KC-46

Admin a écrit:http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/kc-46-first-flight-delayed-to-april-2015-403764/

Premier vol avril 2015. Ca commence à devenir compliqué pour tenir le planning de la petite série

...is expected to make its first flight in November, some five months later than planned, the military head of the program said Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. John Thompson, head of the KC-46A Pegasus tanker program, said he was "disappointed" after an electrical wiring issue stalled the test aircraft's maiden flight.

Beochien a écrit:Le C-46 (Re)vu chez Aviation Week !

Toujours la même litanie, sur des retards, pas encore trop graves ... Bon !

QQ chiffres alignés dont un qui m'intrigue, ce que "Brûle" Boeing par mois sur le programme C-46 ??
7,8 Millions de $, pas cher payé, ou une virgule mal placée par les journaleux ??
C'est Frank Kendall du Pentagone qui le dit ...

http://aviationweek.com/military-government/kendall-not-ruling-out-another-kc-46-charge-boeing

The government’s 2014 estimate puts total cost for the work at $5.9 billion, though Boeing officials say they expect to pay far lower to keep the program afloat. The company announced a $272 million charge this summer to stay on track.

"Boeing is taking a pretty large loss," Kendall said. "We expected that. We think there is a potential for additional loss, but there is a lot of business for Boeing at the end of this." The Air Force plans to buy 179 tankers and there is an international market for additional work.

Based on the burn rate of $7.8 million per month to date, the program will deplete its management reserve funds in March 2015, Air Force spokesman Ed Gulick says.

The U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday it still expects Boeing Co to meet the August 2017 target for delivering 18 new KC-46A refueling planes, but a number of smaller schedule delays will reduce the program's margin for dealing with future issues.

Lieutenant General Ellen Pawlikowski, the top uniformed Air Force acquisition official, told reporters that Boeing expected to carry out the first flight of the new aerial tanker by the end of this year, but that was later than expected.

Pawlikowski said Boeing expected to finalize a revamped overall schedule for the tanker program by February, after a series of technical and integration challenges in recent months, but the Air Force still viewed the August 2017 date for "required assets available," or RAA, as doable.

"As it looks right now, we still believe the RAA date is achievable," she said. But she said the near-term schedule had been affected by a recent wiring issue, and overall challenges with testing and integrating the various systems on the plane.

Those issues were eating up extra time factored into the program's schedule, and could eventually jeopardize the August 2017 date, if further issues arose, she said.

"If there are additional challenges as they go forward, then that's going to be harder to overcome and still hold the date, because you've already used the margin that's out there," she said.

The Air Force plans to spend $52 billion to develop and buy 179 new 767-based refueling planes from Boeing, which will start replacing the current fleet of KC-135 tankers that are used to refuel fighter jets and other warplanes in mid-flight.

The Air Force projects that the cost of the development program will exceed a $4.9 billion cost cap by about $1 billion, but the terms of the contract with Boeing mean the company will be responsible for the added costs.

Boeing has said it remains on track to meet its initial $5.1 billion estimate for developing the new tanker.

Admin a écrit:Et j'ai cherché à comprendre si c'était le premier vol du 767-2C ou du KC46A ? Sans vraie réponse (ça doit être le second)