But however, I will throw the monkey wrench in, if either Boeing or NG wins, they could maintain the current F/A-18 working relationship.
Definitely. F-47 purchased by the USAF and Navy and NG takes 30% of the work as primary subcontractor. NG specialises in the centre bulkheads and larger structural sections.
 
The USN dilemma is that it has to support its shipping (including subs) and getting the best aircraft it can for the carriers.
That problem honestly goes clear back to the end of WW2, and cursed by Vietnam 20+ years later eating all the budget.

The US built so many ships during the war that it ended up with everything needing to be replaced at the same time. And they didn't really figure out a way to shift the new classes' introductions around by 5-10 years like they needed to. You'd do that by retiring some classes early and holding on to others for a bit longer than they were designed for.

So, 1945 you essentially have a brand new fleet. Everything is new, and by 1947 you've retired/scrapped all the pre-war classes. 20 years later it's time to replace the WW2 fleet but there's this war in Vietnam that is eating all the budget so ships get held long.



Definitely. F-47 purchased by the USAF and Navy and NG takes 30% of the work as primary subcontractor. NG specialises in the centre bulkheads and larger structural sections.
If by some unholy decision the USN takes the F-47, I would pray that NG got the contract for center section and landing gear. Because they know how to make carrier-compatible aircraft.
 

"In contrast, the U.S. Navy’s F/A‑XX, envisioned as a carrier-based, stealthy, multirole strike fighter, is facing significant delays. Budget constraints and capacity limitations within the aerospace industrial base have forced the Pentagon to delay the F/A‑XX's engineering and manufacturing development phase. Industry insiders reveal that senior defense officials made a deliberate tradeoff: accelerate the Air Force’s platform at the expense of the Navy’s in order to preserve critical timelines for achieving operational air dominance by the early 2030s."
 
Regarding the affirmation about companies not being allowed to bid as a prime and as a subcontractor for a competitor at the same time, what about the AX program?
Eight companies competing in five teams, Lockheed being in three, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in two...

Not trying to be an a$$, just wanting to know if there is some background for this affirmation.
 

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Not to mention it is easy to just search this page without membership, I have watched this forum for YEARS before deciding to join.
The only reason I joined was to view big images and download them.




Regarding the affirmation about companies not being allowed to bid as a prime and as a subcontractor for a competitor at the same time, what about the AX program?
Eight companies competing in five teams, Lockheed being in three, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in two...

Not trying to be an a$$, just wanting to know if there is some background for this affirmation.
As I understand it, each team had the corresponding company work-group silo'd off from the other group(s). Further, I believe each company work-group was geographically separate from the others.
 
Regarding the affirmation about companies not being allowed to bid as a prime and as a subcontractor for a competitor at the same time, what about the AX program?
Eight companies competing in five teams, Lockheed being in three, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in two...

Not trying to be an a$$, just wanting to know if there is some background for this affirmation.
AX never went to final tender selection. The whole point of the program was to fund multiple industry bids (involving teaming) and then down select to a couple of final competitors. One Prime could not have been part of the rival bid at that point.
 
I'm suspecting that the Navy was playing politics and stopping the program to force Congress to give them more money.
As I suspected earlier - fund all the want to haves in the actual request to congress and zero out your must haves to force congress's hand.

Makes you wonder if the comments about "industry not being able to execute" was just a bogus claim made to veil the true intentions or it was a true claim. In turn, that also casts doubt on whether or not Boeing won the contract.
 
We will find out soon enough if Boeing or Northrop win the F/A-XX contract.

But they haven't allocated any money to purchase the aircraft, just $1.4bn to continue to run the tender evaluation rather than the $76m that was budgeted to mothball the program for three years. Any contract award means they then need to take money from another existing USN capital program instead.
 
But they haven't allocated any money to purchase the aircraft, just $1.4bn to continue to run the tender evaluation rather than the $76m that was budgeted to mothball the program for three years. Any contract award means they then need to take money from another existing USN capital program instead.
Or get Congress to cut the check.
 
But they haven't allocated any money to purchase the aircraft, just $1.4bn to continue to run the tender evaluation rather than the $76m that was budgeted to mothball the program for three years. Any contract award means they then need to take money from another existing USN capital program instead.
It won't require 1.4 billion to finish the tender process. That sum would incorporate the first year of EMD. The question is if this sum does make it through will that funding continue and increase as required? Will the USN continue to have F/A-XX funding as a component of their unfunded priorities list and will the current administration try to quash it again?
 

So the roughly correct aspect ratio of THAT image:
 

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Did we previously know that picture was an NG bird? There was never any follow up pics AFAIK.

NVM I just noticed we did know as it's the file name lol...
 

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Interesting the Northrop Grumman artist rendering.



IMG_2803.jpeg

I’d like to say if anyone remembers the N-G video of few years back with the employee going out of elevator to each segment of the company. The mystery jet with the fuselage mounted engines I am referring to …

Cheers
 
Interesting the Northrop Grumman artist rendering.



View attachment 780754

I’d like to say if anyone remembers the N-G video of few years back with the employee going out of elevator to each segment of the company. The mystery jet with the fuselage mounted engines I am referring to …

Cheers
Beautiful, YF-23 RE-born
 
Did we previously know that picture was an NG bird? There was never any follow up pics AFAIK.

NVM I just noticed we did know as it's the file name lol...
And oh god its still got tails...do horizontal still increase RCS spikes?
 
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