Russian tanker bid?!

Heh. Seems like a political point is being made to me. But heck, nation-states are largely a public relations strategy at this point, at least as regards large scale industry. If they can come in with a better product for less, I say we take it. Just look real carefully for the Sekrit AutoDestruct Device. ;)
 
It's actually conceivable, especially if they partner with Northrup Grumman or Lockheed or somebody much like EADs did with Northrup Grumman for their bid. I have to say as much as I am for the American worker, there would be something oddly fascinating with the USAF flying a tanker based on a design engineered by the collapsing Soviet Union.
 
Stepping out of the military realm, why is that Russian designs never caught on with Western airlines in the post Soviet era? The Russian ships designed and built in the late 80s and 90s can and have utilized Western engines and avionics. I'm guessing they're not as efficient as Western airliners?
 
scramjet said:
Stepping out of the military realm, why is that Russian designs never caught on with Western airlines in the post Soviet era? The Russian ships designed and built in the late 80s and 90s can and have utilized Western engines and avionics. I'm guessing they're not as efficient as Western airliners?
Click to expand...

Right now there are actually orders from few airlines in Europe for the SU superjet, here in Brazil (not really western) they started a brand new airline, with planned flights to the US with factory new Ilyushin 96-300

I have seen many Tu204 and 240 flying around Europe too
 
While the new Russian built IL96's and TU204's are solid built aircraft their cost structure is not up there yet. While cheap to buy here are a few examples of ineffectiveness...

1. These airplanes are still a 3 crew flight deck. One must pay for a flight engineer.

2. Supply chain. Russian companies can not respond as quickly to a maintenance issue as can Boeing or Airbus.

3. Fuel efficiency. While these planes have established better engine results they are not on par yet with Western built efficient engines.

Like I said, the planes themselves are solid. They just have yet to get the planes to match their rivals. Even most Russian companies are flying A320's and B767's instead of the Russian aircraft. That says something.
 
Do we really want to trust a Russian company to build the aircraft for our country though? Heck, I wonder about trusting the French to build a tanker. I think if this tanker is going to be built for the United States it should be built in the United States. This whole tanker bid process has been a joke. Just give the project to Boeing like it should be.
 
fisher37 said:
Do we really want to trust a Russian company to build the aircraft for our country though? Heck, I wonder about trusting the French to build a tanker. I think if this tanker is going to be built for the United States it should be built in the United States. This whole tanker bid process has been a joke. Just give the project to Boeing like it should be.
Click to expand...

Thinking that just because it´s named boeing that the money goes all to the US and that all the work will go to US workers, that´s a joke...lots of the components are built in South Africa and Turkey....

Make sure you never get in trouble out at sea, you may have to wonder if it´s gonna be safe to ride on a coast guard french built Helicopter.
 
Remember back when Russia bought a 5% stake in EADS back in 2006? This is what was being said:
Meanwhile, some analysts noted that a strategic partnership in Russia could be just what Airbus, which is 80 percent owned by EADS, needed to stay competitive with Boeing. Airbus, which was created from a consortium of European state-controlled aerospace companies, has concentrated the production of aircraft components with European sub- contractors, which has kept production costs relatively high. Given the spiraling costs of the A380 and A350 projects, outsourcing production to a lower-cost country like Russia could be one solution.

"Their tendency to source from European companies has got to be questioned," said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Panmure Gordon in London. He pointed to Boeing and the popular 787 Dreamliner - most of the design and construction of which is being done by subcontractors in China and hundreds of suppliers around the world. Airbus does outsource some assembly of its planes overseas, notably in China, but the design and manufacturing of aircraft components is still done primarily by European companies.
Click to expand...

Since then, it looks like the Russian bank that originally bought the shares was privatized. The investors complained about the performance of the EADS stock, so the Russian State Bank of Development (ВЭБ) bought the stake in 2007. In 2008, the Russian VEB still owned 5% when EADS won the tanker contract.

I wonder if the Il-96-based offering will get some Western (European) re-engineering and branding, but still have a relatively low price that Russia can apparently bring to the table.
 
swisspilot said:
Thinking that just because it´s named boeing that the money goes all to the US and that all the work will go to US workers, that´s a joke...lots of the components are built in South Africa and Turkey....

Make sure you never get in trouble out at sea, you may have to wonder if it´s gonna be safe to ride on a coast guard french built Helicopter.
Click to expand...

I know not 100% of the money would stay inside of the US. More of the money would still stay inside of the United States than it would if a Russian or French company got the bid though. This has been drawn out long enough. :dunno:
 
I think I would have a better time getting this "russian tanker" idea in my head if I had YET to see one russian jet liner without warped plates from snugging the rivet down. From what I've heard and seen, looks like they taught the Chinese how to screw it up too.
 
jynxyjoe said:
I think I would have a better time getting this "russian tanker" idea in my head if I had YET to see one russian jet liner without warped plates from snugging the rivet down. From what I've heard and seen, looks like they taught the Chinese how to screw it up too.
Click to expand...

In Soviet Russia, plane engineers you :eek:
 
jynxyjoe said:
I think I would have a better time getting this "russian tanker" idea in my head if I had YET to see one russian jet liner without warped plates from snugging the rivet down. From what I've heard and seen, looks like they taught the Chinese how to screw it up too.
Click to expand...

This is a similar observation to the comments when Balenko defected with the MiG-25 and everyone laughed at the use of steel and the gaps in the metal work. Same with the big bolts on the Russian SS-20 compared to the US Pershing.
ss20-002.jpg


mgm31a310.jpg


As the speeds the MiG was flying and at the Mach numbers the missiles were operating at.. it didn't make any difference.

Am I saying one is right and the other wrong? No.. just different solutions to the challenge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top