World Affairs Board - View Single Post - USAF Tanker Decision: KC-30 wins

glyn · 03-08-2008, 13:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenRoethig

If the 787 can't be adapted to the cargo and defense markets, it could be a huge blunder for Boeing.

Putting a design into production is always a huge gamble for any manufacturer. Boeing has so far won on all its jet designs. It took great courage to launch the 707 as they had to bet the company assets and loans to do so. Their courage paid off in spades as the line was open for years. They were also brave enough to launch the 747 even though most of the market at the time thought it was too big. They were sensible to stop footling about on the supersonic 2707 before too much money was wasted and more recently they had the nous to drop the so-called Sonic-liner. They have seen off the competition from the other traditional aircraft makers and now effectively hold the monopoly in airliners and their military derivitives. Unfortunately that is not a healthy situation to be in. Boeing needs competition and there are no US competitors in that game. Airbus casts a giant shadow these days and if you look south to Brazil you will see Embraer developing into a major player in the world market for airliners from a small and fairly recent start. Canadair is also developing bigger and more refined aircraft. The fact of the matter as I see it was simply that Boeing was arrogant enough to expect to win the tanker contract as of right. They have now received a salutary lesson, but one I expect them to learn.