grumman F7F Tigercat."