"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
.. .

"The Raven" wrote in message
...
We all know that the X-35 won the JSF contest which is now in the
strategic
development phase as the F-35. At the time the competition winner was
announced (LM) I wondered why Boeing would scrap their whole concept
rather
than push forward with it.

I suspect some of their X-32 technology is making its way into their UCAV
conceptual vehicle.

No doubt a lot of the technology will be used but the platform itself was
pretty impressive despite not winning the JSF contest.



For various political reasons Boeing could have pushed forward with the
X-32
into other non-JSF (and friendly) markets. Imagine the competition that
potentially could be generated from an F32 vs F35 sale to foreign
nations?
Imagines LM's concern that potential partners may decide it could be
more
cost effective to go with an F32? Imagine the potential (albeit
unlikely)
of
F32 going up against F35? Imagine the possibility of a second JSF-like
aircraft capability for the US to tap into if need be?

Imagine the cost of development. No company has the resources required to
develop a first-line combat aircraft today independent of governmental
financing.

Hence look for governments outside the US that are willing to do it. I'm not
suggesting the F32 would end up with the exact same capability and fitout as
planned but it could be built with the commitment of several governments.

When that governmental financing goes down, pace of development
also takes a nosedive--take the Rafale as an example.

Sure.



For Boeing, excluding any political over-rides, they could have had a
market
for their aircraft that competed directly against the F35 and/or eroded
some
of it's competitors market. Additionally, it could upset the supposed
superiority of the F35 by offering something (possibly) similar in
capability to the F35 than anything else.

Ain't gonna happen without governmental R&D support.

There are more governments in the world than the US government.



So the question is, could there have economically been a market for the
F32
outside the US and would the US government have allowed Boeing to
produce
such an aircraft?

No and yes (but a meaningless yes as it just was not a possible outcome).

Why not possible. Not all aircraft developments hinge on funding from Uncle
Sam.



My initial assumption is that the US government wouldn't allow Boeing to
do
such for reasons including: protecting LM's interests, ensuring that
other
nations didn't end up with similar capabilities, and to protect US
"security".

Then that would be an incorrect assumption. The fact is that the
development
costs for such advanced aircraft are extremely expensive, and the US could
only afford to back one horse, just as it could only afford to field one
of
those horses itself.

To the spec they had set, probably. Without those constraints it *may* be
possible to bring the X-32 into production but obviously in a somewhat
different form (which may be at a lesser cost than the proposed F-32).

There's obviously a market for this type of aircraft or the competition
wouldn't have taken place. Who's to say there isn't other markets than the
current JSF partner nations? I'm sure others would like something similar
and, combined together, could probably generate sufficient funds to see the
X32 developed into something.

--
The Raven
http://www.80scartoons.co.uk/batfinkquote.mp3
** President of the ozemail.* and uunet.* NG's
** since August 15th 2000.