Boeing Warns Capacity Constraints Could Kill Air Force Radar Plane (From Forbes)

The Air Force needs to replace its JSTARS radar planes, which provide invaluable reconnaissance to the joint force about enemy ground movements.  The current radar is hosted on second-hand Boeing 707 jetliners, and the service figures it could avoid $11 billion in upkeep costs by spending about half that amount on more modern planes.  However, there is a big debate about how big the new planes need to be.  Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman say they can get the job done on high-end business jets.  Boeing says its approach — a modified 737 jetliner — is the only solution that offers enough design and growth margin to avoid problems seen in past development projects.  It cites extensive research and past program failures to argue that selecting a plane smaller than the 737 would be penny wise and pound foolish.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.