An internal Northrop Grumman presentation inadvertently posted on the public Internet provides a rare glimpse of the F/A-18 program's current manufacturing challenges and sales prospects over the next decade.
A cached snapshot of the 53-page presentation, dated 12 March 2008, has been preserved by the Google search engine on this web site:
http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache:Q0nQkNCXX64J:https://oasis.northgrum.com/general/
docs/F-18EF_Supplier_Symposium031208.pdf+site:com+f-35+proprietary+ppt&hl=en&ct=
clnk&cd=15&gl=uk
(WARNING: Link contains presentation marked "proprietary level 1" by Northrop.)
Most illuminating is a slide revealing a potential delivery profile of new F/A-18E/Fs and EA-18Gs from 2006 to 2019. The chart reveals a proposal for an 18-aircraft plus-up by the USN in fiscal 2010 and 2011, and estimates a 100-aircraft buy in a third multi-year procurement deal that is currently under negotiation.
The slide also details the Boeing/Northrop strategy for winning sales from Australia and Canada -- two members of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development partnership. Northrop projects possible further Australian orders for 6 EA-18Gs in 2013 and 24 F/A-18E/Fs from 2014-17. Canada is also listed as a potential buyer from 2015 to 2018 of 24 F/A-18E/Fs.
In some cases, Northrop's projections are already out-dated or curiously incomplete. Neither Brazil nor Denmark are listed on the slide as potential F/A-18 customers, despite Boeing's ongoing sales campaigns in both countries. Boeing has since decided to withdraw from the contract competition in Switzerland.
"Potential" F/A-18E/F and EA-18G delivery profile
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
| US Navy (F/A-18E/F) | 37 | 27 | 16 | 9 | ||||||||
| US Navy + UP (F/A-18E/F) | 4 | 14 | ||||||||||
| US Navy (EA-18G) | 7 | 14 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| US Navy FY10-13 MYP3 | 9 | 32 | 30 | 24 | 5 | |||||||
| Australia | 10 | 12 | 2 | |||||||||
| Australia Follow-on (EA-18G) | 6 | |||||||||||
| Australia Follow-on (F/A-18E/F) | 6 | 10 | 8 | |||||||||
| Japan | 5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| India | 2 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 22 | 22 | 10 | ||||
| Greece | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||||||||
| Switzerland | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | |||||||
| Kuwait | 6 | 8 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||
| Bulgaria | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||
| Malaysia | 8 | |||||||||||
| Canada | 6 | 8 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||
| Total | 44 | 51 | 54 | 54 | 64 | 86 | 92 | 75 | 51 | 39 | 24 | 10 |
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