Quantcast

More big news here at work...crash

valve bouncer

valve bouncer

Master Dildoist
Feb 11, 2002
7,843
114
Japan
So are there hundreds of suits running around like chooks with their heads cut off saying "don't panic, don't panic"?
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
US Army orders Bell to stop work on ARH and come up with new plan

By Graham Warwick



The US Army has told Bell to stop work on the troubled ARH-70 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) programme and given the company 30 days to come up with a plan to overcome spiralling costs and schedule delays. The ARH is intended to replace the army’s Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.

The stop-work order was issued yesterday after a special Army Systems Acquisition Review Council meeting on the programme. The army says cost estimates for system development and demonstration (SDD) and low-rate initial production (LRIP) have grown by more than 50%, while the date for the first unit to be equipped has slipped from September 2008 to December 2009.

Bell has been given 30 days “to describe a strategy to maximize contract performance while minimizing the negative cost and schedule impact on the government”, says the army. Bell was awarded a $210 million development contract in July 2004, but the army says the estimate for completion of SDD is now more than $300 million.

The army also has firm fixed-priced options of the first two LRIP lots, and Bell has warned it will lose money on these helicopters. “We are not in negotiation with Bell on the price,” says the army, which originally planned to buy 368 ARHs, but recently increased this to 512 to include the National Guard.

Bell has built four flight-test ARH-70s under the SDD programme, but the third helicopter crashed on its first flight on 21 February after the engine lost power, possibly because of fuel starvation. The helicopters are grounded while the investigation continues.
Click to expand...
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1281717.php/Troubled_helicopter_work_halted
Mar 23, 2007, 0:30 GMT


FORT WORTH, TX, United States (UPI) -- The U.S. Army has given Texas-based Bell Helicopter a month to improve plans for a troubled helicopter that already is behind schedule and over budget.

Work on the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter has been halted until Bell submits the plan, the Houston Star-Telegram reported Thursday.

Bell is more than a year behind on the helicopter, which is to replace the Army`s aging, Bell-built OH-58D Kiowa Warriors.

Bell has built four prototypes. One of those crashed last month on a golf course in Mansfield, Texas, 30 minutes into its maiden flight. The remaining three helicopters have yet to be tested fully.

Bell wanted to produce a squadron of the new helicopters, called the ARH-70, by September 2008. That date now has been moved to December 2009.

The Army has the option to buy the first 48 helicopters at $5.2 million to $5.5 million each. But Bell`s parent company, Textron, now predicts it would lose $2 million to $4 million per helicopter under those terms.

The Army wants to buy more than 500 of the helicopters if their performance and reliablity can be improved. Bell bested Boeing Co. for the development contract in July 2005.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Click to expand...
 
MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
It actuallly was assembled by good god-fearing jesus-loving, apple pie eating, NASCAR watching, Bud Light drinkin', giant belt buckle wearin', Cheeto-eating, too fat to vote, good ol' boy, 'mercuns......
 
$tinkle

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
MMike said:
It actuallly was assembled by good god-fearing jesus-loving, apple pie eating, NASCAR watching, Bud Light drinkin', giant belt buckle wearin', Cheeto-eating, too fat to vote, good ol' boy, 'mercuns......
Click to expand...
we call that a 'beard.'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom