|
The Lockheed P-7 was a four turboprop-engined patrol aircraft ordered by the U.S. Navy as a replacement for the P-3 Orion. The external configuration of the aircraft was to be very similar to that of the P-3. Development had not progressed very much before the development was cancelled in the early 1990s as a cost-cutting measure following the end of the Cold War. ==Development== In the mid-1980s, the U.S. Navy made plans to replace the large number of Lockheed P-3 aircraft which would reach the end of their useful service lives during the 1990s. To limit costs the U.S. Navy envisioned a modified P-3 with increased payload and updated avionics. This aircraft became known as the "P-3G" of which 125 should be procured over a period of five years up to 2001. However, the U.S. Navy was unwilling to select Lockheed's P-3G without any competition and issued the final "request for proposal (RFP)" in January 1987. For the airplane named "LRAACA" (Long-Range Air ASW-Capable Aircraft), Lockheed's competitors were: * Boeing - proposal using a modified Boeing 757 * McDonnell Douglas - proposal using a modified MD-90〔(''Flight International'', 2 July 1988 Lockheed woos Germany over LRAACA )〕 In October 1988, the U.S. Navy announced that Lockheed won the competition, as the company's proposal was significantly lower than that of the competitors. The U.S. Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) recommended a full-scale development of the LRAACA on 4 January 1989. The costs were planned to be about $600 million, with a maximum cost limit of $750 million. However, already in November 1989, Lockheed announced a cost overrun of $300 million, due to the tight schedule and design problems. On 20 July 1990, the U.S. Navy stopped the P-7A program contract for default, "citing Lockheed's inability to make adequate progress toward completion of all contract phases".〔 The program was finally cancelled by the DAB in late 1990. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lockheed P-7」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|