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Subject: KC-787?
Bob Roberts    1/18/2007 12:33:04 PM
I was curious why doesn't the Air Force look into making tankers out of the 787?
 
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PowerPointRanger    Economy   2/10/2007 11:17:27 PM
A state-of-the-art aircraft like the 787 comes at a premium.  The Airforce prefers to save it's money for combat aircraft.  For support aircraft, they prefer to use older, cheaper designs.
 
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reefdiver       2/11/2007 9:30:40 PM

A state-of-the-art aircraft like the 787 comes at a premium.  The Airforce prefers to save it's money for combat aircraft.  For support aircraft, they prefer to use older, cheaper designs.


Not to mention they might want a proven aircraft with worldwide parts, availability, mechanics, and even a large number of existing flight simulators. There's also the part about perhaps not wanting to help work the bugs out of such a new breed of aircraft.
 
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PowerPointRanger    Good point Reef Diver   2/16/2007 7:00:48 PM
Plus the fact that support aircraft really don't need to be state of the art, since they tend to operate in relatively safe areas.  Why spend an extra $100 million to make a cargo aircraft stealthy, if you never send them near an enemy air defense radar?
 
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