Boeing comes to Paris with a renewed optimism for its work on the X-32 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) following news of the successful joining of the wing to the first of the two concept demonstrators being built at the company's Palmdale, California works.
Reports that the competitor, Lockheed Martin's X-35, is facing cost problems also buoyed the team under Frank Statkus, Boeing's vice-president and JSF general manager.
The case for the JSF was made in Paris in 1995.
The US Air Force needs a low cost multi-role fighter to replace the F-16 and A-10; the US Navy needs a first-day-of-the-war survivable aircraft to compliment the Super Hornet; the US Marine Corps requires a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft, the same requirement as the UK's Royal Navy as it seeks to replace the ageing Sea Harrier.
Harriers
More recently the Royal Air Force has also indicated a need to replace its Harriers with a new STOVL aircraft and other allies such as the Dutch have expressed an interest in an affordable fighter.
The JSF contract was awarded in 1996 to the two US giants to develop aircraft that could meet three objectives:
Demonstrate commonality across the variants including design/build processes; Demonstrate the STOVL concept in hover and transition; Demonstrate low-speed carrier approach flying qualities.But the US Secretary of Defense also set targets for what Boeing has described as the four pillars: Affordability, Survivability, Lethality and Supportability.
These four pillars of aviation military wisdom are displayed in the meeting room of Boeing's Palmdale works and are a tenet that every employee can recite.
John Priday, Boeing factory manager is living them every day - and the results, he says, are nothing short of fantastic.
Designing
"We are learning new things about designing and building aircraft," Priday says. "Using new technologies and less people-intensive processes we are able to put money back in the budget. That is unheard of."
Boeing has been using design teams and resources across different states - a factor that many of their more cynical staff thought would lead to problems.
But the joining of the forebody manufactured in St Louis to the mid-fuselage section from Palmdale proved the point.
"Our assembly simulations modelled the joining 18 months ago," says Priday. "All of the hard work was done then."
When the forebody arrived in California the crews aligned it and using laser technology were able to get an accurate fit with the task completed in less than six hours.
"This contributes directly to the overall affordability of our concept," says Stakus. "We are able to leverage emerging military and commercial technologies and processes to affordably meet the needs of tomorrow's warfighter".
The X-32 has brought together the successful advanced design and manufacturing techniques such as 3-D solid modelling and digital simulation of assembly processes learned on the X-31 and Boeing's successful 777 commercial airliner. And it has worked.
Priday is proud of the success. "Low cost and lean," he says. "We have used no hard tooling, no special interface tools and no special mate tools which would be scrapped later."
He cites the example of stabilisers needed on the mid fuselage until the wing was connected.
"We made use of a vice stand. It worked perfectly. Once the wing was fitted we were able to take the stand back and put a vice back on. Other times we would have spent money on special tooling to do this."
Progressed
"When we began this project in July 1998 I went to Seattle and was shown the staffing levels. It was half of anything we had done before," says Priday.
"As we have progressed with the project we have actually used far fewer people than even the plan required. So even more savings.
"We are moving the practices of aircraft building. This is the new way of building 'onesy-twosey' aircraft. Working so the aeroplane becomes the tool," says Priday.
The X-32A (the conventional aircraft) will have first flight in March and X-32B, the STOVL version will fly in May but Priday is hopeful they will both be completed and ready to fly at the same time.
"The ability to deliver on promise will be the decider," says a Boeing insider. "The government is looking for proof that the manufacturer will be able to meet the financial promise and not see the costs spiral up."
Boeing is confident it can live up to that promise. "We have seen the future here," says Priday. "We have more than 90% commonality between the two aircraft. We have the design modifications that we have identified during building the demonstrators. We have an aircraft that meets and exceeds the requirements set by the government."
And that is why Boeing officials will be confidently banging the X-32 drum at Paris this week. If they win the award in 2001 they will have a powerful, lightweight and manoeuvrable aircraft that has a combat radius and payload that surpasses that of the F-16 - at a fraction of the cost.
Source: Flight Daily News
