Backtalk: To solve Air Force’s ‘fighter gap,’ buy Navy Super Hornets

[unhappycamper]

To solve Air Force’s ‘fighter gap,’ buy Navy Super Hornets
By Robert F. Dorr

Air Force leaders say the service faces a “fighter gap” soon.

Testifying April 19 in the Senate, Lt. Gen. Daniel Darnell dropped the bomb that the Air Force faces a deficit of “over 800 fighters between 2017 and 2024.”

The shortfall has many causes. Although progress is being made containing cost increases for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, its low production rate means delays. The F-22 Raptor and JSF are costlier than fighters used by other air forces.

~snip~

Bob Gower, a Boeing vice president, told me Boeing has offered to solve the Navy’s fighter shortfall by adding 170 Super Hornets to the planned total. If the Navy agrees, Gower said the service can acquire the added Super Hornets for a “bargain” price of $49.9 million apiece.

That’s 30 percent less than a Super Hornet costs now and roughly a third of the price of an F-22, excluding research and development costs.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/community/opinion/airforce_backtalk_superhornets_051908/



uhc comment: Just for shits and giggles, let's add in F-22 research and development costs. That makes the cost of Super Hornet only one seventh of an F-22.