Flightdeck Friday (II): X-47B Wins Navy Bid
A "twofer" today …
(Aug 2 – multiple sources but h/t to The DEW Line) The Navy has announced Northrop-Grumman’s X-47B won the bid over Boeing’s X-45 for the $635M UCAS-D contract. Couple of items to note — when Boeing lost the JSF bid to Lockheed, they immediately jumped on the UCAV bandwagon and hoped for an end-run via their X-45, which now is esentially an orphan. With the legacy Super-Bug (F/A-18E/F) program their main remaining combat aircraft program in the Boeing portfolio, will they push harder for overseas sales (espcially in India’s MRCA fly-off) in the face of growing concerns in Congress and DoD about technology transfer? Do they leave the field and concentrate on what they apparently do, from a company heritage POV, best and stick to transports? Wanna bet the C-17 line stays open and the next-gen tanker goes Boeing’s way? And for N-G, does this build momentum for N-G’s entry in the BAMS contest to where they can become the primary source of Navy’s UAV’s? Interesting times… In the meantime, we’ll leave with this thought from Ward Caroll:
So we take another step toward the day when a Hornet pilot looks over from where he’s parked under the island and sees an unmanned vehicle taxi past on its way to the cat.
And so too closer is the day when a Hornet pilot gets cut out of the spin pattern by an unmanned vehicle. And, while we’re on the subject, who will the air boss yell at over the radio when an unmanned vehicle pulls power in the wires?
I’m not surprised N-G won the contract, as the X-45 was the preference of the USAF…the USAF is no longer in the UCAS program.
If I’m Boeing, I punt on the whole combat aircraft thing. Prior to acquiring McDonnell Douglas, that’s really not something they did. Like you imply, the C-17 line IS going to stay open, and the KC-X IS going to become the KC-767. No reason to keep banging your head against the wall with stuff you don’t do particularly well. Keep subcontracting stuff, obviously, like they’re doing with the F-22, but don’t take on any more lead roles with combat aircraft. At least small combat aircraft. The 2018 bomber, on the other hand…
One thing I forgot to mention – Boeing is also the prime on the Ballistic Missile Mid-Course Intercept program, which is a pretty lucrative program.
– SJS
Yea, but look at the bright side. UCAV’s won’t whine when they get a no grade! Can’t wait till a CATTC controller sneezes one night and the damn UAV gets a 1 wire! 😐
Which begs the question — the difference between a Hornet Mode I, hands off recovery and a UCAV recovery is…? 😀
-SJS
FLIGHT PAY!
…and here I was just thinking of mess bills… 😆
-SJS
Oh yeah-and a big watch…. 😯