An American aviation company, which has made a pre-emptive strike in seeking to supply replacements for New Zealand's Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and Hercules troop transports, was until recently sometimes described as a "small cash-strapped
An American aviation company, which has made a pre-emptive strike in seeking to supply replacements for New Zealand's Orion maritime surveillance aircraft and Hercules troop transports, was until recently sometimes described as a "small cash-strapped" defence subcontractor.
According to US Aerospace Inc chairman, Jerrold Pressman, it is now one of the "most-talked-about companies in the industry" after bidding on America's largest defence contract: modernisation of the KC-X aerial fuelling tankers for long-range bombers and transports.
The company hit the headlines on July 9 with a deal with Ukrainian company Antonov to supply 179 refuelling tankers at a total cost of $US29.5 billion.
But in other documents quietly filed with US federal regulators the same day, the company gave itself little chance of winning the bidding war against Boeing and EADS, whose proposals are expected to cost between $USA35 billion and $US40 billion.
Now US Aerospace says it has told Defence Minister Wayne Mapp that it wants to supply the maritime surveillance and military transport aircraft it expects to be sought in the defence White Paper to be released in a month's time.
The company predicted in a press release that the requirements for new aircraft "will be outlined in the country's defence review document, a White Paper due to be released in September." A Defence Ministry assessment and three companion studies were due to have been sent to the cabinet by this weekend, with the White Paper scheduled for completion by the end of September.
"US Aerospace Inc is pleased to present New Zealand with a cost-efficient aircraft solution to support its surveillance and transport programmes," said US Aerospace director Michael Goldberg.
"Our aircraft would be the most practical solution to performing transport and maritime surveillance work in the South Pacific, including assistance with disaster relief and humanitarian aid."
US Aerospace is a publicly listed contractor based in Southern California, with offices and factories in Santa Fe Springs and Rancho Cucamonga.
Dr Mapp has said the Hercules transport aircraft will need replacing by 2020, when they will be 55 years old, and the similarly ancient P3 Orion surveillance aircraft will be past their use-by date by 2025.
Replacing the Hercules alone could cost $500 million to $1 billiion and Dr Mapp has said Orions need to be replaced with similar capability.
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