Lockheed F-35 Dinged as Boeing's F-15X Wins in Air Force's Plan

[jpak]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-18/lockheed-f-35-dinged-as-boeing-s-f-15x-wins-in-air-force-s-plan

The U.S. Air Force outlined a five-year plan that showed the extent of the Pentagon’s push to bring back Boeing Co.’s F-15 fighter in an upgraded version, a $7.8 billion investment that would jump from eight of the planes next year to 18 each year through 2024.

While Lockheed Martin Corp.’s newer F-35 would get $37.5 billion over the five years, the more advanced plane would still take a hit. The service now plans to buy 48 F-35s each year from fiscal 2021 through 2023 instead of the 54 previously planned.

A week after President Donald Trump presented his proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins in October, the Air Force spelled out a longer-range five-year plan on Monday that’s sure to set off fierce congressional debate, including over the plan to buy 80 F-15X models and slow the trajectory of the F-35. That debate already has begun.

“As our nation’s only fifth-generation stealth fighter being built today, an investment in additional production and support for the F-35 fighter fleet is critical to ensuring the U.S. maintains air superiority,” five senators said in a letter last month.

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and this...

US Navy awards Boeing $4 billion F-18 production contract

The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $4 billion contract to produce 78 new F/A-18 aircraft, the Department of Defense said.

The ceiling priced $4,040,458,297 contract converts a previous advanced acquisition contract to a fixed-price-incentice-firm-target multi-year contract to deliver 78 aircraft.

“This modification provides for the full-rate production and delivery of 78 F/A-18 aircraft, specifically 61 F/A-18E and 17 F/A-18F aircraft for fiscal years 2018 through 2021,” the Pentagon said in a Wednesday, March 20 release.

Work is expected to be completed in April 2024.

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Gee - is there any former Boeing CEO's in the Pentagon?

[Socal31]

1. This is what the investigation is about.

But the F-35 procurement is healthy.

[Aristus]

2. I always wondered why they didn't take proven aircraft, the F-14's, F-15's, F-16's, and FA-18's,

and just produce new airframes with updated flight, guidance, and weapons technology. It think it would be a lot more economical in the long run.

[Pope George Ringo II]

3. I know enough to be dangerous here.

Sometimes you have things like the F-14's titanium wingboxes which are really expensive to manufacture. Sometimes you have avionics which are staggeringly difficult to reconcile with the current state of the art--believe it or not, this actually applies to the F-22. Sometimes it's hard to come up with engines to fit the airframe. Sometimes you assume a replacement is around the corner and it never arrives so you lose thirty years it could have had more efficient engines--see the B-52. Sometimes you would need to manufacture the tools before you could make the plane--another one for even the F-22. The studies on re-starting the F-22 production line are very informative on the subject generally because it's so fresh.

And it bears mentioning that none of the 4th generation aircraft are really "first day" combat aircraft against even a "near peer" power at this point. They're all about 40 years old, and it shows. It's one thing for the Air Force to have a fleet just for bombing third-world countries, but space is at such a premium on carriers so we really can't justify sending it around the world. And honestly, I doubt any of us would be proud of having a fleet of aircraft whose sole purpose was bombing third world countries.

I'm sure there's an authoritative answer out there, but that's what hits me on first glance.

[Aristus]

5. I think you're right about most of it.

Certainly the practicality of 're-tooling' factories to produce specific designs. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking any factory can produce any product.

I don't think it's undue cynicism on my part to note that it seems all we ever do anymore is bomb Third World countries. We never pick on people we think will fight back. And we're so indignant when they do. "HOW DARE THEY?"

Look how quickly the Iraqi people went from 'those poor oppressed people that we have to rescue' to terrorists the moment they started fighting back against the 2003 blitzkrieg.

[Blue_Tires]

6. For starters...

1. The F-14D was called "The Ferrari of the Navy" for a reason... Yeah the performance was stellar but she could be a fickle, temperamental garage queen and her maintenence cost per flight hour was like triple of the Super Hornet's iirc...

2. F-15 and F-16 aren't going anywhere because they're way too capable... The F-35 gives the USAF the freedom to slot them into more specific roles

3. Nothing's wrong with the Super Hornet, either... But as militaries are fond of saying, you need the tools to fight tomorrow's war and not today's...

[GoCubsGo]

4. Just the acting Secretary of Defense.

Funny how that works, eh? Nothing to see here. Move along.