[TADSLOS]

May be a case of someone sabotaging someone else’s career on the assembly line.

[Calvin Locke]

I knew a guy that worked as an inspector on an armaments line. He told me a component came through after a milling stage that he examined and measured the new machining, never noticing it was milled on the wrong end, and passed it on.

He said a number of people got chewed out for letting a bad piece get so far along the line.

[Lexinom]

No, I think the more likely suspect has to do with the upcoming award of the $11 billion CSAR-X contract. Boeing won it twice. Twice the competitors challenged.

The CH-47 outperforms the competition in virtually every category: ceiling, top speed, cabin size, surviveability, and significantly, range. The airframe design is low-risk, with over 40 years in the air. The USAF chose it twice.

The extra time from the challenges has let the competitors tweak their designs to get closer. What they need next is a Boeing embarrassment. One of the competitors is particularly desperate. The other one is offering a Eurocopter.

The next important date, iirc, is September.

Just a theory - and I hope it is wrong.