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BUSINESS AVIATION PNEWS ANALYSIS
Y
ear-end delivery figures for
2015 – released on 7 January- have underscored Boeing De-
fense & Space’s need to capture
new business, at a time when its
commercial brethren are experi-
encing record production levels.
A total of 186 military aircraft
were delivered by Boeing in 2015,
with this volume driven mostly
by production of CH-47 Chinook
and AH-64 Apache helicopters; at
57 and 61 units, respectively. De-
liveries of the US Navy’s
737-800-derived P-8A Poseidon
rose to 14, from 11 the year before,
and for 2016 the manufacturer can
look forward to commencing se-
ries production of the 767-derived
KC-46A tanker for the US Air
Force. An initial, 18-aircraft order
is expected, pending the outcome
of a government review.
winding down
But that is where the good news
ends. Production of the C-17 stra-
tegic transport has come to an end
in Long Beach, California, with
five aircraft delivered last year and
the final examples to follow later
during 2016. Assembly of the F/A-
18E/F Super Hornet and F-15 in
St Louis, Missouri also have bot-
tomed out.
Super Hornet production last
year fell by nine aircraft compared
with 2014, with 35 aircraft built.
Twelve F-15s were assembled;
down from 14 a year earlier.
With relatively few new oppor-
tunities on the horizon, Boeing
faces losing more aircraft lines
without further sales of its fight-
ers, or of special-mission aircraft.
Just one platform from the latter
category was handed over in
2015: the last of four
737-700-derived airborne early
warning and control system air-
craft to have been produced for
the Turkish air force via the Peace
Eagle programme.
Completing its military deliver-
ies, the company also transferred
one 737-based C-40A transport to
the USN.
To arrest this trend, Boeing is
trying with bid partner Lockheed
Martin to reverse the USAF’s
selection of Northrop Grumman
for its 100-aircraft Long-Range
Strike Bomber (LRS-B) require-
ment. The US Government Ac-
countability Office is due to reach
a decision by mid-February on the
rejected team’s protest.
The next big aircraft opportuni-
ties are highly competitive, with
no clear frontrunners. Boeing is
working with Saab in pursuit of
the USAF’s future T-X trainer con-
tract – which seeks an initial 350
aircraft. It also is proposing a ra-
dar-carrying 737-700 for its
JSTARS Recap requirement to re-
place the Northrop E-8C fleet.
Uncertainty still surrounds the
USN’s unmanned carrier-
launched surveillance and strike
aircraft programme, although it
received substantial new funding
from Congress for fiscal year 2016;
apparently to mature a second air-craft that can compete against the
Northrop X-47B.
Keeping its Super Hornet and
F-15 production lines running
will be just as tough as capturing
such new business opportunities.
US lawmakers threw Boeing a
lifeline late last year, by funding
an additional 12 F/A-18E/Fs and
EA-18G electronic-attack aircraft
this fiscal year, with the assembly
rate due to be wound down to
two units per month from later
this quarter.
Boeing is still waiting on a po-
tential export order from Kuwait,
and will be hoping for continued
buys in the USN’s next five-year
budget submission, which will be
revealed during February.opportunities
Other fighter opportunities include
Canada and Denmark, which have
begun considering potential alter-
natives to the Lockheed F-35. Fin-
land also recently began examin-
ing replacements for its ageing
F-18C/Ds, with the Super Hornet
and F-15 both named among a list
of seven potential HX programme
candidates also including the Das-
sault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon,
Lockheed F-16 and F-35, and
Saab’s Gripen E/NG.
Despite the short-term con-
cents, Boeing still has ambitionsfor the fighter market. Speaking
to Flight International early last
month, Boeing Phantom Works
president Darryl Davis said his
unit is working on a range of
technologies that collectively
might enable the US military to
dominate the skies in the future.
“You have sensors, airplanes,
weapons, electronic effects, cyber- there’s a whole kitbag of effects
you can apply,” Davis says. “You
obviously want to defeat your
enemy, but there are many ways
to defeat an enemy.”
The USAF and USN may take
different approaches for their re-
spective F-X and F-XX require-
ments to follow their Lockheed
F-22s and F/A-18E/Fs and ensure
air dominance into the 2030s.
While there is likely to be plenty
of commonality, Davis says it is
too early to tell if their activities
could evolve into a joint endeav-
our like the F-35, separate aircraft
or close derivatives.
Another question is whether
such platforms might trade speed
and manoeuvrability for the use of
long-range weapons.
But the blunt truth is that Boe-
ing will be at a disadvantage if is
unable to reverse the USAF’s $
billion-plus LRS-B decision, or
fails to secure either the T-X or
JSTARS Recap opportunities. ■
Keeping its super
Hornet and F-
production lines
running will be just as
tough as capturing
new businessBoeing
The last C-17 strategic transport has left Long Beach, prior to its delivery to the Qatar Emiri Air ForcemanuFacturing jAmEs drEw & sTEphEn TrImBLE washington dc
Boeing faces military orders tussle
airframer must battle for new business after losing out in LRs-B contest, with several production lines under pressure