Saab Leads Newsmakers at Singapore Airshow

Saab headlined the news at the Singapore Airshow by providing full details of the swing-role surveillance system that it first revealed at the Dubai Airshow last November. Now named the GlobalEye, it is based on the Bombardier Global 6000 and Saab is also now offering its Swordfish maritime patrol system on that same business jet and on Bombardier’s Q400 turboprop twin. The Swedish company also announced that the new Gripen E combat jet version will be rolled out on May 18.

Lockheed Martin brought the F-35 full-scale model for the umpteenth time, but in an interview the Republic of Singapore Air Force chief gave no indication that the island state is any closer to committing to the stealth fighter. The latest DOT&E report on the F-35 does not encourage early commitment, either. However, the RSAF chief is looking forward to the F-16V upgrade, and Lockheed Martin said it hopes to do up to 1,000 of them for multiple customers. The Royal Australian Air Force also plans to introduce the F-35 and the EF-18, which will have weapons implications.

Israeli companies always have large exhibits at the Singapore show, and there was plenty of news released there about IAI’s latest UAV, loitering munitions and new quad-copter bomb, as well as a new version of the Skylark UAV from Elbit Systems, an upgraded version of the Reccelite airborne recon system from Rafael and the UAS range exhibited by Aeronautics. Israeli companies seldom reveal their customers, but AIN has concluded that IAI-Elta is the prime contractor for the surveillance aerostat that Singapore is planning to operate, though there are safety concerns.

There was more UAV news concerning the recent joint venture between Saab and Swiss company UMS, to market the former’s Skeldar VTOL UAS and the latter’s fixed-wing UAS. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems also talked about their perspective for UASs in the region.

Embraer brought news of the KC-390 airlifter flight-test program and exhibited the Super Tucano. Also making headlines was the use of the rival PC-21 to train Australian and Singapore air force pilots Down Under. And, unexpectedly, on the United Aircraft stand was a model of the Yak-152 elementary trainer, a design being revived for a new Russian requirement.

Airbus Defence & Space showed an Indonesian air force CN235 maritime patrol aircraft, and we reviewed the CN235/C295 program in general. The company also brought the second A400M airlifter for the Royal Malaysian Air Force to the show.  

China was welcomed as a participant at Singapore 2016, despite its aggressive expansionism in the South China Sea. A model of the Reaper-class Wing Loong II UAV made its public debut on the Catic stand, which also featured a heavily armed model of the L-15 jet trainer. AIN also reviewed the indigenous J-20 stealth fighter program. But China, along with Indonesia, is still acquiring Russian fighters, namely the Su-35.

Bell Helicopter signed a joint venture with BAE Systems at the show to promote the AH-1Z Viper to supplant or replace the Tiger attack helicopter in Australian service. Just before the show, MD Helicopters announced the sale of six armed MD530G helicopters to the Malaysian Army.