Boeing wins $2bn contract to rewing A-10s

Flight Global ^ | 7/5/2007 | Graham Warwick

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Boeing has won a $2 billion contract to build new wings for the US Air Force's Fairchild A-10 ground-attack aircraft, after beating rival bids from contractors including Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Announced on 29 June, the deal calls for the delivery of 242 replacement wing kits for installation by the USAF's Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, with the work to extend the life of the A-10 fleet by at least 20 years.

More than 700 A-10s were introduced from 1976 and, despite regular threats of retirement, the type remains one of the air force's most effective close-air support platforms.

Lockheed is performing a wider precision engagement upgrade to the aircraft, and the resulting A-10C configuration will have new avionics equipment and an expanded range of air-to-surface weapons.

Boeing has yet to select its fabrication contractors for the rewinging project, which will begin with an 18-month engineering phase and is scheduled for completion by September 2018.

Boeing Macon will put the wing kits together for installation by the air force depot. The replacement design is based on the "thick" wing fitted to late production examples of the A-10.

Meanwhile, the USAF has awarded Korean Air a contract worth $16 million to continue service-life extension work on its A-10s until 2009. The company has previously modified 180 of the type at its Gimhae facility in South Korea.

[John Valentine]

You can't just go out and copy someone else's design of a plane, boat, wing, whatever.

YOU can't, that's for sure.

But what the US government (referred to hereafter as US) may do is likely quite a different story, as this design was prepared for US, paid for by US, and owned by US. That makes it ours, and the contract terms undoubtedly make that clear.

I'd be floored if there was any possibility that the A-10's original designers had anything whatsoever to say about what the US does now with their planes.

[thackney]

-—I remember seeing A-10’s returning from runs in Laos when I was stationed in Thailand in ‘69.-—

The first production A-10A was delivered to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., in October 1975.

Date Deployed: March 1976

A-10/OA-10 THUNDERBOLT II
http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=70

[BearCub]

But what the US government (referred to hereafter as US) may do is likely quite a different story, as this design was prepared for US, paid for by US, and owned by US. That makes it ours, and the contract terms undoubtedly make that clear

I'm sure that's the case (the contract thing).

[null and void]

[tanknetter]

Don’t think so. You may be thinking of the A-7, the A-4 or most likely the A-1 Sandy.

Or the A-26/B-26K Invader. About the same size as an A-10, lots of external hardpoints on the wings plus a gunnose (with 8 .50s).

[4yearlurker]

Back in the 80’s we would go out in the pine barrens of southern NJ on the edge of the Warren Grove bombing range. It was sweet watching those warthogs dive at their targets. Back then we also saw F4s and F111s.

[tanknetter]

Gotta wonder if the kegs used to simulate the TF-34s are “operational” ...

[MediaMole]

Copyright and patent are subservient to the details of Fairchild’s contract with the DOD. The contract would spell out the DOD’s right to contract with other companies to build more aircraft or spare parts. You could assume that since the original jigs no longer exist, Fairchild couldn’t supply replacement wings in a timely fashion.

[Publius6961]

Great aviation news! But...

Wouldn't it be easier to tool up and build new entire planes?

Let's see... wings only... I assume that includes integral fuel tanks... Ummmm OK...

$2billion divided by 242 = roughly...

$8,264,462.81 per "wing"!
Holy mackarel!

[traumer]

[null and void]

But those wings brought this man home...

Tell his mommy it wasn't worth it...

[Beckwith]

I am quite familiar with federal contracts.

I responded to the copyright issue.

[eyedigress]

And to think they were on the chopping block in 1990. Wow

[patton]

General government contract law - if the Gov pays me to design an airplane, I have commercial rights to the design (I can sell it to US Air, eg, subject to export control), but the government has unlimited use rights for their own purposes - they can hire anyone they want to build copies for government use.

[eyedigress]

Awesome sites to say the least! Sometimes they even ventured over to the Nevada Test Site for some real fun!

[Cuttnhorse]

Love the van, Nully...LOL!!
(Is it yours??)

[Bender2]

Re: Or the A-26/B-26K Invader. About the same size as an A-10, lots of external hardpoints on the wings plus a gunnose (with 8 .50s).

Two...

of my best sellers!

[shawnlaw]

Gov’t (AF) owns the drawings so no copyright.

[Eye of Unk]

There was some decent video of Warthogs doing a strafing and missile run on the Transformer movie, it was actually a pretty darn good show, I took my 13 year old son to see it yesterday.

[cripplecreek]

My grandfather got a ride in a B-17 a few months before he died. He was one of 4 WWII vets that took the place of men from the original crew who had already passed away.

They took off from Willow Run where the plane was built and flew to Oshkosh. We went and watched them take off. That was one proud bunch of octogenarians.