Salute!
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Make no mistake, I am biased about these matters due to my presence on the coast where the 'bus version of the tanker would have been built using U.S. folks, trains, boats and low cost of living area, etc.
On the tech and economic side, the thing is worse than the Aardvaark was in the late sixties.At least the f-111 turned into a supreme penetrating attack jet and very good Spark 'vaark.
- whoever thot TV display for the refueling boom was better and cheaper than a human boom-op looking at the reciever 25 or 30 feet away was not a boom operator with hundreds, if not thousands, of successful hook-ups. Sheesh. Virtuality and 3-d cameras/displays can only go so far. And then, on a stormy night when a low fuel receiver joins up, the damn stuff goes tits up! I will guarantee that the boom-op will connect faster and more reliably, especially after a few offloads on various receiver types. The experience many of us had in 'nam and the Storm will bear me out.
- production standards by what used to be the gold standard company of lore went AWOL. I can also guarantee that labor costs for the contract went up compared to Alabama due to the "right to work" laws and lower costs of living, just like making the 787 outside of the Seattle area.
MY VIEW: Big B got the production after initial award due to the U.S. delegation from Washington and their poly-tickian efforts and threats. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Gums sends...