Like jingoism saved the US automotive industry?
Oh well I’m sure that the Congress and Senate will kill the Scarebus anyway especially after the DOD is Changing the RFP again.
Congress or Senate may only kill the changed RFP. After that we'll have a totally new team at DoD and a new RFP within a year or more. Then again the loser will go to GAO ... after 5 years Boeing ultimately wins the contract at supreme court. After 5 more years Boeing is able to provide a working solution with speed limits and without all the goodies the claimed to build in because it'll be to expensive. Meanwhile Air Force rents refueling capacity from several Arabian countries like Saudi Arabia or UAE because KC-135 fleet is grounded due to accidents like the one at Geilenkirchen AB ...
And that is what alot of air crews are saying on different Tanker blogs. Let alone at the Base Clubs.
Can you provide a link to this well informed tanker blogs?
KC-135R’s are not grounded. They are flying just fine with a high Fm rate.
Try http://tankerblog.blogspot.com/
http://tanchorman.blogspot.com/
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/004293.html#comments
there are many others just check local newspapers from nearby tanker bases.
KC-135 fleet is grounded due to accidents like the one at Geilenkirchen AB ...
That was KC-135E model and most of them are in the Boneyard now. Mainly due to age of airframes.
Crew Was from the 141st,ANG Fairchild, WA.
Here's a link to what operators are saying on the KC-10.net website:
http://www.kc-10.net/forum/showthread.php?t=316
I was actually excited to see that the KC-30 was selected over the 767. After looking at the "simulators" and talking with the reps at the Boom Symposium, I just got the feeling that Boeing had an arrogant "You'll get what we built" attitude. There were no plans to incorporate anything from the KC-10 except the upright sitting position and IDS. They had no interest in what the crews wanted unless the crews wanted what they had already done. Remember the AF didn't even ask us what we wanted until after the lease fiasco! I was unimpressed.Granted, the Northrop Grumman team didn't have all the bells and whistles to display (interactive simulator trailer) that Boeling had, but in talking with the guys they had there (everyone I talked to had been KC-10 guys) they had the right mindset about what would be best for us/what we wanted. Sure, we are replacing KC-135s, but I was hoping for something more similar to our beloved three-holer than the old steam jet. I think we got that, provided the appeal doesn't overturn the contract award.
For the Boeing fans out there, remember that they didn't win the KC-135 contract either... Lockheed did. We might still end up with some new Boeing tankers, but I sure would like to see these on our airfields.
__________________
911ARS, 744 ARS, Shady J 93-95
32 ARS, 305 OSS/CCTS McGuire 95-97,99-03