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I was part of the investigation/ vendor audit when the $600 toilet seat incident hit the press. I've posted this on here before, Lockheed actually overcharged the government something like $35 a seat and refunded the error.One sometimes needs to wonder about the competence of the people writing specs. The USN spec'd the toilet seat for a P-3 variant that needed 24 hours of labor to make, from hand-laid fiberglass. The USAAF specs for a coffee maker on a transport aircraft could make coffee after a crash that killed everybody on the aircraft. In both cases, just buy what the airlines would have installed.
The Nimrod had a water heater to make hot drinks with that was straight from the original Comet, it even had the bottle warmer in case a baby was on board. Everything else on board was over budget, but they did save on the water heater.One sometimes needs to wonder about the competence of the people writing specs. The USN spec'd the toilet seat for a P-3 variant that needed 24 hours of labor to make, from hand-laid fiberglass. The USAAF specs for a coffee maker on a transport aircraft could make coffee after a crash that killed everybody on the aircraft. In both cases, just buy what the airlines would have installed.
I think Kelly Johnson lead several Lockheed projects that meet your criteria, including the U-2.
How about the F-80, T-33 or F-104?I think that how much was spent on the U-2 and SR-71 won't be known, ever. Those records are likely classified and will likely never be opened for examination.
I think that how much was spent on the U-2 and SR-71 won't be known, ever. Those records are likely classified and will likely never be opened for examination.
Incredible.For many years, I was the manager of the Automotive department for the Telecomm company I worked at. One of the services we provided, was full outfitting of Public Safety vehicles (LEO/Fire/EMS, etc.) and our clients were local, county, state and Federal agencies.
Of ALL the agencies to deal with, the State (California) was the absolute worst. Their Com214 contracts had to be to the absolute letter - not one penny over or under and I even had a contract kicked back because of a typographical error (the word "harness" was misspelled in one of the line items) resulting in us having to resubmit the form in order to get payment.
I believe one of the problems with some of the more recent overruns (DDX, JFX) are due because the DoD had outsourced too much expertise. The DDX, especially, seems to have also suffered from desire to stuff every new piece of bleading-edge tech possible into the ships.
Agree 100% - I had a relative of an ex who was the director of procurement at Lockheed. The F-22 boarding ladder cost $6 mil to develop! A FRIGGIN LADDER! "Over engineered by a bunch of interns and engineers fresh out of college with no real world experience" - his words.
For varying definitions of "complete".I believe the NA-73X might qualify.
I think we both know who could answer thatWas it over budget?