IPTN planes shortlisted

IPTN planes shortlisted

CANBERRA (Reuter): Australia yesterday shortlisted IPTN of Indonesia, CASA of Spain, and a consortium of Lockheed Martin Corp and Italy's Alenia to replace its old Caribou light transport aircraft.

"The new aircraft will maintain the capability currently represented by the Royal Australian Air Force's DHC-4 Caribou aircraft and will be used primarily in the tactical air transport role," Defense Minister Ian McLachlan said in a statement.

A Royal Australian Air Force spokesman said 12 to 18 aircraft would be ordered under the project, the exact number depending on the capability of the model selected.

The three companies would be asked to lodge tenders and a decision was expected late next year with the first aircraft entering service in late 2000, the spokesman said.

CASA (Construccions Aeronauticas SA) and IPTN (Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara) are separately offering Australia three models derived from the one original design.

They together build the CN235 basic model and each is offering one variant of that -- the CN235-300M from CASA and the CN235-330 Phoenix from IPTN.

CASA is also offering its C-295, a longer aircraft derived from the CN235 and unveiled at last month's Paris airshow.

Lockheed and Alenia are bidding with the C-27J Spartan, which is a heavily upgraded variant of an old Alenia model now fitted with the same engines and many of the same systems as Lockheed's C-130J Hercules, which Australia already has ordered.

McLachlan said he was pleased with the level of interest from Australian industry in participating as subcontractors in the project.

Australia requires an aircraft that can carry a five ton payload to a short airstrip 640 km (400 miles) away and then return without refuelling.