T-X to be in 2015 budget

In an effort to speed the acquisition process, the Pentagon, in its not so infinite wisdom, has decided that it would be a good idea to water down the T-X capabilities, as well as those of three other programs. They will be looking at altering both bare bones and higher end capabilities, but haven't specified which capabilities would be altered.

I assume JSTARS is one of those three other programs.

a reply to: justwanttofly

NOT one of the big three at least. The F-35, KC-46, and LRS-B are safe from any kind of cuts.

Surprisingly JSTARS isn't listed. The Long Range Standoff Weapon, SIBRS follow on, and MAPS are the other three.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Well that's surprising, seeing how long they've put it off.

a reply to: justwanttofly

Getting to where they can't anymore. Parts are getting harder and more expensive to get, and maintenance is getting too costly. They were going to put the CFM56 on them, but it was too expensive to do it. So now they're looking at possibly a downsized business jet type platform similar to the RAF Sentinel.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I've heard stories of maintenance people being told that there's a warehouse full of JT3s and JT8s and that AWACS and JSTARS wouldn't get reengined until the planes had gone through most of the engines that had already been purchased.

I also like how Boeing submitted their proposal. "Oh, you want a business jet type? Here's a 737."

a reply to: justwanttofly

They're not going to last anywhere near that long. Maintenance will become an issue long before they've gone through that many engines. They're damn lucky they didn't lose that bird in the ME after it had an IFR accident. They should have lost that bird and everyone on board, instead of it landing and being removed from inventory.