It is fair to say the avionics and various other systems on the MRA4 are still in the development stage therefore we have to expect to suffer some teething problems. But having the upmost confidence in the BAE engineers, i'm sure thiese will be overcome.
When the MOD decided to use the old airframes from the Mk2 aircraft, what wasn't taken into account was the fact that these airframes were practically hand built compared with todays manufacturing processes (i.e. use of close tolerance jigs, fixture and CAD packages). This resulted in a Mk2 fleet with structural variations of up to a 2" between the aircraft.
However, the new built assemblies such as wings, tailplane finlets etc, for the MRA4 were designed and built using close tolerance CAD packages, jigs and fixtures. and so all new built assemblies were identical.
Major structural problems therefore arose when trying to mate the new and old assemblies. The same effect you would get fitting the same dia bolt into varying hole sizes.
Perhaps the plan is to prove the MRA4 sytems on board PA01 to PA03, then look at various other platforms???
It is fair to say the avionics and various other systems on the MRA4 are still in the development stage therefore we have to expect to suffer some teething problems. But having the upmost confidence in the BAE engineers, i\'m sure thiese will be overcome.
When the MOD decided to use the old airframes from the Mk2 aircraft, what wasn\'t taken into account was the fact that these airframes were practically hand built compared with todays manufacturing processes (i.e. use of close tolerance jigs, fixture and CAD packages). This resulted in a Mk2 fleet with structural variations of up to a 2" between the aircraft.
However, the new built assemblies such as wings, tailplane finlets etc, for the MRA4 were designed and built using close tolerance CAD packages, jigs and fixtures. and so all new built assemblies were identical.
Major structural problems therefore arose when trying to mate the new and old assemblies. The same effect you would get fitting the same dia bolt into varying hole sizes.
Perhaps the plan is to prove the MRA4 sytems on board PA01 to PA03, then look at various other platforms???