This thing is pretty mean looking. Check out the tailhook!
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene...C Avenger Makes First Flights&channel=defense
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene...C Avenger Makes First Flights&channel=defense
This thing is pretty mean looking. Check out the tailhook!
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/gene...C Avenger Makes First Flights&channel=defense
Very interesting read, especially when it (briefly) addresses General Atomics' relatively unique business model:
"Cassidy has earned a unique reputation by using company funds to develop what he believes the military needs rather than chasing Pentagon requirements that shift with disheartening regularity to produce cost increases and production delays."
That's pretty unheard of these days - a company with sufficient IR&D money to go out on a limb and develop what they think is best, and then let the govt decide whether they want to buy it. High risk, for sure, but a business model I wish other big metal-benders would pursue. Maybe then we could get out of the vicious requirements-vs-cost 1-circle fight we've been in for years.
Re: the tailhook. Could it be that it is more designed to take the long-field gear and keep the plane from breaking itself in case of brake failure or landing long, than for carrier ops? HJ would probably know better than most if GA has been sniffing around the Navy world with this platform.
.....General Atomics' relatively unique business model......High risk, for sure, but a business model I wish other big metal-benders would pursue. Maybe then we could get out of the vicious requirements-vs-cost 1-circle fight we've been in for years......
I think the BAMS solicitation was among the lower points in recent technology procurements - and that is saying something, unfortunately. That a squared away company like GA did not win says volumes about the Navy's inability to define requirements, write a well-structured RFP, and then adjudicate different proposals. We suck, in short.The problem with that was their production line suffered and apparently was a big factor in them losing the BAMS contract, when theirs may have been the better product. Even the Global Hawk were apparently surprised to win that one.
Well, the Clinton administration eviscerated DoD's career contracting officers. Now we can't get a program together to save our lives...
Well, the Clinton administration eviscerated DoD's career contracting officers. Now we can't get a program together to save our lives...
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
You don't hate UAV's.....you hate UAV pilots JK...you will be thankful when a UAV precedes you to a heavily armed target area and eliminates/hurts the surface-to-air site that has your #.I understand and respect the fact that these things (UAVs) definitely give us some pretty cool capabilities on the battlefield but I still hate them. Is that wrong?
What's a B-22?
What's a B-22?