Value overruns on the KC-46 mid-air refueling tanker program have surpassed US$7 billion lately, whereas one other fixed-price contract to improve two Air Drive One planes has created a US$2 billion loss for the highest 5 US protection contractor.
Boeing has confronted ongoing scrutiny since a sequence of crises together with a mid-air emergency in January 2024 involving a brand new Alaska Airways 737 MAX 9 lacking 4 key bolts. In January, Boeing reported an US$11.8 billion annual loss, its largest since 2020, on account of issues at its main models, together with fallout from a strike that shuttered manufacturing of most of its jets.
Boeing has ceded floor to rival Airbus within the supply race and entered the crosshairs of regulators and clients following missteps. The Federal Aviation Administration in early 2024 imposed a month-to-month manufacturing cap.
“A program of this dimension and complexity requires cautious oversight to ensure it does not fall behind or have price overruns,” Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a former US Navy fight pilot, mentioned in a press release.
Billionaire and presidential adviser Elon Musk has voiced skepticism concerning the effectiveness of crewed high-end fighters, saying cheaper drones had been a greater possibility.
Lockheed, which was just lately eradicated from the competitors to construct the Navy’s next-generation carrier-based stealth fighter, faces an unsure future within the high-end fighter market after the loss.
“Whereas dissatisfied with this final result, we’re assured we delivered a aggressive answer,” Lockheed mentioned in a press release. “We are going to await additional discussions with the US Air Drive.”
Whereas Lockheed might nonetheless protest the federal government’s award to Boeing, the actual fact Trump introduced the deal in a high-profile press convention might scale back the opportunity of a public airing of arguments in opposition to the settlement from the Bethesda, Maryland-based protection agency.
