So, Boeing is claiming acquisition of the F/A-18F Super Hornet will be 1.7 billion less than the JSF. Factor in inflation for maintenance & fuel costs while using the CF-18s as a gauge that basically comes to 20 billion over 40 years to operate the Super Hornet. So my question is, where is the $23 billion dollar savings Boeing touted to the CBCs Terry Milewski before the summer of 2013? If Canada purchases the F/A-18F we will need 2 seaters for training while the JSF is only simulator based. Two seaters cost money too! This illustrates an F/A-18F purchase will NEED to exceed 65 jets by likely double IMO.. How much is Electronic Warfare or upgrades to Growlers capabilities on the F/A-18F going to cost us? Has the CBC or our media even mentioned this to voters? EW capability is what gives the Super Hornet a stealth package which is a MUST patrolling the arctic. The calculation to alter the F/A-18F to an EA-18 Growler is 65 million per jet in FY2012 dollars. Well, so much for the 1.7 billion savings Boeing is offering. Ten Growler aircraft will cost Canada an additional 650 million in acquisition. Finally, the `Death Spiral`is actually affecting the Super Hornet more than the JSF. If you don`t have customers for too long a period of time, your prices rise! The USN is the F/A-18F`s ONLY customer for future contracts. The three Eurofighters are killing the F/A-18F far far worse than they are hurting the JSF! By the time Canada has its election & scrabbles around some more it`s very likely that the F-35 will ramp up to its maximum annual turnout capability leading to a cheaper per unit cost. By that time the F-35 just might make the Super Hornet a bad choice.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 22:47:55 +0000
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