"David Lednicer" wrote in message
...

I wish I was half as optimistic as you - I see the J-STARS fiasco
happening all over again. In that case, the DoD thought that they could
wait forever to order 707 airframes to use as E-8Bs. They ordered one and
Boeing told them to hurry up and order the others - or else. The DoD
didn't believe them and Boeing shut the 707 line down. Boeing either
refused to reopen it or quoted huge reopening costs - the end result being
that the DoD was stuck with the one white elephant E-8B they had bought
and no other airframes. The DoD ended up trading the E-8B to Omega for a
pile of worn-out 707-320Cs. The DoD then paid Northrop Grumman a fortune
to rebuild them so they could be used as E-8Cs. Now, they are complaining
that the JT3Ds on the aircraft are getting very difficult to maintain, so
they will have to reengine them. They could have had new 707 airframes,
with new CFM56 engines (ala' the E-8B), if they had just done things
right.

The focus for the E-10 as of now is getting the systems integrated; the
airframe is apparently of secondary concern, from what I read earlier. E-10
is not showing up anytime real soon, remember.


I also have trouble believing that the E-10 will be easily platform
independent. A lot of engineering goes into creating a system such as the
E-10. You can't just plug and play with a different airframe without
spending huge piles of money. And if they were going to move from the
767-400ER airframe, what will they use? The bigger, longer range 7E7
won't be available in time.

Yeah, it would be available. NG is not required ot have the E-10
demonstration radar completed until around 2010, according to the AFA (
www.afa.org/magazine/july2004/0704world.asp ); 7E7 first flies in 2007.
Globalsecurity.com says that the delivery to the USAF is currently scheduled
for 2012, which might slip by two years.

The only choice will be used
767-400ERs. At least these will be younger than the 707s that the E-8Cs
were built from.

Maybe all of this is why the USAF has only committed to the 767 for the
single test and eval airframe as of yet.

Brooks