Left-wing Infected "Diverse" Boeing Blunders Big Time

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://strategypage.com/htmw/htlog/articles/20190720.aspx

July 20, 2019: The general public is aware of the problems with the new
Boeing 737 Max airliner being grounded because sloppy software and poor
quality control resulted in two crashes that left over 346 passengers and
crew dead. The software and flight system flaws were identified in March
2019 and since March 13 all 737 Max aircraft were grounded until further
notice. That means 387 aircraft that airlines cannot use and a major loss
of reputation for Boeing. Major 737 Max sales have been canceled or lost.

It is now widely known that Boeing is having major problems with how it
builds aircraft and supervises those who do. Less well known is that the
U.S. Air Force already knew this because another Boeing airliner, the 767
had been selected to serve, after modifications, as the new air force
aerial tanker; the KC-46. The air force was dealing with KC-46 quality
control and related problems for several years. Boeing kept insisting it
had the situation under control but Boeing regularly demonstrated that
this was not the case. This indicated that something was seriously wrong
with how Boeing was building aircraft. Apparently there had been a number
of changes in how assembly workers and their supervisors followed long-
accepted (for good reason) safety and quality control procedures. In
short, Boeing had tolerated the spread of sloppy assembly work. Worse,
senior management appeared unaware or unconcerned about this development.
To air force procurement officers that was even more disturbing.

The primary air force problem with the KC-46 is the discovery of obvious
sloppiness in the assembly of KC-46s delivered. Too many of them had FOD
(Foreign Object Debris), including tools and other metal objects, being
found in various parts of the aircraft. This indicated a serious lapse in
the management of assembly and quality control while producing these
aircraft. Deliveries were supposed to begin in January 2019 but air force
maintenance personnel began encountering more FOD. The air force halted
deliveries and told Boeing to deal with their problem before resuming
deliveries. By March Boeing said they had taken care of the FOD problem
and the air force allowed deliveries to resume. Air force maintenance
personnel went over the new aircraft more thoroughly than usual and found
there was still a lot of FOD. Boeing and air force officials worked out a
temporary arrangement whereby air force inspectors would give each new KC-
46 an unusually thorough inspection and refuse any KC-46s that were not
delivered as specified in the contract. It was up to Boeing to clean up
problems on their end. Meanwhile the air force, instead of accepting three
new KC-46s a month was getting less than half as many because of the
delays caused by additional inspection of the Boeing aircraft. By mid-2019
the air force had only 11 KC-46s instead of the 18 and it is unclear if
the air force will end the year with the 36 it expected.

In light of the 737 Max disaster, the air force is also double-checking
any other components on the KC-46 where Boeing was responsible for quality
control. On an aircraft like the KC-46, which is a militarized version of
a commercial transport, many of the electronics are supplied by the air
force which retains more control over the quality control over those
items. But there are some Boeing built items and these are all now suspect
and subject to time-consuming and expensive (ultimately for Boeing)
inspections by the air force.

These problems with the new KC-46A tankers are bad but not unexpected.
American defense manufacturers, in general, have been suffering more and
more management problems, especially when it comes to manufacturing and
quality control. The navy has an even worse situation because many navy
shipbuilders only build warships and have no commercial customers who are
quick to note deficiencies and threaten to switch suppliers.

In the United States, there are not a lot of companies that can build
warplanes and warships. Plus the military procurement system is subject to
political interference because politicians can stay in office a long time
if they get defense-related production moved to their district. In
addition, defense manufacturers donate large sums to politicians who will
help those firms keep getting contracts. That form of corruption has been
around forever but for obvious reasons, politicians don’t have a lot of
incentive to do anything about it, especially in peacetime. But now
something as mundane as FOD is forcing these practices into the headlines,
sort of.

What is most absurd, and thus newsworthy is that FOD is such a big deal.
Most FOD comes from small parts that come loose or are picked up by an
aircraft from small objects on the airstrip that ends up in the aircraft
during landing and takeoff. Nearly half of FOD incidents are because
objects are sucked into the engines that cause visible or catastrophic
damage. Bird strikes are the most common cause.

FOD found in newly built aircraft after delivery, or by customer
inspectors during final checks at the assembly plant, indicates more
serious problems with the work done at the assembly plant and how it is
supervised. The KC-46 assembly plant had noted eight incidents of FOD
being discovered during assembly, plus at least two that were not found
and were instead discovered by air force personnel after delivery of the
first six KC-46s. The led to the six KC-46s being grounded for a week
while all of them were thoroughly checked for FOD. At the same time, the
air force told Boeing that further KC-46 deliveries were suspended until a
joint Air-Force-Boeing team could investigate work done and work practices
at the Boeing plant producing the KC-46s. The air force has already had
problems with quality control and key systems on the KC-46 that did not
work as specified and had to be fixed. The first KC-46s are being used to
train flight crews and maintainers so this delay is added to the two years
of other delays the KC-46A has already experienced.

The air force was relieved to finally start receiving its long-awaited
(and long overdue) new aerial tankers in 2019. Two KC-46As were delivered
to an air force base in January 2019. That’s 18 years after the air force
went looking for a new tanker and eight years after the KC-46A was
selected. The first 18 of these was supposed to be delivered by 2017 but
that is now delayed until 2020. The last series of delays were caused by a
component provided by Cobham, a British firm that had developed the pods
that are carried under each wing to allow two aircraft to be refueled at
once. These pods ran into development delays and then there were further
delays waiting for British aviation authorities to approve the Cobham
design in its final form. There are still some problems but not so bad
that production cannot continue. The air force now has eleven KC-46s, all
but four of them production models delivered so far in 2019.

All these final delays were preceded by lengthy ones encountered with the
competition (AirBus). In 2011 the competition between the American KC-
767/46A and European KC-330, to replace the aging U.S. Air Force KC-135
aerial tankers, was won by Boeing's KC-767 (as the KC-46A). In 2008 the
air force had selected the KC-330, but lawyers and politics upset that
award and the selection process had to be repeated. Before that, the KC-
767 had won the original 2002 competition, but corruption tainted that
award, and the order was canceled. The 2011 award was not challenged in
court. There was also a lot of resistance in the air force and Congress to
any further squabbling over who should build the replacement for the KC-
135. Corruption and endless litigation is another aspect of military
procurement that keeps getting worse

The total value of the project, to replace the aging fleet of KC-135 and
KC-10 tankers, could be as high as $44 billion. The initial order was for
18 aircraft at about $150 million each. That initial order also came with
about a billion dollars for development work plus $4 billion in additional
development costs that the American manufacturer absorbed. The air force
might order over a hundred KC-46As, but the exact number depends on what
kind of future aircraft the air force will be using. If there are a lot of
unmanned aircraft (UAVs), fewer tankers will be needed because UAVs are
smaller, and need less fuel.

The competition between the American (Boeing) and European (AirBus)
candidates was actually quite close. The KC-330 carries 20 percent more
fuel than the KC-767, plus more cargo pallets (26 versus 19) and
passengers. But this apparently worked against the KC-330, as the KC-767
is closer in size to the KC-135, and thus will not require as many new
maintenance facilities. The KC-767 is also considered easier and cheaper
to maintain. The KC-330/45A was to have cost about $175 million each (17
percent more than the KC-46A).

The KC-46A is based on the Boeing 767-200 airliner, which sells for about
$120 million. The 767 has been in service since 1982, and over 1,100 have
been manufactured so far. Production continues mainly because of KC-46
orders, and FedEx buying freighter (non-military) models. Boeing developed
the KC-47A at a cost of nearly a billion dollars, on its own. Boeing also
developed the original KC-135 tanker in the 1950s and has since built over
2,000 of those.

The two engine KC-330 (KC-45A) was based on the AirBus 330 (which costs
about $160 million each). Over 1,400 330s have been produced since the
aircraft entered service in 1994. Both candidates are replacing the four-
engine KC-135. This older aircraft carries 90 tons of fuel and can
transfer up to 68 tons. Typically, aerial tankers have to service B-52s
(which carry over 140 tons of jet fuel) and fighters like the F-15 (over
five tons). The KC-135 has long made itself useful carrying cargo and
passengers, as well as fuel, and both the KC-767 and KC-30 have more
capacity for this. The KC-46A can pump 1,200 gallons (4,900 liters) a
minute while each of the underwing pods can deliver a third of that per
minute.

The KC-767 was developed partly because it is about the same size as the
KC-135 (wingspan is 50.3 meters/156 feet, 6.8 percent larger than the KC-
135). Thus the 767 could use the same basing and repair facilities as the
135. In the meantime, Japan and Italy have ordered eight KC-767s but with
the continued delays most export sales went to the KC-330s, now called the
A330 MRTT or KC-30A. So far, 60 of these have been sold to Australia,
Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Singapore, South Korea and Britain.



--
No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.

Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party ran out of gas and got run over by a Trump
truck.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for cleaning up the disaster
of the Obama presidency.

The Obama-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
approved Uranium One in fall 2010. With a little luck, we'll see
compulsive liar Hillary Clinton in jail before she dies.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.