Boeing's ability to stay in the fighter/attack and military transport business is "questionable", says the US Department of Defense in its annual industrial capabilities report to Congress, writes Graham Warwick.
Boeing's move to begin shutting down the C-17 line, and DoD plans to end F/A-18E/F procurement in 2011, make the company's continued participation in these segments problematic, the report says.
"We have no intention of exiting either market," says Boeing, which is pursuing US Air Force long-range strike and US Navy next-generation strike requirements and has teamed with Alenia Aeronautica to offer the C-27J for the US Joint Cargo Aircraft and other programmes.
The US aircraft industrial base has orders from the DoD for the next 10 years, but only Lockheed and Sikorsky have programmes that will carry production into the next 20 years, the report says. As military programmes reduce over time the supplier base may consolidate, with those not on Lockheed's F-35 affected most, the DoD says.
Research and development funding for aircraft programmes will fall steadily from $11 billion in fiscal year 2006 to $4 billion in FY2011 as the F-35 moves into production, the report says. Procurement funding will peak at $25.9 billion in FY2010 as the F-35 and several rotorcraft production programmes reach maximum rate.
The DoD says almost half its major aircraft programmes have medium to high cost-risk, and titanium availability is a significant issue. "The shortage of titanium, coupled with long lead times, has delayed the production of airframe bulkheads, landing gears and engine components," the report says.
The US missile sector is healthy, the DoD says, although just two of the six surviving primes - Lockheed and Raytheon - account for 80-85% of funding.
Source: Flight International
