March 28, 2024

Boeing Succeeds with Derivative Aircraft

Posted for The Patuxent Partnership
Pax III

 By Sheila Gibbons Hiebert

On a tour of the Boeing aircraft factory in Everett, WA, one of the many astonishing things visitors learn is how much of the complicated process of putting together commercial airplanes cross-pollinates with military aircraft.

“If it’s not Boeing, I’m not going.”

That, I learned on a tour of the Boeing aircraft factory in Everett, WA, is the mantra of the employees who build the aircraft of the world’s largest aerospace company.

At Paine Field in Everett, in the world’s largest building by volume, visitors can watch as Boeing airliners are put together, using millions of parts that can be used interchangeably in a number of its models. Watching this, one can begin to understand how the process of building something so complicated is broken down into manageable steps that result in the jets air travelers have come to know so well.

What may be less apparent to commercial flyers is how much of this process, and the frames and features of these planes, can be cross-pollinated with the demanding requirements of military aircraft.

A perfect example of this is the P-8A Poseidon, a derivative of the highly successful and reliable Next-Generation Boeing 737, developed for the Navy with flight testing at NAS Patuxent River. Described as “a true multi-mission platform,” the P-8A Poseidon is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. The planes are built at Boeing’s Renton, WA, plant. The P-8A is being developed by a Boeing-led team that consists of CFM International, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, GE Aviation and Spirit AeroSystems.

Boeing has been crossing commercial airliners with military applications since the 1960s, says Fred Smith, director, Business Development, for Mobility, Surveillance & Engagement for Boeing Military Aircraft. “Commercial derivatives have a 50-year legacy for us and international customers, with 1,200 derivatives purchased by 40 different customers around the world. It’s the ‘One Boeing’ approach, combining the best of commercial engineering and the best of defense.” With the P-8, Boeing moved to an open architecture system. The open system makes it easy to install upgrades, add extra capability (such as technology insertion), and take advantage of the standard processes that originated on the commercial side of manufacturing, Mr. Smith says.

The difference comes in modifying the commercial aircraft for the special requirements of the military missions. The body structure and metallurgy have to be adapted to support the weight of weapons systems. Wiring for sensitive electronic communication is extremely complex. When you look into a P-8 cockpit, it doesn’t look much different from a 737, but there’s a world of difference behind the panels, Mr. Smith says. Because military mission systems must work with flight systems, “The military world is a factor of complexity higher.”

The manufacturing model for the P-8s is also novel. “We learn more from the P-8 than anything else because it’s the first industry in-line derivative military aircraft,” Mr. Smith says. In the past, commercial aircraft were sent to modification centers where they were taken apart and rebuilt to meet military specifications. The P-8A is Boeing’s first military derivative aircraft to incorporate structural modifications to the aircraft as it moves through the commercial line.

There are huge advantages to building military aircraft on a commercial model, Mr. Smith notes, including symmetry in maintenance and a robust supply chain for parts. Boeing builds 42 737s a month. “We’re going to end up with something like 117 P-8s in the fleet, but 12,000 737s globally,” he says. “When you need a part, you can leverage that 737 base around the world.” Maintenance is the most important element in sustaining military aircraft over their life cycles and it’s more effective for the derivatives because “almost all of it is in common with their commercial cousins,” he says. “Ultimately, they’ll cost a lot less to operate and maintain.” Mr. Smith says the unit cost of the P-8s has fallen 25 percent “because we’re driving those commercial efficiencies to a militarized version of the 737.”

Other Boeing derivatives include adapting the 707 for the AWACS and the 767 for tankers.

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