Bomber decision expected in August

a reply to: Forensick
Not sure but we have always been the "Superpower" of the Pacific and we have to be able to show a position of force strength.I doubt we will get a new toy and most likely rely on the Superbugs as a secondary force for when the JSF,s come onboard.
Costs shouldn,t be too bad this time around as a lot of the tech has been remmed out via the B2 and F22,F35 programs as well as the other Black projects that are flying around..RAM coatings from the F35 plus powerplant from Sr72 or ADVENT plus software from the F35 and Plasma tech from the B2.Wrap it up in a nice parcel and ship it out the door.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
a reply to: Forensick
Not sure but we have always been the "Superpower" of the Pacific and we have to be able to show a position of force strength.I doubt we will get a new toy and most likely rely on the Superbugs as a secondary force for when the JSF,s come onboard.
Costs shouldn,t be too bad this time around as a lot of the tech has been remmed out via the B2 and F22,F35 programs as well as the other Black projects that are flying around..RAM coatings from the F35 plus powerplant from Sr72 or ADVENT plus software from the F35 and Plasma tech from the B2.Wrap it up in a nice parcel and ship it out the door.

I just wish we weren't looked at like that, I loving here and don't want our foreign policy to threaten our way of life (home grown jihadists).

That said, I fully support the concept of allies and although probably at 39 being too old for the forces I wouls sign up in a minute for any national defence force if those pesky Chinese wanted our minerals for nothing.

I know I'm exposing my ignorance for all to see. Not the first time I've done it...but.

Why would we need a next gen bomber, when no one can match a capabilities of the main three that are already there?

I realize that air defense systems are constantly improving, but wouldn't it be cheaper, even easier, to just upgrade avionics, and EW suites?

Probably not...

a reply to: seagull

Yes and no. At some point you get to where the cost of continued upgrades exceeds the value of the platform. That's what eventually happened to the F-117s. The upgrade to the latest and greatest RAM coating, and the normal maintenance became so expensive it was cheaper to get rid of them.

Right now the B-2 is the only "Day One" bomber in our inventory, and it has an atrocious Mission Capable rate still. They were bragging recently because they had a month where they had a 70% MC rate. The most expensive and maintenance intensive portion of the aircraft is the skin. New skins are much more durable, easier to maintain, and cheaper, but putting them on the Spirit would be expensive.

July has been the longest month for me because I'm doing dry July after 24 years of drinking. But 7 days left....then we are close to an announcement and hopefully photo of LRSB-1.

Will it be the B-3?

a reply to: Forensick

It depends. It most likely will be either the -3 or -4 depending on how they designated the companies.

And congrats on Dry July, and keep up the hard work.

Any hints on an announcement?

I am so anticipating this with excitement.

Do you think the Russian and Chinese are like the opposite, anticipation in expectation of thinking, "oh crap, what do we do now?"

a reply to: Forensick

Most likely in Sept. sometime. The AF is making 120% sure that ALL contingencies are planned for to reduce the chances of loser protest so they are going to take their sweet time with this one. Especially since there is so much money on the line.

The decision has already been made who gets it and the respective companies probably know by now they just haven't made the decision public.

What I'm hoping for is that we get to see the loser's offering some day as well.

a reply to: stratsys-sws

Although your analysis of fixed price contracts and procurement in general is accurate, I disagree with your conclusion that contractor negotiators are "always smarter than procurement staff".

Truth is, on these major programs, there is so much political pressure from SES folks, politicians, Generals, etc. that the procurement staff are often thrown between a rock and a hard place.

You think the Procurement Contracting Officer gets any credit if they negotiate a good deal for the tax payer? Nope. They either get all the blame if there are any issues (even out of their control), or the SES folks get all the credit if things go well. Despite all this, it is the CO who bears the ultimate responsibility in the event that appropriations or procurement law is broken.

Signed,

A warranted Contracting Officer

a reply to: Forensick

Both Russia and China are working on their own stealth bombers, which may help ours in the long run.

a reply to: Zaphod58

zaph i heard their stealth program is struggling. something about not being able to agree on which colors to use for their camo paint scheme.

and i think they are also voting on whether to include a bumper sticker on their stealth bombers thats say " just like the amerikan bombers"

ok all kidding aside. what would China need a stealth bomber for? they don't have the capability to directly penetrate the continental us. are they hoping to bomb guam, hawaii, and wake island? or are they hoping to bomb their neighbors if they start to compromise China's industry by getting into the same manufacture stuff for Americans game. since there are limited targets china can strike of ours that would be in range do they really think they will be able to get through any heightened defenses we would place around those specific bases? does china have a tanker fleet to get their bombers to the us mainland?

other than keeping up with the Jones I don't see why they would need a strategic bomber unless they are hoping to bomb their neighbors.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

You can't be a super power if you can't project power. China wants to be a super power.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I see it that Chinas neighbors want to get into the game of manufacturing stuff for america. this will cut into and decimate the Chinese economy while giving the us leverage against them and breaking the yoke of the fact we owe them money. they are counting on us needing them to keep their economy.

but when China's neighbors ramp up their industry we won't be needing China anymore to the degree we had. china wants their bombers to bully their neighbors and hope that the stealth capabilities will be beyond whatever gear we give to China's neighbors to protect against said attacks. China knows there is no way they can directly attack the us in any theatre. they are aware that its our game and has been for a very long time. we own the ball and the bat and militarily they won't do well at all against usa assets. they want to project power against their neighbors to save themselves.

i dont see China being a super power for long. they've always been bad warriors since the fall of the ming. everybody knows it. that's why they were called the sick men of asia. cause they were weak and didn't hold up against their enemies. their only strength is that their economy is large and mostly dependent on the us. if the us depends on them less and starts using China's neighbors. China's economy is wrecked and China goes back to being what China was and always has been in the last few centuries.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

Your thoughts on China dovetail with mine.

China has a lot of chickens coming home to roost. Especially in their western provinces, with religious unrest, and economic unrest elsewhere, with a lot of young people asking where's ours.

I foresee a lot of turmoil in their future. Now it may not lead to a collapse, but it will effect them adversely.

I'm afraid that there may be some military adventurism in Asia's future. Many of the nations on China's borders certainly seem to think so...

Could be a fearsome time ahead in Asia. Hope I'm wrong.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: Forensick

What I'm hoping for is that we get to see the loser's offering some day as well.

We will probably have to wait for the book!

Been reading "Skunk works" by Ben Rich and "The 5 Billion Dollar Misunderstanding" by James Stevenson recently and there are some interesting pictures and descriptions in there I didn't know about before

I wonder what a contemporary Zheng He aircraft fleet would be like?!

i dont see China being a super power for long. they've always been bad warriors since the fall of the ming. everybody knows it. that's why they were called the sick men of asia. cause they were weak and didn't hold up against their enemies.

a reply to: BASSPLYR

I think there may still be a few Gentlemen left around that remember a very long, cold walk they had to make from Nov '50 -Jan '51 or so due to a Chinese warrior or two (or maybe 200,000). Chinese expansionism is moving the same direction as the Japanese Empire back in 1941, namely south towards Australia, the anchor of our Pacific policy. They've got the manpower, they just lack the material. Maybe that's the impetus.

Its all about minerals and crops.A lot of the drought affected farms here in Auss have been bought out by Chinese concerns.You can just about fit most of Europe into the landmass of Australia but you have to remember 85% of this country is semi arid desert.Our most critical resource for survival is water.

I am just wondering what are the commercial implications of this decision. From what I have heard, both the Boeing/Lockheed bid and the Northrop Grumman proposal are very capable and similar in many ways, with each certain advantages in some KPIs, but it is going to be a close call either way. if that is the case, then it may come down to weighting heavily that risk that if Northrop Grumman loses, they may be in big trouble, as they don't have any major programme coming up: Boeing has its commercial biz and Lockheed has got the F-35.

Unless there will be a very generous work-share programme offered for the unsuccessful bidder, Northrop Grumman may have an edge, just because it needs to be kept viable for the sake of future competitive procurement.

a reply to: Borys

Northrop just received a $4B 5 year contract for Global Hawk upkeep and modernization, as well as $5.9B in total sales in the 2nd Quarter of this year. They don't have any huge contracts, on the order of the bomber, but they have a lot of smaller contracts that will keep them viable until the 6th Gen fighter competition.

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