Daimler-Benz Aerospace has refrained from bringing the newly completed full-scale mockup of its Mako light fighter/trainer to Farnborough. The supersonic Mako is designed as a more capable replacement for trainers such as the BAe Hawk, and Daimler-Benz has decided not to offend its Eurofighter partner.

The German company started the detail definition of the Mako in July, and wants to launch it as a commercial program with the help of risk-sharing suppliers. "Most of the world cannot afford an advanced trainer that is not also a light fighter-attack aircraft," observes Jan van Toor, technical manager for the Mako project Also, operators of advanced and expensive fighters such as the F-22, Typhoon and Rafale will need a high-performance companion trainer to limit flying hours on the fighter, van Toor said at the SMi Fighter Conference in London last week.

The Mako is designed around a selection of three engine families: the Eurojet EJ200/EJ230, the GE F404/F414, and the Snecma M88. The customer could select a non-reheated, derated, standard or uprated engine. The Mako has provision for an internal 27-mm Mauser BK gun, and can be equipped with a small multimode radar such as the FIAR Grifo.

The design emphasizes low cost and practicality. By selecting a Mach 1.6 maximum speed, the designers have been able to provide a generous body cross-section and achieve a 0.33 fuel fraction. The airframe will use a simple composite structure, and differences between the single-seat and two-seat versions have been minimized. Stealth has been taken into account, not to make the aircraft invisible but to reduce a hostile fighter's detection range, compensating for the Mako's smaller radar antenna.

Daimler-Benz will continue to fund the Mako definition phase until the end of next year, and is pitching the design to such customers as South Africa. The company is looking for subsystem suppliers who will invest in the program, and is projecting a 2,500-aircraft market by 2025. If the program goes ahead, two prototypes will fly by the end of 2003, and production would start in 2008.