Amy Butler has a tantalizing article hidden behind a pay wall that gives the impression that the US Navy is about to jump on the Ultra Hornet.
After years of courting from afar, Boeing seems to finally have caught the U.S. Navy's attention—and support—for a series of upgrades for the F/A-18E/F designed to improve its stealthiness and keep it relevant against threats well beyond 2030.If it is what it appears to be then NAVAIR and the Carrier Mafia have just revealed their chips and my thinking is confirmed.
With 25 hr. of flight time on new, stealthy F/A-18 fuel tanks and more upgrade trials planned, the company has shed any pretense of targeting the Defense Department.
NAVAIR was chilled out, laughing their asses off at the USMC and USAF.
Seriously though. What it means is that the Navy will fight to keep its carriers and squadrons. The Chief Of Naval Operations has been pushing one concept over all others...Presence. The different Combatant Commanders will insist that carriers are needed and that eight are too few. China threat gurus will state the same. Air-Sea Battle just hit its first bump...are aircraft carriers necessary to fight the anti-access threats or is stealth the uber tool that proponents claim. Either way, the battle over the F-35 just headed out to sea.
