Andrew Toppan wrote:

(3) Finally, there's the question of *which* aircraft will fill the
MMA role. The 737 is *one* of several proposals. If you don't like
the 737, pick one of the others.

Actually, there is only one remaining alternative, after the last
downselect. Lockheed Martin's Orion-21 is pretty much exactly what these
folks say they want -- a rewinged P-3C AIP with some newer avionics and
revised wing stations.

The debate here is probably going to be speed vs cost. The P-3 rewing has
to be the cheap option (they're even recycling the current engines). OTOH,
the P-3 is slow, and has been handicappd by this in some recent operations.
And the last couple fo P-3 life extensions have run into unexpected airframe
issues, so new construction might be desirable.



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