Eideard

It will be a profitable Xmas season

The bipartisan congressional supercommittee charged with finding $1.5 trillion in budget savings is leaving Washington lobbying firms in a quandary, seeing their clients pitted against one another in a competition for government cash.

Major defense contractors such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin have a dozen or more lobbying firms working for them, many of whom also represent the health-care industry, another likely target of budget cuts. While firms often deal with conflicts of interest, the supercommittee represents an unusual challenge, said Clyde Wilcox, a government professor at Georgetown University in Washington.

“This actually is going to be much more like a zero sum game,” Wilcox said. “If someone wins, someone loses…”

If all else fails, “I suspect that they’ll be rational businesspersons and make a decision based on their long-term financial interest,” Jeffrey Berry said. “They have a bottom line, just like their clients.”

You do recall, I hope, that principles, ethics, the needs of the people are irrelevant?

The 12-member panel, whose work has taken on greater urgency since Standard & Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating in August, will be the central focus of political and lobbying activity for the next few months…

“It’s akin to working with congressional leadership, which we — as most firms — do all the time,” Stewart Verdery [whose clients include clients Boeing, General Dynamics, Eli Lilly & Co. and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America] said…

The politicians will have their hands out – and will find them filled.

ScanEagle ready for launch

Individually, insects have proven a deep well of inspiration for robotics engineers looking to mimic designs refined over millions of years of evolution. Now Boeing has demonstrated swarm technology for reconnaissance missions using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that is similar to the way insects communicate and work together as an intelligent group. Potential uses for the technology include search-and-rescue missions and identifying enemy threats ahead of ground patrols.

In flight tests over the rugged terrain of eastern Oregon last month, different types of UAVs worked together to search the test area by autonomously generating waypoints and mapping the terrain, while simultaneously sending information to teams on the ground. The mission used two Insitu-manufactured ScanEagles and one Procerus Unicorn from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), which communicated using a Mobile Ad Hoc Network and swarm technology developed by JHU/APL.

“This is a milestone in UAV flight,” said Gabriel Santander, Boeing Advanced Autonomous Networks program director and team leader. “The test team proved that these unmanned aircraft can collect and use data while communicating with each other to support a unified mission.”

JHU/APL principal investigator Dave Scheidt says that the decentralized swarm technology demonstrated in the flight tests has the potential to improve response times while reducing manning requirements when compared to current systems. A broader demonstration of the swarm technology is planned for next month.

Rock on! Living in the southern Rockies we get to witness search-and-rescue technology at work all too often. The better and faster we can make it – the better it will be for folks who look for adventures in the wilderness.

SAFRAN Snecma’s LEAP engine selected by Airbus to power the A320neo
Daylife/Getty Images used by permission

As expected, the Boeing vs. Airbus rivalry is again front and center at this year’s Paris Air Show.

The Associated Press writes Airbus “is trouncing Boeing in the race to be the world’s biggest planemaker,” buoyed by what the European jetmaker says is the largest-ever order for commercial passenger jets.

As for the order that Airbus is lauding as historic, that comes from Malaysia’s AirAsia, which officially signed off today on a deal for a whopping 200 of Airbus’ 320neo jets…

The record-setting AirAsia order comes only a day after Airbus received what was then the record order. AP writes Airbus set “the previous record … just Wednesday by (winning) another A320neo customer, (Indian) carrier IndiGo.”

The Financial Times notes “the deal makes AirAsia Airbus’s biggest customer for narrow-body jets, with a total of 375 orders for A320-series aircraft, including 89 already in service.”

Airbus’ next-generation A320 neo — neo stands for “new engine option” — “has proven to be the star of the aviation industry’s premier event,” AP writes…

Dow Jones Newswires details the numbers for the A320neo, writing Airbus “racked up 667 orders and commitments for the A320neo, a new, more fuel-efficient version of the Airbus A320, a favorite of low-cost airlines operating medium-haul routes. Offering airlines up to 15% fuel economy compared to a present-day A320 due to new engines and wing appendages, it will be delivered to Airbus customers starting in late 2015.”

Overall, Airbus has announced deals for 730 aircraft at the air show. The orders would be worth $72 billion at list prices, though customers typically negotiate prices that are substantial lower. Boeing deals announced at the show totaled 142 aircraft worth $22 billion at list prices.

When you get past the crowing by EADS and the whining and rationales by Boeing, one factor stands out. Airlines are quite reasonably spending their money on more economical aircraft. If you can spend less per mile you stand a better chance of being competitive.

Euro manufacturers like EADS have to compete in the real world – the one that recognizes every factor from climate change to peak oil as affecting their ability to do business. That’s a significant difference.

The Flying Dorito – $165 million per copy in 1991 dollars

The Pentagon wants two defense contractors to pay up for an almost-forgotten Navy plane the government says did not work as advertised.

Now the Supreme Court could be poised to settle the nearly two-decades-old civil dispute, involving competing claims of national security secrets and the financial assets of a taxpayer-funded project gone sour…

At issue is the nearly $5 billion contract for the defunct A-12 Avenger stealth attack plane, which the Defense Department canceled in 1991. The government had argued the sensitive technology on the aircraft allowed it to invoke the “state secrets” privilege, which has kept the case from going to trial. The contractors countered that has prevented them from fully arguing their claim they should not have to repay the government…

Administration officials want Boeing and General Dynamics to repay at least $1.35 billion in government payments — including accumulated interest — saying the companies violated the terms of the contract by developing a substandard and overly expensive aircraft. The companies in turn want to reinstate a $1.2 billion award they won at an earlier stage in the litigation.

The project was 18 months behind and $1 billion over budget when it was terminated.

McDonnell-Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997, teamed with General Dynamics in the initial design and development of the A-12 Avenger Advanced Technology Aircraft. The all-weather, carrier-based stealth bomber had a unique “triangle” design, earning it the nickname the “Flying Dorito…

The high court has not fully examined the state-secrets privilege since 1953, when it affirmed the government’s ability to limit disclosure of certain types of evidence.

Nice to have the highest court in the land validate a policy that’s been practiced since the Revolutionary War.

Not that I hold any brief for the two biggest thieves in the den of iniquity constructed from lies, graft, kickbacks and deceit by military contractors.

Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Fighting its way through more than two years of delays, Boeing’s latest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner, took off on its maiden flight today in cloudy skies over Everett, Washington.

“We think it’s a game changer because it provides so much value to the customer,” Jim Albaugh, Boeing executive vice president and CEO, said in a CNN interview. “We think this is going to be a very efficient airplane. It’s going to change the way people travel…”

“It’s more environmentally friendly, it’s more efficient, uses less fuel, it’s going to cost the operator less to fly, it’s going to allow the passengers to pay less and feel better when they land.”

Boeing’s claims of the Dreamliner’s much-touted efficiency are tied to its design. It’s the first major airliner to be made of mostly composite materials. Boeing has staked its reputation on claims that the aircraft’s relatively lighter, faster body will save airlines up to 20 percent in fuel costs.

The company also says the new material will hold up better to the wear and tear of flight than traditional aluminum. Boeing says it has orders for more than 850 of the planes, which officially sell for around $150 million each.

Depending on the configuration, the Dreamliner can seat between 200 to 300 passengers and can travel more than 2,500 nautical miles. The target market is carriers traveling point-to-point international routes.

Click the story link for a video. Another 9-10 months of shakedown testing and they can start delivering these critters.

The motorheads in this crowd who follow F1 and really high performance racing know about composite construction. I doubt the aircraft industry will spring for a McLaren-level safety bathtub for each passenger; but, the strength of materials is demonstrated numerous times each racing season.

The Boeing Company and US Air Force announced yesterday that their Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) has successfully destroyed its first sizable ground target–“an unoccupied stationary vehicle“–during a test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Boeing describes their device as a high-powered chemical laser that, once installed aboard an aircraft like the C-130H Hercules transport plane used in yesterday’s test, offers “speed-of-light, ultra-precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage.” Said Gary Fitzmire:

“The bottom line is that ATL works, and works very well. ATL’s components — the high-energy chemical laser, beam control system and battle manager — are performing as one integrated weapon system, delivering effective laser beam energy to ground targets.”

We’re doomed! Doomed I say. Dooomed!

Thanks, Jägermeister

The wing damage that grounded Boeing’s new composite 787 Dreamliner occurred under less stress than previously reported — and is more extensive.

An engineer familiar with the details said the damage happened when the stress on the wings was well below the load the wings must bear to be federally certified to carry passengers.

In addition, information obtained independently and confirmed by a second engineer familiar with the problem shows the damage occurred on both sides of the wing-body join — that is, on the outer wing as well as inside the fuselage.

The structural flaw in the Boeing design was found in May during a ground test that bent the wings upward. Stresses at the ends of the long rods that stiffen the upper wing skin panels caused the fibrous layers of the composite plastic material to delaminate.

The damage at the end of each of the 17 long stiffening rods, called stringers, on each wing’s upper skin happened just beyond the aircraft’s “limit load,” which is the maximum load the wing is expected to bear in service…

Because the wing test fell short of the ultimate load target, the plane could have flown only under restrictions that would have severely limited the usefulness of a test flight.

It also helps explain why Boeing canceled the first flight planned for the end of June.

The fact that there is corresponding damage on the fuselage side of the wing join adds to the complexity of any fix and the time and cost involved in implementing it…

The way the stringers terminate and mate at the join, the focus of the problem, is Boeing’s responsibility and not that of its Japanese partners. Boeing will have to pay for the cost overruns.

The Dreamliner is two years late. Now.

Boeing officials say they will have a new schedule for first flight and delivery in another couple of months. On paper.

The U.S. Defense Department has ended for now a $35 billion transatlantic aerial-refueling competition, handing a nagging seven-year headache to the next administration and boosting Boeing’s hopes to keep Airbus planes out of the Air Force fleet…

The Air Force in February awarded the $35 billion, 179-plane program to a team of Northrop and Europe’s EADS, parent of Boeing commercial archrival Airbus.

After Boeing protested its loss on procedural grounds, a congressional umpire found the Air Force made “significant errors” in evaluating the rival bids…

Boeing, sole supplier of tankers to the U.S. Air Force for 50 years, is seeking to curb EADS’ penetration of the rich U.S. military market. Also at stake are EADS plans to move production of A330 freighters from France to Alabama, partly to cash in on exchange rate fluctuations.

The Air Force calls acquiring new tankers its No. 1 acquisition priority. The new fleet would phase out Boeing-built KC-135 tankers, which have an average age of 47 years. Tankers are used to refuel other planes in mid-air, a critical component of projecting U.S. power around the globe.

Obviously, the politics are severe enough that even the hacks in the Pentagon are divided over spending taxpayer dollars. Divided, that is, over where to spend it. Not on the spending itself.

Perish the fracking thought that we should develop a standard – stick to it – and pick the bidding firm which best matches the standard for quality and price. That would be unAmerican.

The federal government has sued Boeing for allegedly inflating the prices of B-1 bomber equipment sold to the Air Force. The lawsuit alleges the military paid $7.5 million more than it should have because Boeing did not tell the Air Force during contract negotiations that it found a source for cheaper parts to build decoy systems that protect bombers from missiles…

“It’s a significant amount and, of course, it’s all taxpayer money,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Palombo told The Associated Press.

“We make it a priority to collect all taxpayer funds that are obtained through fraud. We don’t make exceptions for anyone, individuals or large companies…”

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, alleges Boeing told the Air Force during negotiations in 1990 that it would manufacture parts for decoy systems at its own facility in Palmdale. Boeing allegedly did not inform the Air Force that it planned to close the facility and buy parts from subcontractors at a lower price.

We paid Boeing $36 million for 57 of these decoy kits. Under the False Claims Act, the government can recover up to three times the amount it overpaid, plus penalties.

I hope they get every penny.

Verifying software in the brake control system of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is the latest problem holding back the new plane’s first test flight, the troubled program’s chief said.

The first of the 787s, originally meant to fly last summer, has been held back by three major production delays due to parts shortages and incomplete work from suppliers arriving at its assembly plant near Seattle.

The plane is still on track for a first flight in the fourth quarter — in line with the last schedule announced in April — but the newest “air bubble” in the timetable is in the brake systems, Pat Shanahan said at a briefing at Farnborough Airshow…

“It’s not that the brakes don’t work, it’s the traceability of the software,” Shanahan said, explaining that Crane Company, the provider, had to go back and rewrite certain parts of the brake control software to verify it for the certification process.

“I’m confident it will be done. It’s General Electric,” Shanahan said.

Uh – anyone else here ever work for General Electric? I won’t say if this does or doesn’t inspire me with confidence.

UPDATE: Got the critter up and off the ground this morning. Whoo-hoo. Looked great!