Boeing Company must surrender the killer whaleAn underwater drone the size of a subway car expected to lay mines and perform other missions for the US Navy, three years later than expected. (Source: Bloomberg LP)
As the Navy works to integrate unmanned ships into its future fleet, budget documents show that, “…the first five drones the killer whale They can be delivered in September 2023, (instead of December 2020), due to the challenges of contractors and suppliers.”
Boeing defeated its aerospace competitor in the project in February 2019 Lockheed Martin Corporation.. Boeing’s $274 million fixed-price contract requires the company to absorb excesses beyond a certain threshold.
“The Navy is working with Boeing to mitigate program delays and reduce risks.” The service said the payment is for a prototype used for testing and training. The test drone was christened on April 28, 2022 and began its first tests in the water.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74LjMEAZymc
Boeing’s ability to complete Pentagon contract work on time and on specific promises is under consideration after the company reported more than $1.3 billion in first-quarter fees for cost overruns on defense contracts. Fixed price, including new Air Force One, KC-46 tanker programs and the Navy’s MQ-25 air refueling aircraft.
Boeing has continued to invest in future unmanned technologies in the air and at sea as it addresses delays and quality shortcomings in traditional aircraft programs such as the 777X, whose entry to market has been delayed by five years until 2025.
“Development work is accompanied by uncertainties and fluctuations in terms of estimates of costs and times to develop advanced new technology,” Boeing said in a statement about the delay of the 70-tonne Orca. “We have also seen the effects related to Covid during the blockade of the new industrial base and supply chain needed to start production of the system,” So “Delivery of the first operational vehicle that was scheduled for the end of 2020 has been delayed.”
Asked if Boeing plans to take a job at Orca, the company said “As always, we will assess the financial position of all of our programs during the normal quarterly closing process.”
Boeing has “Worked hard to create a new manufacturing base and a new supply chain for titanium composites and pressure vessel manufacturing” at effective production rates e Batteries are required to start production. On the Orca system, the Naval Marine Systems Command said.
The leadership did not address why these manufacturing challenges were not anticipated prior to Boeing’s appointment to Lockheed. Nor did it address the cost growth caused by production delays and problems.
Huge underwater drones produced by Boeing with the shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. It is based on decades of cutting-edge research into manned and unmanned submarines by Boeing, as well as defense programs acquired by Rockwell International Inc. in 1996.
L ‘the killer whale Based onvoyager echo Weighing 50 tons by Boeing, it is an experimental drone designed to fly underwater for months at depths of up to 11,000 feet (3,400 meters) on anti-submarine, mine-clearing and other missions.
“The only place they have had some success organically and through acquisitions is through remotely piloted vehicles and unmanned vehicles,” I announced Richard AboulafiaAnalyst at AeroDynamic Advisory. “If they can’t do it properly, that’s a problem.”
UAV ambition
The Orca is the largest of several classes of snorkeling and unmanned vessels that Navy officials have been developing in the last years of administration. trump In an effort to increase the total inventory of service from 298 deployable vessels today to 355 by 2030. Management Biden She did not agree with Trump’s future projections for 2030, nor did she suggest a new goal. But the Navy still sees value in unmanned ships, as demonstrated by the March 2021 framework. The service’s shipbuilding plan has allocated more than $4 billion through 2027 on unmanned systems.
“Orca’s technical problems are likely to recur because the service follows unmanned systems,” to me Shelby OakleyDirector of Acquisitions in the State Audit Bureau, who followed up on the matter. “The Navy is in the early stages of developing unmanned systems, and like all new technical endeavors, it will likely face some challenges.”he added, “The Navy can improve development by changing its management approach and better planning its strategy to transition its prototyping efforts,” I have announced. “We are currently studying the challenges facing the ‘Orca Program’ and plan to submit a track report for the Navy to follow this summer.”
Dr. Lauren Thompsonan analyst and COO at the Lexington Institute, said that “It is expected that the Orca will eventually be able to carry out mine laying operations, mine countermeasures, intelligence gathering, anti-submarine operations, and electronic warfare missions.” And perhaps even carrying out offensive operations against surface targets at sea and on land. Thomson, who think tank Draws contributions from Boeing, he said Orca could be the vanguard of a revolution at sea.
Angelo Martinengo
senior journalist, “Container World”Varroderoma (Vatican)
Innovator of modern mobile digital advertising with shipping containers
Genoese Ambassador to the World – Honorary Representative – Appointed by Mayor of Genoa Marco Bucci on October 12, 2018 – Municipality of Genoa, Liguria, Italy.
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