N328KF From United States of America, joined exactly 9 years ago today! , 6222 posts, RR: 3 Posted (6 years 10 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 2039 times:
Fair use excerpt from The Wall Street Journal:
Quote: FARNBOROUGH, England (Dow Jones)--Denmark on Wednesday became the first nation to sign up for a potential NATO fleet of Boeing Co. (BA) C-17 aircarft.
Denmark signed a letter of intent regarding the long-range cargo planes at the Farnborough International Airshow. If enough other nations join in, the North Alantic Treaty Organisation might achieve its longtime goal of having its own airlift planes to reduce its dependence on the U.S. military.
Boeing welcomed the agreement, but said the C-17 production line faces an imminent shutdown decision unless the U.S. government steps in. NATO probably would buy only a handful of planes, and probably not on the rapid schedule needed to save the line, company officials said.
[...]
Given current orders, the last C-17 is scheduled for delivery in 2009; many supplier agreements wrap up before then. Boeing says it needs to find customers for at least 10 more planes to avoid starting the line shutdown next month.
[...]
Boeing C-17 program manager Dave Bowman said the company already is developing improvements to the current C-17, as well as a new C-17B that could be ready by 2010.
That new plane would be able to land in a wider variety of places, including sandy beaches, Bowman told Dow Jones. He said it could help the Air Force's Air Mobility Command get its next-generation cargo plane, currently known as AMC-X, more than a decade ahead of schedule, but only if the production line stays open.
[...]
When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.' T.Roosevelt
AirRyan From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 2529 posts, RR: 6 Reply 1, posted (6 years 10 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 2033 times:
So this is just a LOI dependant upon other NATO members buying some, too? If that is the case, than this deal stands a very plausible chance of never even manifesting.
How's a C-17B going to land on a sandy beach?! (Not to mention the detriment of saltwater exposure!)
N328KF From United States of America, joined exactly 9 years ago today! , 6222 posts, RR: 3 Reply 2, posted (6 years 10 months 1 week 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 2023 times:
Quoting AirRyan (Reply 1): So this is just a LOI dependant upon other NATO members buying some, too? If that is the case, than this deal stands a very plausible chance of never even manifesting.
Nowhere in the article (quoted or unquoted portions) does it say that the Danish order is conditional. I believe that Denmark is going to order it but they want to encourage other countries to join them to form a logistical pool.
When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not guilty.' T.Roosevelt
F14D4ever From United States of America, joined May 2005, 319 posts, RR: 4 Reply 3, posted (6 years 10 months 1 week 3 days 20 hours ago) and read 1985 times:
Quoting N328KF (Reply 2): Nowhere in the article (quoted or unquoted portions) does it say that the Danish order is conditional. I believe that Denmark is going to order it but they want to encourage other countries to join them to form a logistical pool.
But this snippit:
Quoting Dow Jones: Boeing welcomed the agreement, but said the C-17 production line faces an imminent shutdown decision unless the U.S. government steps in. NATO probably would buy only a handful of planes, and probably not on the rapid schedule needed to save the line, company officials said.
suggests, at least to AirRyan and me, that the Danish order by itself will not come soon enough with enough cash to keep the production line open. It certainly looks conditional to me.
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