The U.S. Navy is reported to be looking to replace its F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets with new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. Both planes are built by Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), and if the Navy can make a strong argument to the Congress and the Trump administration, the appropriation needed to buy “dozens” of the Super Hornets could be included in the fiscal year 2018 budget.
According to a Saturday report from Reuters, “sources familiar with the Navy’s plans” attribute the plan to delivery delays in the carrier version of the Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35.
The Air Force plans to buy 1,773 of the F-35A fighters and Lockheed is looking forward to robust sales to international buyers of the Air Force variant of the plane. The Marine Corps variant of the plane, the F-35B, will achieve its initial operational capability (IOC) milestone in December, with the Navy variant, the F-35C, scheduled to achieve IOC by February 2019. All told, the services planned to buy 2,443 of the fighter jets.
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Boeing got some bad news last month when the Congress failed to include 12 Super Hornets in the fiscal year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. That could cause Boeing to experience gaps in its Super Hornet production line until recent foreign orders from Kuwait and Canada are finalized and slotted into the line.
Kuwait’s order could include up to 40 Super Hornets, and Canada last month cancelled its intended purchase of 65 F-35s, choosing instead to order 18 Super Hornets, until the country has time to complete a review of its needs for new fighter planes.
The U.S. Navy’s reported plan to purchase more Super Hornets could still be added to the 2017 budget as a supplemental authorization approved by congressional Republicans and the incoming Trump administration, which are both viewed as more amenable to defense spending.
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