Denver Post February 28, 2002
Colo. firm designs patrol fighter jet
By Greg Griffin
A tiny company based at Centennial Airport is designing a new fighter jet it hopes will take over the huge job of patrolling the nation's skies.
George Bye, president of Aviation Technology Group of Arapahoe County, is shown with a model of a civilian executive jet the company is converting into a proposed military jet for surveillance and domestic defense.
The Homeland Defense Interceptor - still just a sleek, three-dimensional form on a computer screen - will be cheaper and more efficient than F-15s and F-16s now flying surveillance, its creators say.
"It's a patrol car rather than a tank patrolling the skies," said George Bye, president of Aviation Technology Group. The former Air Force pilot founded the company three years ago to build a high-performance business jet but began working on a military version after Sept. 11.
With design of the military aircraft nearly complete, Bye has trained his sights on Washington. He and his team of engineers and pilots have briefed key lawmakers on the plane and enlisted two former Air Force generals to help sell the idea at the Pentagon.
But they face stiff political head winds. Round-the-clock air patrols - which began Sept. 11 as protection against airborne terrorist attacks - are such a drain on military resources that the Pentagon may end them altogether. The patrols cost more than $100 million a month, divert manpower and planes from other missions and reduce aircraft life span.
Air Force Secretary James Roche said earlier this month he wants to replace the patrols with a system that leaves fighter jets on alert at certain bases around the country.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hasn't yet made a decision but said the patrols are "very stressful on the force."
But President Bush has supported Operation Noble Eagle, as the patrols are known. His proposed budget for fiscal 2003 includes a $1.3 billion appropriation for the flights. A decision on the operation's future may not come for months as lawmakers wrangle over the budget, but Bye said he thinks his company could receive word on its proposal sooner.
The Interceptor - much smaller than an F-15 or F-16 and carrying less weaponry and no bombs - would cost $4.2 million. A Boeing-built F-15 Eagle costs $35 million, Bye said, and a Lockheed Martin-built F-16 Falcon costs $22 million.
The one-seat jet would fly nearly as fast and far as the F-16 on just one-sixth as much fuel, Bye said. Maintenance, training and insurance costs also would be far lower.
"The F-16 has so much more capability than is needed for the job of flying surveillance. It's a disproportionate response to the requirement" of air patrol, Bye said. "Our concept provides a complementary or supplementary aircraft that allows the F-15 and F-16 to do the tasks they're designed to do."
The Interceptor would be equipped with two small heat-seeking missiles, a machine gun, a spotlight, a laser, and state-of-the-art communications and radar equipment. That's enough to locate, identify and, if needed, disable a commercial jetliner or smaller plane under terrorist control, Bye said.
John Pike, head of GlobalSecurity.com, an Arlington, Va.-based think tank, said Aviation Technology Group's concept is good and the company may be able to secure a modest research and development contract for further study. But he questioned whether the Pentagon wants a new plane.
"At the end of the day, the government may decide they don't need to run these patrols, especially since they're spending so much money on airport security to prevent hijackings," he said. "But if they decide to continue . . . I think they might be interested in a cheaper alternative to the F-16."
Pike also wondered whether the Pentagon might want more firepower than the Interceptor's creators have included. Also, choosing a less-expensive plane would not reduce the costs of supporting Operation Noble Eagle with fighter pilots, airborne fuel tankers and radar planes.
But Bye already is lining up support for the Interceptor in Washington.
Harley Hughes, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and former deputy to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently joined the board as Aviation Technology's primary liaison to the Pentagon, Bye said. Charles Bartholomew, a retired Air Force brigadier general, also is consulting for the company.
In recent weeks, Bye has met with a handful of congressional leaders or their staff members to give briefings on the Interceptor.
"From our perspective it seems like a good idea, and we're hopeful the Department of Defense gives it fair consideration," said Sean Conway, press secretary for Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
But even if the Interceptor fails, Aviation Technology and its 25 employees will stay aloft, Bye said. The military plane, conceived after Sept. 11, is actually a spinoff of the Javelin, a business jet the company has developed since 1999.
Bye calls the two-seat, $1.9 million Javelin a "Mazerati in the sky," designed for wealthy individuals who want to fly in a high-performance, military-style aircraft rather than a large corporate jet.
The company has received 100 orders for the $1.9 million jets and expects to begin making deliveries in early 2005. Aviation Technology is counting on receiving certification of the Javelin from the Federal Aviation Administration within three years.
Recent advances in engine and cockpit avionics technology, as well as computer-simulated design, made it possible for a small company to design such a jet on a limited budget, he said.
Both planes are propelled by two Williams International engines.
Aviation Technology is backed by wealthy individual investors and has enough money to launch both the Javelin and the Interceptor, Bye said.
He would not say how much the company has raised or who its backers are, but the company's board of directors includes L. Bruce Jones, owner of U.S. Submarines, which makes tourist and private luxury submarines, and Don Schlup, owner of Scien-Turf-ic Sod Farms in Aurora.
All contents Copyright 2002 The Denver Post
