When it comes to future tech I look to NAVAIR to see what they're doing and what they're buying.
Looks like they're buying E/A-18G Growlers.
It kinda makes sense. We've been hearing grumblings that old fashioned airwarfare is out. Electronic warfare is the new "coin of the realm"...that Growlers will be the heavy hitters when naval aviators go at it again. So the news isn't a surprise. Check this out from the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
One of the St. Louis area’s biggest assembly lines may be getting a new lease on life.55 million dollars per plane.
The Navy is considering buying 36 more F/A-18 Super Hornets, according to a notice posted this month on a federal procurement website. That move would sustain 5,000 jobs building the fighter jets at Boeing Co. in Hazelwood and suppliers around the St. Louis area for at least an additional 18 months.
The Super Hornet is the Navy’s premier fighter jet, but it’s nearing the end of its production line as the service begins to shift over to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The Navy’s last order is set to be made in the current fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, 2014, with the last plane due for delivery in 2016.
But amid Pentagon budget cuts and delays to the F-35 program, Boeing has been pitching the Super Hornet as a cheaper and more reliable alternative. And it appears the Navy may be listening.
Earlier this month, the Naval Air Services Command quietly posted a “pre-solicitation” notice on a federal contracting website, declaring its intent to “solicit and negotiate” a fixed-price contract for 36 more F/A-18 Super Hornets and E/A-18 Growlers. At $55 million per plane, the contract would cost roughly $2 billion.
I'm more convinced than ever that the Super Hornet is the plane the Marine Corps needs (at least for its carrier mission) AND can afford. Upgrades both in the open and classified should keep it competitive. Besides. The mission is to support the Marine on the ground. Not to fight the deep air battle tagging behind the USAF.
If leadership and Marine Air forget that, then Marine Air is doomed. The Corps will survive, Marine Air won't. And if they're not supporting Marine Ground then why do we need them?
