Navy contract pits Boeing, Lockheed

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Boeing is going head-to-head against the nation's No. 1 military contractor for the right to build the Navy's new fleet of more than 100 marine-patrol planes. If the company wins the contract for these "Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft" (MMAs) in 2004, the deal means billions of dollars for the 737 line in Renton ? from Navy orders and perhaps just as many from international allies seeking new planes. It means Boeing would have beat out Lockheed.
The deal look similar to the controversial tanker-lease deal with the Air Force. Both are fleets of about 100 planes that could be based on a commercial aircraft.

Since the 1960s, Lockheed Martin's P-3 Orion aircraft - a four-engine propeller plane - have been searching for submarines by lingering over the waves to find and, if needed, to fire at enemy subs.
The Orion's cousin, the EP-3 reconnaissance plane, was the aircraft involved in a diplomatic crisis in 2001 after one collided with a Chinese fighter plane. Remember or see our topics.

With increased missions around the globe since Sept. 11, 2001, the P-3 fleet is getting old fast, forcing the Navy to retire about a third of its 228-plane fleet sooner than expected. The Navy is methodically working to get a new fleet of aircraft up and running, hoping to make a decision on a company next year and get the new fleet operational by 2012. (And that's what it is all about!!)

There was a rumor, for instance, that Boeing's version wasn't capable of "loitering" - flying low and slow over the ocean - because the 737 model's angled, swept wings and turbofan engines were best for high-altitude flight.
There was talk that if one of the 737's engines went out, the second one wouldn't have the acceleration power to climb.
This was tested: Despite the winds, test pilot Craig cruised about 250 feet above the whitecaps of the Atlantic Ocean, buzzing commercial freighters. The tight turns - far from your normal 737 commercial flight - pressed his passengers into their seats and made a few thankful they'd taken Dramamine. All the while, he gave status reports on fuel efficiency.
Craig honed in on a fire-engine-red freighter and buzzed the Panamanian ship, making a hard, 60-degree turn overhead. Then he put one engine on idle, and flying 250 mph climbed quickly to 4,400 feet.
Lockheed, meanwhile, is selling its plane as the battle-tested, low-risk model, thanks to the company's nearly 40 years of experience designing, building and maintaining the venerable straight-wing, turbo-prop airplane that is now successfully handling the Navy's mission.

This time around, the company is proposing the Orion 21 ? a new airframe, digital cockpit and other systems, assembled on a new line, using upgrades gleaned from the last four decades of operations. The plane will still have four propellers, but they will be more advanced turbo-props than the engines found on the existing P-3s, and more fuel-efficient.
While Boeing notes its 737 would get Navy fliers to patrol areas faster, Lockheed said the key is how long you can stay there.

The decision will come in the spring.