Most aerospace projects of the last twenty years seem to be behind schedule, over budget and in some cases stalling over seemingly ridiculous issues. In theory we should have learnt from the first 100 years of aviation and we should now have the project planning tools in place to get it right; so where is it all going wrong?
Which, if any of the following are to blame:
- Lack of clarity of project goal
- Over optimistic budget
- Insufficient early stages R&D in an effort to pare down costs
- Interference from Politicians/VSOs/Ex-VSOs/others
- Lack of engineering/scientific knowledge amongst project planners
- Insufficient input from hands-on end users
- Project participants who don't intend to be in-post at the into-service point, so they don't care if they are wrong
- Suppliers more interested in profit margin than a viable product
- Component designers without sufficient hands-on experience
- Over-reliance on computer outputs (Garbage In/Garbage Out)
- Striving for the cheapest rather than the best
- Too many 'yes-men'
- Something else?
In the military arena, F-35, KC-46, Nimrod MRA.4, Eurofighter and A400M immediately spring to mind. In the civil world, A380 and B787 are the obvious candidates.
Are there any financially large aerospace projects in the last thirty years or so which have come in near to time and price with a good product as well? If so, what was their secret?