F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet"

The Super Hornet is a larger, more powerful version of the Navy's current F/A-18 multi-role fighter. The updated version is expected to carry a larger weapons load, but also be as maneuverable as the current version. Boeing-McDonnell Douglas is the prime contractor, while General Electric (engines) and Northrop are major subcontractors. The pre-QDR Navy plan was to buy 1,000 aircraft at a total program cost of $81 billion, or an average cost of $81 million per aircraft. Post-QDR procurement will be between 548 and 785, depending on the progress of the Joint Strike Fighter.

A recent GAO report stated that testing has shown that the Super Hornet will not meet key performance goals which were used to justify its development as a replacement for the original F/A-18 In particular, the F/A-18E/F win not achieve the increased range goals specified in the design contract. The Navy's own reports show that the Super Hornet's flight performance was only marginally (15%) better than its predecessor in several categories, and was actually inferior in several others.

PROGRAM COSTS – The total program cost is currently estimated at $47.0 billion for 548 aircraft, or $86 million per plane.

PROGRAM STATUS – Low rate initial production has already been funded for 62 aircraft. Production of the aircraft began in FY 1997, and current plans call for an initial operational capability (IOC) in FY 2001. Twelve aircraft were funded in FY 1997, 20 in FY 1998, 30 in FY 1999 and 36 in FY 2000. The request for FY'01 is $3.1 billion for the purchase of 36 aircraft. Production is expected to reach a peak rate of 48 aircraft per year in FY 2002.

On June 15, 2000, Boeing Corporation was awarded a multi-year contract for the production of 222 Super Hornets. The contract, which runs from FY'00 through FY'04, is worth $8.9 billion dollars. The U.S. Navy estimates that the multi-year contract will save $700 million. The contract guarantees that 48 aircraft will be purchased in FY'02, but permits the Navy to purchase six more or fewer aircraft in successive years, in order to provide budgetary flexibility. At the expected peak rate of 48 aircraft per year, the Navy will have purchased 524 Super Hornets by FY'09, with the 548th aircraft, the last of the currently planned fleet, to be purchased in FY 2010.

CDI RESOURCES

CDI's Weekly Defense Monitor

• Navy's Super Hornet Suffers Setback, Volume 1, Issue #21, December 11, 1997.
• The F-14: Teaching an Old "'Cat'" New Tricks, Volume 1, Issue #6, August 21, 1997.

OTHER RESOURCES

• GAO: Defense Acquisitions: Progress of the F/A-18E/F Engineering and Manufacturing Development Program, June 15, 1999, (17 pages plus 3 appendices [10 pages]) , NSAID-99-127   
• GAO: Defense Acquisition: Progress of the F-22 and F/A-18E/F Engineering and Manufacturing Development Programs, by Louis J. Rodrigues, Director of Defense Acquisitions Issues, before the Subcommittee on Airland Forces, Senate Committee on Armed Services, Mar. 17, 1999 (20 pages), T-NSIAD-99-113
• GAO: Navy Aviation: F/A-18E/F Development and Production Issues, Mar. 13, 1998 (39 pages), NSIAD-98-61
• GAO: Navy Aviation: F/A-18E/F will Provide Marginal Operational Improvement at High Cost, June 18, 1996 (101 pages), NSIAD-96-98, http://www.gao.gov/AIndexFY96/abstracts/ns96098.htm
• GAO: F/A-18E/F Production Decision Should be Delayed, Mar. 4, 1997, NSAID-97-106R.
• GAO: "Navy Aviation: F-14 Modernization Initiatives Should Enhance the Aircraft's Operational Performance" NSIAD-97-233R
• GAO: Naval Aviation: F-14 Upgrades Are Not Adequately Justified, October 19, 1994, (10 pages), NSIAD-95-12.

LINKS TO RELATED SITES

• The Navy's Super Hornet Homepage
• The Navy's F/A-18 "Fact File"
• The Federation of American Scientists' F/A-18 Fact Sheet
• Boeing Corporation's F/A-18E/F Homepage

For more information, e-mail Christopher Hellman.

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