KC-45 Videos from Northrop Grumman
Filed under: Airbus, EADS, Northrop Grumman Corp., U.S. Air Force, Video
I found these interesting videos about the KC-45, on YouTube. The first is an advertisement for the tanker; the second focuses on the KC-45 assembly process. They’re both worth taking a look at:
Boeing’s role in defense aviation shrinks
Filed under: Boeing, Military Aviation, commercial aviation, development program
This good article in The Seattle Times summarizes how defense aviation is playing a less-and-less role in Boeing’s business. See the article here. It traces how from World War II on Boeing built large transports, tankers and bombers for the US Army Air Corps and Air Force. Now, with the loss of the KC-45 contract, they really are not doing any such business. They obviously rely primarily on their civil aircraft for the bulk of their earnings and profits. Boeing defense business is starting to be more and more in the area of engineering services and total program development and management. They were the Lead System Integrator (LSI) on what used to be called National Missile Defense (NMD) in the Nineties. They have also had similar roles in other major contracts.
UK goes the lease route for their tankers
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, EADS, England, Northrop Grumman Corp., commercial aviation, logistics
In kind of a switch from the US the UK decided to lease their new tankers from EADS. It also looks like full Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) will be utilized. This means that the contractor will be paid to do all of the maintenance on the aircraft. This has become more common in the US as well as it minimizes the up front costs to the government as they do not have to stock parts or train mechanics. Read more
UK orders 14 tankers from EADS
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, EADS, England, commercial aviation, logistics
As predicted EADS along with a group of English and French companies won a contract to build 14 tankers for the Royal Air Force. See a story here. The contract is worth $26 Billion. Boeing had been eliminated from the competition a few years earlier.
Newest Conspiracy Theory on Why Boeing Lost The KC-45 Tanker Contract
In an article in the Asia Times Online, Julian Delasantellis argues that Boeing lost the KC-45 tanker contract, because the Bush administration’s foreign policy requires the ability to bomb far-away countries at any time:
What if, stripped of all the flowery rhetoric you deliver once a year at the United Nations, the essence of your foreign policy is simply a never-ending search for new countries to bomb?
You need a way to get the benefits of land-based aircraft for power projection, without the drawbacks of needing to find friendly countries willing to host your local airfields.
In short, you need really good airborne refueling tankers - the coaling stations of the modern age.
Air Force awards LAIRCM contract to Boeing
Filed under: Boeing, Contract Awards, U.S. Air Force, production program
Boeing won a contract to buy and install Large Aircraft Infra-Red Countermeasures (LAIRCM) systems on US Air Force aircraft. These would go on tankers and transports and provide protection against heat-seeking missiles. While no aircraft has recently been attacked in Iraq or Afghanistan there remains the chance that it will be. Forbes.com article on this is here. The contract is worth $77 M.
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