Service to shun JSF best-value strategy in favour of "traditional way of doing business"
The US Navy is shaping the rules for launching an international partnership to develop the Boeing 737-800ERX Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA), but there appears to be little interest in copying the Lockheed Martin-led Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) international team's controversial best-value strategy.
USN Capt Chris Easterburg announced plans at Farnborough International to circulate a policy statement within weeks that would define the terms for a future partnership. The navy contacted 10 countries after awarding the $3.8 billion MMA deal to Boeing on 14 June. Over half of governments have replied, say programme officials.
But the navy has mixed feelings about copying the example of the 11-member JSF partnership. JSF has attracted $4.5 billion in foreign investment, but has been marred by frequent quarrels over export control restrictions and industrial returns. Many of the disputes are traced to Lockheed Martin's best-value strategy, which replaces the traditional offset system by requiring other national industries to compete for contracts.
"There are certain things about the JSF model that are good and some things that didn't work out so well," says Jack Zerr, Boeing's deputy programme manager for MMA. Asked if offsets might be offered to MMA partners, Zerr replies: "That is the traditional way of doing business in defence programmes." Offsets allow companies in partner countries to directly receive contracts for work, rather than awarding contracts based on a competitive selection.
The international partnership is expected to take shape rapidly. The government has already started work on the intensive process of clearing MMA technical information for release to potential foreign contractors, a task that has tripped other programmes, including JSF. But Boeing officials are confident the MMA process will go more smoothly, pointing to the company's reliance on commercial-off-the-shelf technologies and materials that are already widely available.
Boeing will build at least 108 MMAs under the navy contract, but the number may fluctuate depending on the fate of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance unmanned air vehicle programme, which has been indefinitely delayed. The company anticipates about 100 international orders, but faces competition from Lockheed Martin, which will offer elements of the losing Orion 21 system. Embraer also plans to offer the EMB-145 as a lower-cost alternative to the 737-based MMA platform.
Source: Flight International
