Jordan Times
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Jordan Aerospace Industries
wins Iraqi tender for 16 surveillance aircraft
Focal location in the region gives JAI a competitive edge
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — Jordan's focal location in the region was cited by a local light
aircraft maker as a competitive edge that enabled it to win a tender to provide
Iraq with 16 surveillance aircraft.
Several international companies, including the US and Europeans, competed for
the tender but the three-year-old Jordan Aerospace Industries (JAI) gained
preference because the two-seater Sama CH2000, the brand involved in the deal,
is being manufactured in Jordan, according to the maker's director, Muayyad
Samarrai. JAI will also train Iraqi pilots on this advanced model of
surveillance aircraft.
“For an American competitor, it is costly to manufacture and transport aircraft
to Iraq,” commented Samarrai. “It is also risky, in terms of security, to
transport aircraft parts and to send assembling teams to Iraq, let alone the
labour costs.”
JAI is the sole owner of the Sama CH2000 Type Certificate, a status earned
through a partnership with the 35-year-old Zenair Ltd., a Canadian company with
manufacturing facilities in Canada and the US.
JAI is the first private company in the Middle East to manufacture, assemble and
service light aircraft. Its team, according to Samarrai, is mainly comprised of
Jordanian experts who have retired from the Royal Air Force.
A team of 40 Jordanian specialists work on Sama CH2000, under the supervision of
an aviation safety team from the Jordan Civil Aviation Authority and experts
from the mother company which verifies quality.
Sama CH2000 takes pride in being one of the “extremely few” light aircraft that
was licensed under the extremely strict Federal Aviation Regulation Part 23.
Another remarkable feature in the aircraft is that it is equipped with
Instrument Flight Rating, which refer to the qualifications in Sama that allow
pilots to “fly blind,” avoiding disorientation during flight.
The plane is both Federal Aviation Administration and Jordan Civil Aviation
Authority certified, according to Samarrai.
Sama CH2000 will be used by the Iraqi air force “for delicate surveillance
missions,” including those aimed to prevent sabotage attacks on infrastructure
facilities.
Training for Iraqi pilots will take place in cooperation with the Jordan-based
Mideast Aviation Academy and the Royal Aero Club.
The $30 million private JAI sells nine other multifunctional aircraft, ranging
from the American one-seater Vortex “sportscopter,” to the low-noise, low-speed
two-seater German Remos Rali.