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Boeing Is Pitching the US a New F-15, Using Its Super Hornet Game Plan The company convinced the Trump administration to buy advanced F/A-18 jets. Can it do the same with the the F-15? FARNBOROUGH, UK — Boeing is quietly pitching the U.S. Air Force a new F-15 fighter jet using the same business strategy that convinced the Trump administration to buy more Super Hornet warplanes for the Navy. Dubbed the F-15X, the new variant of the venerable jet offers more modern flight controls, cockpit displays, and radar, according to military and industry sources with knowledge of the plan. The...

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it struck multibillion dollar deal with Boeing to build two new Air Force One planes for the executive branch by 2024, marking the first time in more than three decades that the president's air fleet has been upgraded. "The contract sets the total price for the two completed 'Air Force One' replacement aircraft at $3.9 billion, saving the taxpayers over $1.4 billion from the initially proposed $5.3 billion cost-plus contract," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement. "President Donald J. Trump has emphasized the need to minimize the cost of replacing...

President Donald Trump says the new Air Force One planes will be red, white and blue, a shift away from the classic "baby blue" design that they have had for decades. "Air Force One is going to be incredible," Trump told CBS in an interview over the weekend that aired on Tuesday. "It's going to be the top of the line, the top in the world. And it's going to be red, white and blue, which I think is appropriate." A source familiar with the redesign told CNN last week that Trump was deeply involved in the conversation about a...

UAL travel film/advert for flying to Hawaii on their massive Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.

President Trump is reportedly hoping to make the high skies great again with a new and improved patriotic paint job for Air Force One that “looks more American,” in addition to requesting bigger, more comfortable beds on board. **SNIP** The president reportedly wants the jets to be outfitted in a color scheme that "looks more American" and replace the iconic robin’s egg blue declared a "Jackie Kennedy color.” Technically termed "luminous ultramarine", the plane’s current design was selected by President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy in the 1960s, Axios reports. Trump’s preferred color scheme would incorporate red,...

President Trump wants to update the paint job on the next version of Air Force One, ditching the iconic robin's-egg blue (which he calls a "Jackie Kennedy color") for a bolder, "more American" look. The big picture: Trump rarely gets into the weeds of government negotiations. But he sat down in the Oval Office with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg in February to personally hammer out the $4 billion deal for a pair of replacement 747s for use as Air Force One (the call sign for whatever Air Force plane the president is on).

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, working alongside Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne, has demonstrated that it can successfully fire the AR-22 booster rocket engine 10 times over 240 hours. The test outcome marked a major step in the development of DARPA’s Phantom Express experimental spaceplane, officials said July 10. “We needed to show that main propulsion system, the AR-22, … could in fact support rapid turn operations,” said Scott Wierzbanowski, DARPA’s program manager for the spaceplane. “We were extremely successful. We completely destroyed previously held records of how … you deal with a liquid-hydrogen, liquid-oxygen-type engine.” The agency also proved...

A space shuttle-era main engine is undergoing a series of daily test firings to demonstrate its suitability for use on a reusable spaceplane under development. The Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-22 engine is in the midst of a series of 10 100-second engine firings over the course of 10 days at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. As of July 2, the company has completed six such tests and was on track to complete the rest on schedule. The engine is a version of the Space Shuttle Main Engine with only minor modifications, said Jeff Haynes, AR-22 program manager at Aerojet, in...

The hypersonic passenger plane could, in theory, fly as fast as Mach 5, or just under 3,900 miles per hour. That would allow the plane to carry passengers between Los Angeles and Tokyo in roughly three hours. A flight from New York to London could be as quick as two hours. Right now, those flights take about 11 hours and 7 hours, respectively. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg is pushing the aerospace giant to explore the potential of ultra-fast passenger planes. "I think in the next decade or two you're going to see them become a reality," Muilenburg told CNBC at...

Currently, the most advanced F-15 Eagles on the planet belong to the Royal Saudi Air Force which has a decades-long history with the type. In its latest iteration, known as the F-15SA, the mighty Strike Eagle has been vastly upgraded. One of the type's most prominent new features is the activation of the Eagle's long-dormant outer-wing stores stations number one and nine. This was made possible with the help of the F-15SA's new fly-by-wire flight control system. With this upgrade, the Eagle can fly with a wide array of new weapons configurations, including being able to turn into an air-to-air...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea’s military has picked Boeing Co (BA.N) to supply the country’s maritime patrol aircraft in a contract worth around 1.9 trillion won ($1.71 billion), a senior company executive said on Monday. The South Korean procurement agency Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said separately that it had decided to buy the P-8 Poseidon aircraft through the U.S. government foreign military sales program. Kang Hwan-seok, a DAPA spokesman, told a media briefing the decision was made after a comprehensive review of legal aspects, cost, schedule and performance. Saab (SAABb.ST) and Airbus (AIR.PA) had also shown interest in meeting...

The 51-foot-long, yellow and grey autonomous undersea vehicle is being designed to glide just beneath the waves or along the ocean floor for months at a time with little to no contact with human operators. Boeing has said Echo Voyager can reach a maximum depth of 11,000 feet, with a top speed of about 9 mph. The drone runs on a hybrid electric-battery/marine diesel system; its diesel generator will kick in when the battery runs low. It periodically resurfaces to snorkel depth to recharge.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is discussing changes to a multibillion-dollar fighter jet procurement process that could make it harder for a U.S. company to win the order as trade relations between the neighbors sour, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Canada is considering whether to penalize companies from countries that have caused it economic damage, the sources said on Wednesday. While a final decision is not expected before next year and the threat could be posturing, the move shows how the Trump administration’s trade disputes are spilling over into other areas. A spokeswoman for federal Procurement Minister...

United Airlines became the first North American carrier to operate the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft on Thursday morning, with its inaugural flight departing Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport for Orlando, Fla. The new planes are more fuel efficient, with the ability to fly farther on less fuel, and provide a quieter ride. Having a longer range than previous 737 models allows United to operate the 737 Max 9 between Houston and Anchorage, Alaska, which previously needed a larger aircraft. The Max 9 is scheduled to fly between Houston and Anchorage on Thursday. It's also scheduled to fly to Austin. United...

Rolls-Royce North America is adding about 100 jobs at its Prince George County manufacturing plant this year. Employment at the Crosspointe factory should reach 400 or more by the end of the year as it adds production to meet demand in the aircraft industry, said Lorin S. Sodell, manufacturing executive at the plant. The Rolls-Royce facility opened in 2011 on a 1,000-acre site in Prince George. It makes precision aircraft components such as rotative discs and turbine blades. Sodell said Rolls-Royce employed about 300 people at the plant at the start of 2018. So far this year, the company has...

A small percentage of Boeing employees at the company’s North Charleston plant have decided to unionize. Roughly 60 percent of the plant’s 169 flight readiness technicians voted Thursday to join the International Association of Machinists. While it’s only a small toehold for the union among the plant’s roughly 6,000 total employees, it comes just a year after the plant’s entire production line overwhelmingly opposed IAM representation. “Today was a victory for the American worker,” lead organizer Mike Evans said. “They exercised their freedom to join in union and speak with one voice. This election was never just about wages. The...

Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) said it would launch the world’s longest commercial flight in October, a near-19 hour non-stop journey from Singapore to the New York area. The 8,277 nautical mile (15,329 kilometer) flight from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey with 161 business class and premium economy seats will eclipse the 7,843 nautical mile Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Auckland as the world’s longest, according to airline data provider OAG.

Boeing is pushing ahead with the Block III F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program for the U.S. Navy, which includes new build aircraft and upgraded planes, and will significantly enhance the lifespan and capabilities of the jets. At the same time, there are no formal plans to upgrade the fighter's engines or add conformal fuel tanks to the service’s EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft, which could limit Carrier Air Wings’ ability to take full advantage of the added capabilities. On May 23, 2018, Boeing hosted a media day at its offices in Washington, D.C. to provide the latest updates on the program’s status....

In 2001, Boeing's X-32 stood off against Lockheed's X-35 in a fly-off for the massively lucrative Joint Strike Fighter contract. Making a stealth fighter capable of carrying a significant payload while also having a version that can take off in short distances and land vertically was quite the task, and both companies went about solving the problem very differently. In the end, the X-32 lost to the X-35 for a number of reasons that we will get into in a future post, but many who were taken aback by the X-32's 'unique' looks didn't realize that Boeing had already planned...

A Global Aerolineas Damojh Boeing 737-200 on behalf of Cubana de Aviacion, registration XA-UHZ performing flight CU-972 from Havana to Holguin (Cuba) with 104 passengers and 9 crew, lost height shortly after takeoff at 12:08L (16:08Z), contacted a house, trees and a railway track near position N22.9914 W82.3912 and burst into flames. Emergency services are responding. Three passengers have been taken to hospitals in critical condition and are believed to be the only survivors. Cuban Authorities confirmed an accident at Havana Airport, there is intense fire. A massive response by emergency services has been dispatched. Later Authorities reported 3 passengers...