“Its
range will be doubled or more and the kingdom will participate in developing
new specifications for the aircraft to co-own this technology with the Antonov company.
The new Saudi-Ukrainian aircraft will be designed with Western engines from
Canada, navigation systems from American company Honeywell, as well as other
parts that will be acquired from the UK”
Chairman of Taqnia
Aeronautics and president of the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology
Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Saud, commenting on the deal with Ukraine to
build eight (8) Antonov AN-32 aircraft
If
you're an aviation buff, then this bit of News will have you excited on the
edge of your seat.
The
Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has struck a deal with Ukraine's
Antonov aircraft company to re-design and build a modernized version of the AN-32 aircraft
as reported in the article “Saudi
Arabia to build planes with Ukraine's Antonov”, published Thursday May 7,
2015, Reuters.
The
agreement was signed by Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Saud, Chairman of Taqnia
Aeronautics, a subsidiary of Saudi development and investment company Taqnia
and President of Antonov, Dmytro Kiva as reported in the article “Saudi
Arabia To Build Antonov Cargo Planes”, published May 7, 2015 By Awad
Mustafa, Defense News.
Negotiations
had begun as far back as 2013 when Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Saud had
visited the Antonov factories with contract negotiations starting some seven
(7) months ago in November 2014.
The
Antonov AN-32
had been selected after the Saudis realized that the propeller driven aircraft
was the perfect place to start to challenge Western dominance of Aircraft
Manufacture for Military and Commercial purposes. Airbus and Boeing are the
real players on the international market which demanded transport aircraft in
the military and civil sectors and the Antonov AN-32
is a good a place to start as any.
The
Ukrainians are quite pleased with the deal, as it will see the big plan finally
taking its place on the international stage, to quote President of Antonov,
Dmytro Kiva: “This is an important agreement for Ukraine and beneficial for
Saudi Arabia as it brings the kingdom in to the aviation development and
manufacturing industry”.
So
what do the Saudi's know about re-designing and building Jumbo Airplanes for
Military and Civilian uses? A lot apparently!
Saudi Arabia’s KACST to
redesign the AN-32 aircraft - King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology to
benefit from Knowledge Exchange
Turns
out that Mr. Turki Bin Saud Bin Mohammed Al-Saudis is also President of the KACST
(King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology) and will be the main point of
interaction between the Ukrainians and the Saudis.
The
Antonov
AN-32 is to be re-designed using western Components with co-operation from
the KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology) for an undisclosed
sum that the Saudi's are keeping close to their chest. Sources close to the
deal estimate it at some US $150 million to produce eight (8) Antonov AN-32
aircraft with more being ordered in the future from Ukraine and other potential
buyers.
After
studying the original blueprints for the Antonov-32, production will begin
within two (2) years.
They
will redesign the Antonov AN-32
aircraft to improve the aircraft's payload, range and takeoff and develop a
full cockpit with sophisticated American-made navigation devices. The
redesigned Antonov
AN-32 aircraft will be renamed Antonov-132, with Saudi Arabia owning the
intellectual property and engineering designs for the aircraft.
Antonov AN-32 aircraft
to become the Antonov-132 – Anything is Possible, from All-Electric to Sunfire
Gmbh Fischer-Tropsch
This
may included the ability to fly the airplane autonomously from the ground, like
a drone, based on similar Technology used by the ASTRAEA Consortium as
explained in my blog article entitled “ASTRAEA
Consortium makes first Inaugural flight of an Autonomous Passenger Aircraft in
April 2013 - Greek Goddeses Daughter of Zeus are now The Kings of Summer”.
It
may even be possible to control the Antonov-132 using your brainwaves,
licensing technology from TEKEVER as noted in my blog article entitled “@TEKEVER
Brainflight Drone using Beta Waves – How Autonomous All-Electric Airplanes are
controlled with Windmills in your Mind”.
Being
as Fuel-efficiency is now a big part of vehicle and aircraft design, they may
also develope the aircraft to fly using a combination of Battery Power from
Li-Ion Batteries similar to the Airbus Twin-Engine Airbus E-Fan All-Electric
Airplane as reported in my blog article entitled “@Airbus
Group and the E-Fan – EU's Flightpath 2050 heralds All-Electric Aircraft as
Fischer–Tropsch Process makes Kerosene Renewable”.
Even
better, if for such an aircraft, if it had the capability to make its on fuel
onboard using Sunfire Gmbh Technology that converts Carbon Dioxide and Water
into Kerosene using the Fischer-Tropsch Process as reported in my blog article entitled “@Boeing
and @Cambridge_Uni Hybrid Engine Airplane - How Sunfire GmbH Power to Liquid
Technology can make airplane refueling unnecessary”.
Design
possibilities are endless, and the appearance of the aircraft may be dramatically
different from anything we've seen before, fitted with Solar panels to provide
Electricity in flight to power super fast 1 Gigabit Wi-Fi Internet as predicted
in my blog article entitled “AT&T
launching 4G LTE powered Wi-Fi and expanding AT&T U-Verse - AT&T
offensive as Google sprouts 1 Gigabit IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi Protocol as Jamaica
catches up”.
However,
more valuable than any sums of Gold or Oil or money derived from the sales of
planes or intellectual property is the knowledge that will change hands
relating to aviation industry technology and training by Ukrainian experts.
So
aside from the money and training, why is Saudi Arabia and Ukraine suddenly
doing deals to construct military aircraft? It's not about war but
Diversification.
Saudi Arabia
diversifies away from Oil – Arab Spring for Manned Aircraft Design and UAE
Drones for Good
Saudi
Arabia has overtook India as the biggest weapons importer in 2014, importing
some US$6.4 billion in weapons as reported by analyst IHS in the article “Saudi
Arabia Replaces India as Largest Defence Market for US, IHS Study Says”,
published Saturday, March 7, 2015, IHS.
In
doing so, they beat out India’s US$5.57 billion spend on weapons including
helicopters, missiles and drones and “Saudi
Arabia Has Become The World's Biggest Arms Importer [Infographic]”,
published MAR 10, 2015 by Niall McCarthy, Forbes.
Ukraine
now seems to be their latest supplier of technology know-how, as this
co-operation will see them sharing knowledge about Ukraine's Antonov AN-32
aircraft. This partnership between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia would possibly see
Antonov transferring expertise in aircraft design that allowed them to build
the Antonov 225 Mirya, the aircraft that currently holds the Guinness' Record
for the largest Aircraft in the World.
Saudi
Arabia is trying to diversify their economy away from Oil for quite some time.
But now it has become especially urgent, being as the low price for Oil will
remain this way for quite some time thanks to US of A creating a supply glut as
explained in my blog article entitled “Lower
Oil Prices Good for Jamaica - How All-Electric Vehicles Sales benefit as
Electricity Prices trend lower”.
They've
decided to make a push into manufacturing and making Commercial aviation harder
such as Drones seems to be the direction they're taking.
In
essence, they’re following in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates who had
launched a Drone competition called Drones for Good in July 2014 to spur the
developement of Drones for commercial purposes other than warfare as noted in my
blog article entitled “United
Arab Emirates starts Drones for Good Competition - How Jamaica can jumpstart
Drone Designs as UAE pursues Lazy route to the Google of Drone Design and
Application”.
So
Saudi Arabia as an aircraft building superpower? They have the cash and the
interest in diversification to do it over the next five years as the Oil Market
continues to crumble.
No comments:
Post a Comment