/reeve.gif)
Rivet Joint Airworthiness Questioned by UK MAA
October 30, 2013, 4:42 PM
Delivery of a new SIGINT aircraft for the Royal Air Force has been postponed,
because the UK’s Military Airworthiness Authority (MAA) has not completed the safety case.
The Airseeker (the RAF’s name for the U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint) is the latest airframe to be delayed by the MAA’s detailed scrutiny,
which British defense contractors have privately called overzealous.
The U.S. Air Force declared the first Airseeker ready for delivery in mid-October,
six months ahead of schedule,
a U.S. official with detailed knowledge of the acquisition told AIN.
Like the 15-strong USAF fleet of Rivet Joints, it has been converted from a Boeing KC-135 by L-3 Communications at its Greenville, Texas facility.
The process has taken nearly three years.
The UK has allocated £633 million (just over $1 billion) to acquire three aircraft at two-year intervals, plus their associated ground stations.
The MAA was set up after the crash of an RAF Nimrod over Afghanistan in 2006 and a subsequent public inquiry that criticized the service’s safety oversight.
Commenting on its work to certify the Airseeker in its last annual report, the MAA noted that “the archaic heritage of the basic design…has the potential to be particularly challenging.”
The three RAF aircraft are being converted from the last KC-135s to be built. However, even these airframes are 50 years old.
The US official told AIN that the USAF had tiredof answering the stream of questions from QinetiQ, and was now referring them to Boeing, as the OEM.
The USAF itself evidently has complete faith in the ability of L-3 Communications to strip down, overhaul and convert the RC-135 airframes;it intends to operate the Rivet Joint fleet until 2042.
This is a subscription only section
Want to read more? It's only €10/year.
No account yet? Just Create an account first and head to the shop
