Navy Fighter Aircraft

Discussion: Case Study – Navy Fighter Aircraft
The purpose of the discussion forum is for you to engage in critical thinking through an open exchange of ideas among your classmates. It is not a test. There is not an expected correct answer. Your posting should be original thought based on your review of this week’s literature and your additional research and should be written in your own words. Supporting references (outside of those provided in the course) are often appropriate and highly encouraged. However, your directly applicable personal and professional knowledge and experience in concert with your research (i.e., not loosely related stories, etc.) regarding course content can also be beneficial to the learning process.
Consider a scenario in which the Navy began to receive a new fighter aircraft for its aircraft carrier operations. Upon delivery of the first few aircraft, it was found the tailhook system was not reliable. The system failed to connect to the arresting barrier several times causing near-catastrophic accidents. The Navy refused delivery of any further aircraft until the problem was corrected. Payments to the aircraft manufacturer were also stopped. This problem had the potential to be of great loss of revenue to the manufacturer.
Assumptions:
• The Navy expected a fast response to resolve the problem.
• An engineering project was established to redesign and deliver a modified tail hook system.
• Navy quality expectations were very high.
• The project engineering team members are competent.
Prompt
Respond to the following questions pertaining to the principles of project management during the project execution phase:
Since the engineers are competent and the work is within their field:

1. How closely do you think the project manager should monitor their progress during the redesign project and why?
2. It’s clear that something is off and may be due to shortcomings in planning, or a failure to follow the plan. What are some specific areas or deliverables (outputs) from previous processes during the creation of the Project Management Plan that the PM should review? Also, what should be done if it is determined the plan’s elements are good but execution by the team was poor, and vice versa?