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The US Air Force is in the final phase of discussion before awarding a contract for the next-generation bomber, and expects an announcement very soon.
“We’re in the final closing phase and it’s going well and you should expect to hear something pretty soon,” William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said during an event hosted by Defense one on Tuesday.
originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: BigTrain
Why do you think Boeing and Airbus haven't gone to all composites? There's a good reason, besides your normal ones.
originally posted by: anzha
a reply to: Zaphod58
Composites are also rather costly. I've more than dabbled in composites and the amount of labor involved relative to metals is much higher.
The Air Force can proceed only after Kendall, undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, convenes a Defense Acquisition Board review to assess the service’s readiness to award a contract in the competition that pits Northrop Grumman Corp. against a team of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. Kendall said he hopes a date for the review, which often signals to investors that a contract award is coming within days, can be decided this month.
originally posted by: AtomicMod
originally posted by: anzha
a reply to: Zaphod58
Composites are also rather costly. I've more than dabbled in composites and the amount of labor involved relative to metals is much higher.
They are also difficult to fabricate consistently - "Battle of the X-Planes" the documentary Nova produced on the JSF selection process goes into a lot of detail on Boeing's difficulty in fabricating a composite wing for the X-32 - I believe they ended up abandoning the composite wing for the competition because of this.
originally posted by: AtomicMod
originally posted by: anzha
a reply to: Zaphod58
Composites are also rather costly. I've more than dabbled in composites and the amount of labor involved relative to metals is much higher.
They are also difficult to fabricate consistently - "Battle of the X-Planes" the documentary Nova produced on the JSF selection process goes into a lot of detail on Boeing's difficulty in fabricating a composite wing for the X-32 - I believe they ended up abandoning the composite wing for the competition because of this.