(Marine Corps Times) Backtalk: Close the fighter gap

[unhappycamper]

Close the fighter gap
By Todd Akin

“When word of crisis breaks out in Washington, it’s no accident the first question that comes to everyone’s lips is, ‘Where is the nearest carrier?’”

These oft-quoted words of many former presidents remain true today, but if our aircraft carriers did not have aircraft on them, would they remain such strategic assets? The answer is clearly no.

Unfortunately, we are facing this very situation in the near future, when two or more of our carriers will lack the aircraft they need.

As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I have closely followed the Navy’s plans for its next-generation aircraft carriers and the planes that will go on those carriers. While there are a number of types of planes on a carrier, arguably the most important are the fighter aircraft, a mix of older Boeing F/A-18 Hornets and newer F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, as well as the electronic attack EA-6B Prowlers that will be replaced by EA-18G Growlers. These Hornets and Super Hornets are flying missions around the world, keeping our service members safe and keeping our enemies on the run. (Sadly, an older Marine F/A-18D Hornet crashed Dec. 8 near Miramar, Calif. That incident remains under investigation.)

The Navy is not addressing the sizeable gap in its fighter aircraft inventory as older F/A-18 A-D Hornets retire before the aircraft carrier variant of the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter enters the fleet. The F-35C has not yet flown and is not scheduled to reach initial operational capability until 2015. At the same time, the Navy is planning to phase out production of F/A-18 Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers in 2013, with some suppliers beginning to shut down their production lines as early as 2010.


Rest of article at: http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/community/opinion/marine_backtalk_gap_011209/%2e



uhc comment: Besides the fact the replacement aircraft hasn't flown, it also costs $239,000,000 in 2008 dollars.

[Creideiki]

1. The high initial cost is due to rolling in the R&D costs to the first runs

eventually that amortizes out. (IIRC NSCI 100- and 200-level classes well enough and the math involved correctly...)