Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
I'm sure what you describe is the 'narrative', but I suspect advocacy 'infighting' and AF embarrassment first when it comes to the GH: and for reasons related to my first exposure to it not too long after Teledyne Ryan won the DARPA contract. In the first 'costs are out of control' crisis that hit, fueled by U-2 advocates among others, I got called in to help them tell their GH story up the line. All the costs that were out of control were in the payloads and the numbers of payloads glomming onto the program like parasites, the plane and control system were fine. Block 30 has much the same problem, except the cost increases are also coming from an 'improved' ground segment that I assume is part of some standardization, the fact the AF pushed for the increased payload and range in the Blk30 without a thorough study of what it would take to accomplish same, and most irritatingly, failure to give GH testing the priority it should have had at the Flight Test Center and therefore stretching the program.
I think the AF wants the GH Blk30 to die because they want it to go away and bury their missteps. this would allow Block 40 to go forward without the Block 30 baggage. Just my suspicions...
Jan 31, 2012, 11:45:19 PM