Post by corsair67 on Jan 20, 2006 9:02:15 GMT 12
Edited article from The Australian about the Wedgetail AEW&C project, and possible export potential and further involvement for Australian industry.
Here's hoping this could lead to some spin-offs for New Zealand manufacturers further down the track too.
I'd like to have the job of attaching all the aerials to the underside of the aircraft (see picture below)! ;D
Wedgetail could convert to exports
Steve Creedy
January 20, 2006.
BOEING Australia is optimistic the skills its workers are gaining as part of the RAAF Wedgetail project will translate into significant export opportunities.
The Wedgetail project involves installing advanced radar and surveillance equipment in next-generation Boeing 737 airframes.
The Australian component of the $450 million Airborne Early Warning and Control project is worth up to $80 million.
The federal Government estimates that the project could bring an additional $75 million in associated export work.
While Boeing could not confirm those projections, Boeing Australia's managing director David Gray said yesterday that he would be disappointed if the company failed to develop an overseas market. Several other countries are also looking at Wedgetail-style aircraft or another Boeing program to develop a 737-based maritime patrol aircraft.
The first of four Boeing 737s to be converted - in what is generally agreed to be Australia's most ambitious modification program - arrived on Monday at the Amberley air base 50km southwest of Brisbane.
The plane is based on the next generation 737 aircraft. Two others have been converted in the US and recently conducted a world-first 360 degree scanning exercise with the project's advanced phased array radar.
The six aircraft will eventually be stationed at RAAF Williamtown in NSW, where a 737 simulator has been commissioned ahead of the hand over of the first two planes later this year.
Mr Gray said the project was as complex as any that had been done in Australia by a "long-long way".
"You start off by literally cutting a hole in the fuselage - taking the whole section 46 out of the back - and replacing it with a new section that's reinforced to be able to take the weight of the radar," he said.
"From a structural point of view, that's both incredibly complex and sophisticated," Mr Gray said.
"We've had to bring in and learn how to use some very state-of-the-art laser alignment technology."
One of the consequences of digital design was that tolerances were significantly lower than with analogue design.
"You then start looking at all of the power requirements and all of the associated cabling," Mr Gray said.
At its peak, the Australian component of the program will employ about 170 people at Boeing's Amberley facilities, including aircraft technicians, engineering and support staff.
Here's hoping this could lead to some spin-offs for New Zealand manufacturers further down the track too.
I'd like to have the job of attaching all the aerials to the underside of the aircraft (see picture below)! ;D
Wedgetail could convert to exports
Steve Creedy
January 20, 2006.
BOEING Australia is optimistic the skills its workers are gaining as part of the RAAF Wedgetail project will translate into significant export opportunities.
The Wedgetail project involves installing advanced radar and surveillance equipment in next-generation Boeing 737 airframes.
The Australian component of the $450 million Airborne Early Warning and Control project is worth up to $80 million.
The federal Government estimates that the project could bring an additional $75 million in associated export work.
While Boeing could not confirm those projections, Boeing Australia's managing director David Gray said yesterday that he would be disappointed if the company failed to develop an overseas market. Several other countries are also looking at Wedgetail-style aircraft or another Boeing program to develop a 737-based maritime patrol aircraft.
The first of four Boeing 737s to be converted - in what is generally agreed to be Australia's most ambitious modification program - arrived on Monday at the Amberley air base 50km southwest of Brisbane.
The plane is based on the next generation 737 aircraft. Two others have been converted in the US and recently conducted a world-first 360 degree scanning exercise with the project's advanced phased array radar.
The six aircraft will eventually be stationed at RAAF Williamtown in NSW, where a 737 simulator has been commissioned ahead of the hand over of the first two planes later this year.
Mr Gray said the project was as complex as any that had been done in Australia by a "long-long way".
"You start off by literally cutting a hole in the fuselage - taking the whole section 46 out of the back - and replacing it with a new section that's reinforced to be able to take the weight of the radar," he said.
"From a structural point of view, that's both incredibly complex and sophisticated," Mr Gray said.
"We've had to bring in and learn how to use some very state-of-the-art laser alignment technology."
One of the consequences of digital design was that tolerances were significantly lower than with analogue design.
"You then start looking at all of the power requirements and all of the associated cabling," Mr Gray said.
At its peak, the Australian component of the program will employ about 170 people at Boeing's Amberley facilities, including aircraft technicians, engineering and support staff.
