4 ms·
Wow. The project is $7.5b over budget. That seems like an unbelievable number for a military "transport" aircraft. It's good news for American defense contract
by conover 17y ago
Wow. The project is $7.5b over budget. That seems like an unbelievable number for a military "transport" aircraft. It's good news for American defense contractors I suppose. They are probably going to get a bunch of extra business from this debacle.
Edit: Now that I read into the Wikipedia article, they seem to be doing some semi-novel stuff. Schimitar shaped props in a counter-rotating design, tons of carbon-fiber, etc. Maybe they bit off more than they could chew.
- gaius 17y agoThese are really pork-barrel projects. Eurofighter is another classic example. If we get some planes at the end that is merely a happy coincidence. If they do what we need them to do it's nothing short of a miracle (i.e. Typhoons are next to useless for close air support, and the British-made Harriers that excel at that are being decomissioned). Also the C17 and the A400M aren't rivals - the A400M is meant to replace C130s.
- NikkiA 17y ago> the A400M is meant to replace C130s. At nearly double the price. And still more than Japan's equally 'modern' C-X.