Tue, Nov 15, 2005
Military Says Larger Bombardier Needed To Hold Electronics
Lockheed-Martin
reportedly told the Army Monday it was scrapping plans to use the
Embraer EMB-145 for its new US Navy and Army spy plane, opting
instead on the much larger -- and pricier -- Bombardier Global
Express.
According to an article in Monday's Wall Street Journal, the
move wasn't necessarily Lockheed's choice, but was instead about
the only way the manufacturer could hope to hold onto a lucrative
contract to provide the US Army and Navy with the Aerial Common
Sensor aircraft.
While it looked like a
good choice at the onset of the program, somewhere in the midst of
the project the Embraer jet (file photo of type, right) was deemed
too small to hold the equipment the military wants onboard the
aircraft.
With the Navy threatening to pull out of the project, the Army
has become increasingly worried that Lockheed's partnership to
design and build the ACS simply won't work. Lockheed was given one
more chance to come up with alternatives, according to the Wall
Street Journal. Hence, word today that Lockheed is pitching the
Global Express.
Lockheed justifies the additional expense by pointing to the
work already done on the Global Express for Britain's ASTOR program
(below), which should -- in theory, at least -- help contain costs
on the larger jet.
Another option would be to utilize the original EMB-145, but
with fewer sensors onboard.
Neither Lockheed nor the Army would comment on the Journal
article... but at least one Army official involved in the project
has endorsed the use of the Global Express.
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