Quote:
Originally Posted by tsofian
As a first principal I always had Morrow Project do its shopping in cancelled military procurement. During the period that the Project was active 1950 to TEOTWAWKI (1989 in original canon) there were a lot of projects that produced some exciting equipment that for one reason or another never entered full production. In my Project (YMMV) I had them scoop up a number of these sets of hardware, convert them to fusion/electric drive and otherwise Morrowize them.
|
I don't agree with this approach.
First of all, many such early-stage aircraft have limited functional capacity. Consider the VX-15 - If you add fuel, crew, and basic provisions to the empty weight, you get an aircraft that only has about a thousand pounds of payload and even that would probably require adding hardpoints due to a lack of internal stores. Converting it to fusion only helps so much when you are starting with a technology demonstrator that was never meant to be used in a functional manner.
Second, if they never went into full production that also means that they were never extensively tested. Think of the recent debacle with the F-22's oxygen supply system, and ponder how many of these aircraft are lemons whose weaknesses were never realized during the relatively limited testing period they were allotted? For that matter, these vehicles, with massive technical efforts behind them, ALL had flaws that kept them out of production... so why would Morrow think they could make them work?
Third, if they were never in the field then that means that there is no real support base for them, either in terms of parts and tool inventory or in experienced maintenance and repair personnel. You lose a lot of advantage in these things if you are exclusively relying on Morrow-produced supplies and home-grown knowledge.
Finally, when there are only a handful of these things, it can be a lot harder to make them disappear. If the some Huey's bound for a South American customer get stolen by gun runners, or if some M113's are discovered to have had a fatal structural flaw and need to be scrapped, or if a CH-47 goes down over the ocean, then there are a few fervent memos passed and everyone moves on. If even one of only five very expensive test aircraft disappears from a military base then it becomes not only hard to conceal the disappearance but also the fact that someone on that base is a traitor!
I just don't see TMP realistically building an aviation program off of such things when you could get actual functional, proven, and supported military-grade (or upgradable) hardware with minimal subterfuge and little risk.