paul lewis / washington DC
Boeing and Lockheed Martin gamble on being the winner when government makes fighter programme selection
Boeing and Lockheed Martin have begun to focus on the anticipated engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme, after both concluded flight testing of their respectiveX-32B and X-35B short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) concept demonstrator aircraft.
The two teams are preparing to launch a full-scale development effort, each working on the assumption that they will emerge the victor when the JSF programme office announces its selection on 26 October. "CDP [concept demonstration phase] is drawing to a close and we are entering the end game... You've got to be ready to go if you're lucky enough to win," says Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin JSF programme manager.
EMD will stretch over 12 years and, under the terms of the $20 billion contract, either Boeing or Lockheed Martin will be required to have the first of 22 JSF prototypes ready for a first flight 48 months after the deal is signed. By early 2005, the first low-rate initial production contract will be awarded, with output planned to ramp up to 196 fighters a year.
The interim period includes a system requirements review three months after the start of EMD, to be followed by a preliminary design review around the 17-month mark and the start of aircraft engineering and the release of work packages at the two-year point. No date has yet been given for when an EMD contract is expected to be signed and this could be affected by any change to the current "winner takes all" acquisition strategy.
Boeing wrapped up its closing X-32B flight test programme at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 28 July, with the penultimate (77th) sortie being a short take-off, transition to conventional flight, supersonic dash and ending in a slow landing in STOVL mode. Testing of the aircraft's direct-lift propulsion system, the third and arguably most critical X-32 flight phase, included over 100 one- to three-second transitions between wing, semi-wing and jet-borne hover.
Lockheed Martin performed its penultimate X-35B flight on 30 July at Edwards AFB, with the last sortie to ferry the demonstrator back to the company's nearby Palmdale plant. The final "Mission X" flights comprised a short take-off in STOVL mode, a supersonic dash and a vertical landing.
Source: Flight International
