Boeing To Find Out Friday Whether It Will Build New Sub Hunters

[Falcaner]

I am a bit surprised since I thought the navy would go with Loc Mart because of money. But it should a great platform for the community I am sure they will be very please. John i know your not flying but what do you think. Are you going to hit 20 before it comes online thou?

 

[EODDave]

That sound you hear is the P-3 pipeline clogging up. I'll send some drano!

 

[Dawgfan]

They'd more likely use a plunger.

What kind of wood is it made out of? How many people does it take to properly use the plunger? What's the plunger's primary backup? Secondary? What bus is it located on?

 

[zab1001]

They'd more likely use a plunger.
What kind of wood is it made out of? How many people does it take to properly use the plunger? What's the plunger's primary backup? Secondary? What bus is it located on?

"How many screws are in the plunger? AHA TRICK QUESTION LTJG MORON, YOU FAIL!"

(actually they claim the days of this kind of abuse are over....are they Propstop?)


QUOTE PropStop: "I heard a nasty rumor a bit over a year ago that Boeing boasted that they could have a fully functional MMA within 6 months of the green light. As they already have the 737 line going i could believe this, were it not for the radical airframe changes dictated by the MMA requirements. I understand that the bomb bay was a bit of a challenge."

Once they put the first attempt at wing stations and bomb bays on, there's gonna be YEARS of testing required to work out the bugs. What about the IR and EO cameras? Will it have a laser designator or won't it? Will the camera retract? Does it need SPECOPS-capable spaces onboard? ESM? Counter-threat systems? Totally revamped hydraulics if they elect to control the bomb bays that way, same for electrical if it's servo-operated. The buoy launching system is also gonna be a b*tch (how many, internal-from the tube launch capability). What about this UAV business... MILES upon MILES of wiring, systems, control software, interfaces....even if they did have one out in 6 months it'd still have to go through the USN test/eval wringer. Then all the high math aero questions with the new configuration, weapons tests, new NATOPS...training syllabus...the inevitable fight over where they will base out of (don't kid yourselves, it's coming around the bend), will the Wings on each coast have to re-align....

"I suspect i'll be a freaking 04 select (okay, probebly fired) by the time these things are deployed!"

Yeah, think positive. Ya never know. Not trying to sound negative, this is awesome, but its a ways away.

 

[PropStop]

Zab, the party line is that the days of minutiae are over. However, is suspect that this isn't so outside of the FRS. I've been told to forget certain numbers, e.g. the pressure to blow out those pressure relief doors just behind the wing leading edge (5-10psi, i remember it because i was told to forget it, i should try this for my lights!). I'll be finding out soon enough though as i will ship out to VP-40 in a few days. You're reading a post from a newly qualified Patrol Plane Copilot!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!! now i can learn to carry crypto and boxed lunches....but i'll be treated like a person, right?

I don't know much about the design challenges for the MMA. I suspect that things like the AIMS will retract as will many other things. This plane will be MUCH faster than the P-3 and you wouldn't want anything hanging in the slipstream unless it really had to be there.

I have been told that the sono chute will be a rotary launcher type deal with only four actual ports in the fuselage. I don't think they'd get ride of IR or EO either, those are really our bread and butter now adays. I think we will no longer be marking on top of buoys or flying ASW at 300', however

There isn't a lot of info on the plane on the Boeing site, but i suspect more info will filter out as the project progresses.

 

[Pcola04/30]

Boeing Says It Won Contract On Proven Aircraft Design
June 14, 2004: 18:57 p.m. EST



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CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Boeing Co. (BA) said late Monday it was able to beat out Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) to win a $3.89 billion contract from the U.S. Navy to develop a fleet of Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, or MMA, on the strength of its proven aircraft.

The contract calls for Boeing to build 109 airplanes that can seek and destroy submarines, replacing the aging Orion P-3s now in use.

Lockheed, which held the P-3 contract for the past 40 years, proposed to update the propellor craft.

Boeing's more daring plan is to modify its 737-800 commercial airplane body for military use.

Speaking from St. Louis on a conference call with reporters, John Lockhard, Boeing's vice president of naval systems, said Boeing hasn't been debriefed by the Navy, and so he couldn't comment specifically on why the Navy picked Boeing.

Analysts had suggested that Lockheed could produce a modified P-3 with less risk and at a lower cost but that Boeing could deliver more sophisticated technology on a faster-flying plane.

Boeing will begin delivering the aircraft in 2012, Lockard said.

In about four years, when the development stage is fully ramped up, Boeing will have 1,200 employees in Seattle working on the MMA, Lockhard said, with an additional 200 in St. Louis and 150 in Patuxet River, Md.

John Young, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said "today's MMA decision represents an important milestone for the war fighter and acquisition team. Our P-3 has made major contributions to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq while also performing their core maritime mission."

He said it was "becoming urgent" to replace the P-3 fleet.

The Navy had originally proposed building 125 of the new aircraft. If that were to happen, the value of the contract could have been as much as $20 billion.

Meanwhile, Lockard said, "there is significant opportunity" to sell the aircraft to countries outside the U.S. as replacements for P-3s. Worldwide, he said, there are 500 P-3s in operation.

Subcontractors on the Boeing team will include CFM International, Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC), Raytheon Co. (RTN), and Smith Aerospace. During the eight- year development phase of the contract, they will produce seven test aircraft. Boeing put the value of the contract for 109 aircraft at $15 billion over a 10- year production run.

Lockard said he doesn't see Boeing adding additional subcontractors, such as Lockheed Martin, to aid in producing the aircraft.

In after-hours trading, shares of Boeing traded at $49.43 on INET, up from their closing price of $48.83.

-By Ann Keeton, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4120; ann.keeton@dowjones.com

Dow Jones Newswires 06-14-04 1857ET Copyright (C) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.