With F-35 failings comes more Super Hornets for the Navy

The U.S. Navy is considering buying more Super Hornets.

The reason is obvious; Supers work.

They also beat the F-35C, in that the Super gives a joint operational commander something they would actually want; including always leaving the deck with a gun.

This quote from the article is in error:

F-35s could cost up to $125 million each, according to one defence aviation analyst, while Super Hornets cost “in the mid-$50 million range,” according to Boeing’s website.

Double that for the F-35C and you may be close. 12 years after contract award it is yet to show any credible mission systems or prove that it will be "affordable"'; one of the main reasons for it to exist.

So far, the U.S. taxpayer has thrown close to $60B at the Just So Failed.

For no return on investment.

Also neither the F-35C nor the Super have the F-22's ability to survive in anti-access battles vs. emerging threats.

Something the fan-base "journalism" crew is yet to understand.

With the shrinking of available aircraft carriers, comes the shrinking of needed carrier air wings.

Yet another log to throw on to the F-35 procurement death spiral.

“I don’t think it affects their confidence in the technology or performance, it’s more of a schedule and unit-cost issue,” he says.

Rate that as: not believable.



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-Time's Battleland - 5 Part series on F-35 procurement - 2013 
-Summary of Air Power Australia F-35 points
-Aviation Week (ARES blog) F-35 posts (2007 to present)
-U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) F-35 reports
-F-35 JSF: Cold War Anachronism Without a Mission
-History of F-35 Production Cuts
-Looking at the three Japan contenders (maneuverability)
-How the Canadian DND misleads the public about the F-35
-Value of STOVL F-35B over-hyped
-Cuckoo in the nest--U.S. DOD DOT&E F-35 report is out
-6 Feb 2012 Letter from SASC to DOD boss Panetta questioning the decision to lift probation on the F-35B STOVL.
-USAFs F-35 procurement plan is not believable
-December 2011 Australia/Canada Brief
-F-35 Key Performance Perimeters (KPP) and Feb 2012 CRS report
-F-35 DOD Select Acquisition Report (SAR) FY2012
-Release of F-35 2012 test report card shows continued waste on a dud program
-Australian Defence answers serious F-35 project concerns with "so what?"
-Land of the Lost (production cut history update March 2013)
-Outgoing LM F-35 program boss admits to flawed weight assumptions (March 2013)

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