Well, given that the last new-build H-46 came off the Boeing-Vertol line in
1971...how long would it have taken to restart production, with production
tools likely destroyed?
"Arved Sandstrom" wrote in message
news:zc6zl.19952$PH1.12528@edtnps82...
Matt Wiser wrote:
On Mar 26, 2:58 pm, Arved Sandstrom wrote:
Matt Wiser wrote:
As long as it takes. The USMC has a habit of getting its way on
procurement,
so either get on board or get out of the way. Not to mention that it's
been
a number of years since the last crash (the one that had 19 Marines
killed),
and the aircraft has been tested, evaled, and tested again. If you've
got an
alternative aircraft to replace the H-46, let's hear it. If not,
follow the
above advice.
[ SNIP ]

New CH-46's? I'm not being entirely facetious here...other folks
suggested this back in the '90's, although the idea would have been to
manufacture an improved CH-46.

One of our (any country, not just the US) biggest defense procurement
problems is whenever a weapons system or vehicle or
radio...whatever...starts getting old, we almost always feel the need
to
design and build a *new* thing. I'll buy that concept for electronics,
but it's not obvious to me that if a truck fleet or a buy of
helicopters
or rifles gets worn out, that we need to spend 10 or 20 years designing
entirely new ones.

AHS

I don't recall any of the aviation magazines reporting that (AvWeek,
AFM, WAPJ, etc.). The last H-46s were built new in 1971. CILOP
produced the CH-46 Echo version in the 1970s. The production line
would be too dormant to restart in any event. The only other serious
consideration was the Sikorsky H-92, and it hadn't even flown yet when
the V-22 was revived. The New York Twits is the only major newspaper
recently to call for the program's termination, but then again,
they've been so anti-military since the Reagan years....

David F. Bond, "CH-46E Replacement May be CH-46X:
Marines Believe UH-60 is Too Small," Aviation Week and Space
Technology Magazine, February 19, 1990

AHS