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.

FMI: www.army.mil, www.bombardier.com