Boeing: Where There's Trouble . . .

I woke up this morning thinking, "There was something I was supposed to write about . . . something about another Boeing military plane in the news . . . did I dream it?"

And then I remembered: there has been an incident off the coast of China. The U.S. alleges that a Chinese fighter jet threatened a U.S. plane. Well, to be accurate, a U.S. spy plane.

And it wasn't until I was drifting off to sleep last night that it struck me: that's a Boeing plane!

"A P-8A Poseidon flying alongside a Lockheed P-3 Orion, close to
Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, 2010." (Wikipedia)

The U.S. says this occurred in international waters. This incident brought back to mind the case of the U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance plane that was damaged in an encounter with a Chinese fighter jet back in 2001. That incident resulted in the death of a Chinese pilot, and in a the U.S. plane being held by China for several months. But the big thing that came out of that story was that we learned that the U.S. runs spy missions along the coast of China day in, day out, edging back and forth over the borders of China.

It made a lot of people ask what the hell the U.S. is doing provoking China where they live.

The new incident involves a P-8 Poseidon, not a P-3 Orion. The maker of the P-8? Chicago-based Boeing Corporation.

And, echoing the earlier story, the Chinese account of this encounter emphasizes "large-scale and highly frequent close-in reconnaissance by the U.S. against China"?

Why is it that every time there's trouble, Boeing is in the middle of it?


Related posts

People in Chicago like to walk down the street and look the other way, saying, "This doesn't have anything to do with me." When you ask them to take a flyer, or to learn more about this problem, they wave it away with a bland, "I'm good . . . ."

(See This is YOUR War, Chicago! (Boeing F/A-18's Begin Strikes in Iraq) )

Now that the Israeli government's killings in Gaza are front-page news -- particularly the way military aircraft is being used to mow down innocent men, women, and children -- Boeing's involvement is in everyone's face.

(See Boeing Has an Israel Problem . . . and Chicago Has a Boeing Problem)

The problem: the U.S. "pivot to Asia."

The opportunity: asking ourselves, "What would we do differently if we revised our myths of Asia?"

(See U.S. Militarism in Asia: THINK DIFFERENT!)






"Boeing Receives $178 Million Contract for B61 Tail Kit Assembly" announces the Boeing website proudly. The Boeing "enhancement" to the B61 will help nuclear weapons obliterate entire populations more "accurately." Great.

(See Boeing and the Bomb Worshippers)














The dronification of the Navy promises to be tough for a lot of people in the aviation part of the Navy to swallow.  Apparently Navy people think in terms of manned aircraft, and want drones to stick to reconnaissance; the people in Congress who are pushing the appropriations see massive spending (and employment) from the unmanned drones, and want those drones to do have the fullest possible range of bombing capabilities.

(See Understanding Boeing's Role in the Navy's Next-Generation Drone Warfare )