DND denies appeal of Indonesian aircraft manufacturer

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 20): DND denies appeal of Indonesian aircraft manufacturer

The Department of National Defense (DND) Special Bids and Awards Committee-1 (SBAC-1) has denied the motion for reconsideration filed by PT Dirgantara Indonesia to participant in its P5.3 billion medium lift fixed wing aircraft project.

The company earlier participated in the bidding but was declared 'out of running' due to its inability to meet the DND requirements.

The SBAC-1 said PT Dirgantara’s plane, the C-235, was not compliant with the technical specifications provided by the bid documents.

It added that the Indonesian manufacturer's plane could only carry 34 paratroopers, lower than the 40 set by the DND.

The bid documents also required that the aircraft can carry 11,000 pounds at 950 nautical miles but PT Dirgantara’s plane can only carry 10,120 pounds.

As this develops, the DND announced that it will look into accidents involving EADS/CASA-Airbus Military's C-295 aircraft, which is being offered to the Philippine Air Force as its next generation medium lift fixed-wing plane.

This was after the Spanish aircraft manufacturer was declared the only eligible bidder for the supply of three new medium lift fixed-wing aircraft worth P5.3-billion.

EADS/CASA-Airbus Military offered to supply three C-295 aircraft for P5.29 billion.

However, the C-295 was involved in a series of accidents including those in 2008 where a crash claimed the lives of 20 persons in Poland and the Czech military to return defective planes to EADS/CASA.

Possible defects will be look into when they conduct the post-qualification phase which will begin this Feb. 1.

“At present, we cannot offer any conclusion but we will continue to verify the accidents involving the C-295 during the post qualification phase,” DND assistant secretary Patrick Velez said.

He also cited reports stating that the 2008 air mishap was caused by human error and not due to the plane’s quality.

EADS/CASA-Airbus Military claimed that the Polish Air Force acquired five more C-295 planes four years after the crash but this would be verified by defense officials.

The company website described the C-295 as “the most capable and versatile transport and surveillance aircraft.”

The air assets is said to be capable of carrying up to nine tons of payload or up to 71 personnel, at a maximum cruise speed of 260 knots or 480 kilometers per hour.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=607375