The CC-130-J Hercules Merged Thread

[MarkOttawa]

The hits just keep coming in the A400M's development:
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/10/05/217929/a400m-delays-prompt-europrop-management-reshuffle.html

Rolls-Royce and Snecma have assumed increased responsibility for delivering the Airbus Military A400M transport's TP400-D6 turboprop engine, after ongoing delays forced a top-level management reshuffle at the Europrop International consortium.

The consortium's managing director José Massol left the company with immediate effect on 1 October after holding the post for two years, and was replaced by Nick Durham, formerly director of services and helicopters at R-R's Defence Aerospace division. Snecma chief executive Phillippe Petitcolin has meanwhile been appointed a non-executive chairman to the collaborative venture, which also incorporates Spain's ITP and Germany's MTU Aero Engines.

"These appointments reflect the increased role that Rolls-Royce and Snecma are taking to strengthen the management of the programme," says Europrop. "Together, we will maintain and reinforce our current efforts to provide to Airbus Military the new generation TP400-D6 engines answering the challenging A400M," says Petitcolin. The reorganisation decision was supported by all four Europrop shareholders, the company says.

Airbus Military's flight-test schedule for the A400M has already been pushed back by several months due to factors including a four-month delay to final-assembly activities and the late availability of test engines. Main stakeholder EADS expects the aircraft to make its flight debut around mid-2008, but recently revealed that a fresh internal audit of the project will report shortly whether an additional schedule slip could be encountered [emphasis added]...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Genetk44]

A number of my friends are working in the aircraft industry...P&W among them....they told me back in June that Airbus was haveing a terrible time with these engines.....among other problems were the fact the engines were breaking down after just a few hours of continious running/ Apparently there's not alot of experience building modern turboprop engines in Europe these days so they were faceing a steep learning curve.

 

[MarkOttawa]

A message received from the person who alerted me to the Flight article above:

"I just came back from a trip to southern France - did the guided tour of the
A380 plant.  3 birds in assembly in Toulouse, maybe 200-250 workers moving
at a very "relaxed" pace - mostly just hanging about talking.

If that is the EADS work attitude, the A400m is in a bigger world of hurt
than the press yet knows.

Sooooooo  glad we got 17's & Jercs.  We'd be waiting forever if we'd bought
the marketing spin from the Airbus Sales folks..."

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Good2Golf]

Retired AF Guy: Our MSM wunderkids also don't bother to subscribe to AW&ST (Sept. 24, p. 40, full text subscriber only):
http://www.aviationweek.com/search/AvnowSearchResult.do?reference=xml/awst_xml/2007/09/24/AW_09_24_2007_p40-11089.xml&query=a400m

Mark
Ottawa

The Europrop TP400-D6 had originally been due in November 2006 at Marshall Aerospace, with flight testing to begin in early 2007. That U.K. facility is modifying a Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules for the role...

:rofl:

I think I just peed myself laughing so hard...

 

[GK .Dundas]

:rofl:

I think I just peed myself laughing so hard...

Now ,now  be nice  We're just poor ignorant backwards& backwoods Canadians they're only suing our stupid government to make us realise  just how superior their high tech euro  uber plane is to any thing flying..................................................that is if it were actually flying .
Of course in the meantime  the Airbus will go on  :deadhorse:. Perhaps next time they'll use engineers and real management types as opposed to bureaucrats. Until then I will just op:

 

[Good2Golf]

Note that they didn't even use a C-160 Transall!  :

 

[MarkOttawa]

Just in case the Canadian MSM miss it (h/t to Norman's Spectator)
http://www.members.shaw.ca/nspector4/AFT.htm

Airbus to delay delivery of A400M military transport: sources
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071016/ts_afp/europeaerospacecompanyairbusa400m;_ylt=AuSJNjOg_hPBxD2zZcTA5fl34T0D

PARIS, France (AFP) - European aerospace manufacturer EADS is expected to decide soon on a delay of several months for the delivery of its military transport plane the A400M, sources said on Tuesday.

The new delay comes after Airbus said in July that the first flight of the A400M would be later than expected.

Sources familiar with the matter said delivery of the first A400Ms to the French airforce could be moved back from October 2009 to mid-2010.

At the end of September, the specialist magazine Air et Cosmos said the French defence ministry was expecting a delay of a year in deliveries.

Airbus has already been battered by delays in its superjumbo A380 plane, which was finally delivered to its first customer, Singapore Airlines, on Monday.

Industrial sources said the delay to the A400M was due to "slower than expected" development of the TP400 turboprop engines by the European engine company EPI, made up of France's Snecma, Germany's MTU, Britain's Rolls-Royce and Spain's ITP.

EADS officials acknowledged at the beginning of the year that there were delays on the assembly line and on the date of the first flight...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I'm...Shocked!

Speechless!

An Airbus project DELAYED?  But that's impossible...tens of Canadian journalists insisted otherwise...

 

[MarkOttawa]

Where C-130J offsets may be going--pie in space?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071026.wspace26/BNStory/National/home

The Harper government is considering a $45-million boost to a space-tourism project in Cape Breton as one of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes, sources have told The Globe and Mail.

PlanetSpace, the firm that would benefit, has hired Fred Doucet, a senior Conservative official from the Mulroney era, to help seal the deal.

The project is related to the Canadian Forces' purchase of 17 Hercules C130J cargo planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. To get the plane contract, Lockheed Martin had to promise to spend the equivalent of the $3.2-billion purchase price in the form of regional benefits [and not just for Quebec].

Sources said Lockheed Martin's proposed list of investments, which was submitted to Industry Canada and is awaiting cabinet approval, includes a promise to spend $45-million over six years on PlanetSpace's project.

According to its website, PlanetSpace wants to send 2,000 people into suborbital space flights over five years, even though the company has not started accepting reservations for the $250,000 trips.

The company has estimated it will cost about $150-million to build a launch pad and rocket on its site in Nova Scotia. It's not clear how much money the company already has or where its funding comes from...

The $45-million investment in PlanetSpace would not be a federal subsidy, but it would be the direct result of federal approval of Lockheed Martin's mandatory plan to provide regional benefits from the aircraft sale...

Check these links for more details on PlanetSpace's projects (and note their emotive names):

http://www.canadianarrow.com/V2History.htm
http://www.planetspace.org/lo/osf.htm

Mark
Ottawa

 

[geo]

Hmmm....
Why do I get the impression of Pigs to the trough?
How do you spell:  "Sooooie"!!! pig, pig, pig, pig!!!

 

[MarkOttawa]

No for PlanetSpace; who were the sources for the first story?
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/LAC/20071027/SPACE27/national/national/national/6/6/22/

Industry Minister Jim Prentice aborted plans yesterday to approve a project to blast tourists into space under Ottawa's regional development program.

Mr. Prentice stepped in after The Globe and Mail reported that PlanetSpace was in line for a $45-million share of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

"There have been no discussions between Industry Minister Prentice or any member of his staff regarding Lockheed Martin investing $45-million of its own money in the so-called PlanetSpace space-tourism project in Cape Breton. Nor will there be any such discussions," Bill Rodgers, Mr. Prentice's director of communications, said in an e-mail yesterday...

Sources said the company had won initial approvals to spend $45-million over six years on PlanetSpace's project.

But Mr. Rodgers said the government will not play a part in the project under which tourists would pay $250,000 each for a short voyage into space.

"Space tourism does not qualify as an IRB [Industrial Regional Benefit] under the Government of Canada's procurement policies and Minister Prentice has absolutely no intention of changing that. Space tourism will be left to tourists," Mr. Rodgers said.

A spokesman for Lockheed Martin said it is up to Industry Canada to approve the company's regional-benefits plan. The spokesman added that Lockheed Martin will "not have a problem meetings its IRB obligations," under which the company must lock in 60 per cent of investments before the contract is signed...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Bandit1]

Politics will always play a part in any military acquisition - that is the fundamental result of the military being an asset of the Federal government.

What pisses me off more than anything, though, is the current situation in which everyone around the country who has been concious for the last 25 years knows that the Canadian Forces have been the branch of Government which has sacrificed the most so that we could balance our budget.  If politicians think that the Forces of this country exist so that they can be used as bargaining chips for economic development and benefit then I suggest that they think of what life would be like without the protection of the men and women who have and who will give their lives for the very air that we all breath each and every day.

Bandit

 

[MarkOttawa]

EADS Announces Charge Estimate for Revised A400M Delivery Schedule
http://www.eads.net/1024/en/pressdb/pressdb/20071105_eads_a400m_delivery.html

EADS is completing its determination of the charges it will record in the third quarter regarding its recent assessment of A400M delivery delays. 

While the calculations are not yet finalized, EADS now believes it will need to expense between EUR 1.2 billion and EUR 1.4 billion, of which more than EUR 1 billion for Airbus. This estimate is the best that can be established at this point of the programme development, and is consistent with the delays of 6 months, with a risk of a further slippage of up to a half year, that were announced on 17 October 2007 [emphasis added]. 

This figure does not include new potential issues which could arise from flight testing, engine development and military systems [emphasis added]. EADS remains in close contacts with its suppliers on these matters. 

The above development forces EADS to discontinue its EBIT guidance for 2007, which will be replaced by an updated guidance on 8 November, along with the disclosure of third quarter earnings. (EADS uses EBIT pre-goodwill impairment and exceptionals as a key indicator of its economic performance. The term 'exceptionals' refers to such items as depreciation expenses of fair value adjustments relating to the EADS merger, the Airbus Combination and the formation of MBDA, as well as impairment charges thereon.) 

The A400M programme features 192 aircraft on order from 9 nations (of which 180 aircraft ordered through OCCAR on behalf of 7 nations)...

Mark
Ottawa

 

[MarkOttawa]

CTV's David Akins, bless him, notices:

EADS and program execution
http://davidakin.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2007/11/4/3333743.html

He's reading AW&ST, probably uniquely amongst Canadian journalists covering defence matters:
http://toyoufromfailinghands.blogspot.com/2007/07/a400m-shocker.html

Mark
Ottawa

 

[GK .Dundas]

You do know he'll be booted out of the press club for that !

 

[MarkOttawa]

But the physical National Press Club is no more:
http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=2007/may/23/lunch/

Though it lives on, in a Sheraton kind of way :
http://www.pressclub.on.ca/

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Zoomie]

Looks like more and more of EADS' future customers are slipping quietly away in the night.

Lockheed Martin Receives Contract for C-130J Super Hercules Airlifters for Norway


(Source: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; issued Nov. 7, 2007)

MARIETTA, Ga. --- Lockheed Martin has received an Undefinitized Contract Action (UCA) from the U.S. government valued at $304 million for the purchase of four C-130J Super Hercules airlifters, plus initial spares and training, for Norway through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. 

The UCA initially funds 50% of the program and will allow Lockheed Martin to begin long-lead acquisition of production materials. A fully definitized contract for the Norwegian aircraft is expected to be signed early next year. 

"We are proud to provide the Royal Norwegian Air Force with a new airlift fleet," said Ross Reynolds, vice president of C-130 programs for Lockheed Martin. "As the first FMS order for the C-130J, this marks yet another important milestone in the history of the world's most versatile airlifter." 

The Norwegian Super Hercules will be the longer fuselage, or "stretched" variant of the C-130J, similar to those being delivered to the U.S. Air Force. Deliveries to Norway will include one aircraft in 2008, one in 2009 and two in 2010. 

The first two aircraft for Norway are already in production and were originally destined for service with the U.S. Air Force. As a result of Norway's urgent need to replace its nearly 40-year-old C-130s, the Norwegian government arranged with the U.S. government for early delivery. The second two aircraft will be built specifically for Norway. 

Lockheed Martin and Norway signed a separate agreement in August for an industrial cooperation program that fully meets Norwegian requirements for the C-130J procurement. 

The C-130Js that Norway will receive are capable of generating much greater operational efficiencies than the 1968-vintage C-130Hs that Norway has been operating. The C-130J can fly farther, faster, with more payload and higher reliability. The new aircraft will enable Norway to fully meet its national airlift mission requirements as well as those in support of international organizations such as the U.N. and NATO. 


Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs over 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion. 

 

[geo]

Looks like more and more of EADS' future customers are slipping quietly away in the night.

Now the question is.... "when does Canada get into this action?"
Our older Hercs can't be any younger than Norway's

 

[newfin]

Geo is right.  It looks like the Norwegians have been able to queue jump and acquire aircraft that are already under construction.  Why is it taking so long for our government to sign a contract for C-130J's and CH-47's?

 

[geo]

I believe that, in our case, instead of buying straight "off the shelf" like we did for the C17s, we're asking Lockheed to "Canadianise" the darned things.  Need to write up all sorts of specs,  supplier has to figure out how much each mod will cost, etc, etc.....

How to complicate something that was proven to be sooo easy!