Axed fighter pilots world's hired guns

By EUGENE BINGHAM

On the airfields of Australia and Britain, and even in the skies above Iraq, New Zealand fighter pilots have turned the scrapping of this country's air combat wing into a career move.

At least one former Air Force strike pilot saw action during the Iraq war last year, fighting for the British, and others have joined the Royal Australian Air Force.

But cloistered in hangars on the outskirts of Blenheim, the machines they learned their craft in are a $6 million millstone.

Three years after the Government axed the Air Force's strike wing, the 34 aircraft have not been sold, although buyers have been found - the Malaysian Government wants the Aermacchi jet trainers and an American company wants the Skyhawks.

Consultants' fees, on top of about $320,000 a month in storage and maintenance costs, are piling up. And once a sale finally goes through, taxpayers may have to fork out several more million to get the planes up to operational standard.

The hold-up, some believe, may be because of the frozen defence relationship with the United States - the sale of the 17 Skyhawks is awaiting US State Department approval from Washington.

Advanced Training Systems International (ATSI), an Arizona-based company which trains fighter aircraft crew and takes part in military exercises, offered to buy the Skyhawks early last year but the sale needs to be approved by the State Department, partly because some of the avionics and weaponry systems are the same as equipment on American fighter jets.

Ken Jensen, an ATSI spokesman, said the company had possible work lined up for the aircraft, and was surprised by the time it was taking to clinch the deal, reportedly worth US$50 million ($73.8 million).

"We certainly thought it was going to go faster than this," said Mr Jensen. Asked if he knew what had caused the delay, he said: "Even if I did know, I'm not sure I would understand it."

ATSI has experience obtaining approval to purchase foreign aircraft. Its fleet includes former Israeli military Skyhawks, one of which crashed last year, killing the pilot.

An aviation commentator and former Skyhawk pilot, Dr Ross Ewing, said the delay was curious.

"It's gone on incredibly long and my concern is there must be something else to it," said Dr Ewing, of Christchurch. "I would think the State Department would not be in any great hurry to approve this because of New Zealand's defence position."

The US Embassy was unable to comment.

But Defence Minister Mark Burton dismissed speculation that the delay had anything to do with US-New Zealand relations.

"I see absolutely no substance to that - for one thing we have a very positive relationship in a number of spheres," said Mr Burton.

"These things sometimes take longer than anyone of us would like but they have to be done properly and we are optimistic of getting an end result that is a good return for the taxpayers."

Mr Burton said the money spent on maintaining the aircraft was about what had been anticipated when the Government decided to keep them in an airworthy state, rather than just putting them in storage.

He compared it to selling a house - either the seller kept up maintenance while the house was on the market, or did no upkeep knowing that it would decrease the likely sale price.

The average monthly cost of maintenance has been $320,000 to $350,000. Depending on the conditions of sale, several more million dollars may have to be spent.

"Most likely and typically for this type of sale, selling a fleet that is in flying, operational condition is the way to maximise the return at point of sale so I expect that is the condition in which the final sale will be made in both fleets. So that implies some expenditure in terms of ensuring the best return for New Zealand."

As well as the maintenance, consultancy firm Ernst & Young, has been contracted to handle the sale at a cost of $400,000 so far.

In answers to parliamentary questions from National MP Simon Power, Mr Burton has said Ernst & Young could be paid a bonus on completion of the contract, depending on the sale price.

Mr Power said it was shameful that the process had taken so long.

"Scrapping the combat wing cost the jobs of over 300 highly trained and skilled pilots, engineers and tradespeople," he said. "The Government's indifference towards these people is a disgrace.

"And its decision to disband the strike capability of our Air Force without any clear idea of what to do with the aircraft is shameful."