Here's a scary scenario for the Fort Worth crowd:
The US Navy, seeking to overcome a tactical aircraft shortfall that peaks in 2017, decides to buy 126 more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from 2011 to 2015. At the same time, the 8,000hr service life for 509 Hornets is extended by 600hr.
To offset that cost, 93 fewer F-35B/Cs are purchased between 2018 and 2023, reducing the navy and Marine Corps' Joint Strike Fighter order to 587 jets. The Navy thus replaces F/A-18C/Ds with AESA-equipped fighters, but loses a large fraction of its stealth inventory after 2020.
That scenario is contemplated under a new report released quietly last Friday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The report analyzes four scenarios for maintaining the navy's and marine corps' inventories of fighter aircraft. In the long run, the scenario that exchanges F-35s for Super Hornets costs $3.8 billion under a multi-year procurement approach. That's roughly half the long-run cost of executing a $7.7 billion program to extend the service life of about 60% of the existing Hornet fleet, and maintaining the F-35 plan.
But most intriguing about the CBO scenario described above is that it may already be happening. The CBO report says that buying the extra 126 Super Hornets would start next year by adding eight aircraft to the FY2011 budget request. That happens to be exactly the amount added by the House Armed Services Committee two weeks ago, which could become law if the Senate and appropriators agree.
The US Navy, seeking to overcome a tactical aircraft shortfall that peaks in 2017, decides to buy 126 more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from 2011 to 2015. At the same time, the 8,000hr service life for 509 Hornets is extended by 600hr.
To offset that cost, 93 fewer F-35B/Cs are purchased between 2018 and 2023, reducing the navy and Marine Corps' Joint Strike Fighter order to 587 jets. The Navy thus replaces F/A-18C/Ds with AESA-equipped fighters, but loses a large fraction of its stealth inventory after 2020.
That scenario is contemplated under a new report released quietly last Friday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The report analyzes four scenarios for maintaining the navy's and marine corps' inventories of fighter aircraft. In the long run, the scenario that exchanges F-35s for Super Hornets costs $3.8 billion under a multi-year procurement approach. That's roughly half the long-run cost of executing a $7.7 billion program to extend the service life of about 60% of the existing Hornet fleet, and maintaining the F-35 plan.
But most intriguing about the CBO scenario described above is that it may already be happening. The CBO report says that buying the extra 126 Super Hornets would start next year by adding eight aircraft to the FY2011 budget request. That happens to be exactly the amount added by the House Armed Services Committee two weeks ago, which could become law if the Senate and appropriators agree.
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