Posted on 05/30/2010 7:24:44 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy are having a major disagreement over how much it will cost to operate the new F-35 fighter. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff aircraft, or an F-18C fighter aircraft. These two aircraft are being replaced, on carriers, with the F-35. It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (480 will be bought to replace navy F-18Cs) and the F-35B (340 will replace marine F-18s and AV-8s). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) Like the F-22, which recently had production capped at less than 200 aircraft, the capabilities, as superior as they were, are not believed, by many admirals, to justify the much higher costs of the F-35. The navy believes it has the option to just buy more F-18Es, and keep refurbishing, or even building more of, the AV-8. Politics, and lobbying by the F-35 manufacturer, will probably keep the F-35 headed for fleet service, no matter what the cost. But the navy has some real budget problems, with there being insufficient cash to build needed ships. The navy is sufficiently concerned about the operating costs, to go public with their complaints. The air force responded, both privately (using classified operating data) and publicly (not saying much at all, other than that the navy position was incorrect.) The navy has history on its side, as the real costs are generally higher than the original estimates. The navy is seriously considering fewer F-35s, with the earlier introduction of jet propelled combat UAVs. The air force is not amused.
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And they would know this how? Not one C model has flown yet so all of these number are estimates at best.
You are correct. They are estimates.
Perhaps they should delay the retirement of serviceable ships instead of replacing them with new ones.
To be fair, the F-18 is probably the high water mark in terms of operational cost efficiency. It was designed to be cheap to operate. I’d like to see what the cost per hour would be today for the F-14.
I agree. The Navy should seriously consider the F-14 Tomcat
I’ve often wondered if the rising cost of the F-35 is partly the result of trying to make the design a “one size fits all” aircraft. Each service branch that wants it has different requirements, to say nothing of our allies interested in buying the JSF. I would think meeting those expectations without building a mediocre “Jack of all trades” aircraft has to be adding to the overall cost.
Just speculation on my part, of course.
History tells us that an aircraft designed to do everything will do nothing really well.
Design an aircraft to the optimum for one specific role, and then after you are done, see if it will adapt to different roles. See the F-16 Falcon for an example.
At the other end of the spectrum, see the F-111 for how NOT to design an aircraft.
Your speculation is correct. This has been disastrously tried before by McNamara. Was a complete mess and it took the air force decades to make it work and by then it was obsolete.
They know what the cost of each plane will be, they know the cost of fuel, scheduled maintenance etc. Probably a pretty educated guess.
................... It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (480 will be bought to replace navy F-18Cs) and the F-35B (340 will replace marine F-18s and AV-8s). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) ....................
And just how much more did it cost to purchase, etc. the F-18 than the plane it replaced????
But, not to worry, Pelosi and Zer0 have told us that the US can afford to have guns and butter, and butter, and butter, and more butter, because the One has made the world such a safe environment, with no-one wishing to harm us.
And, furthermore, think of how much money we’ll save by getting rid of all our disgusting nucs!!!
funny how new planes are designed to be cheaper to operate than their replacement, end up costing alot more
I’m not familiar with the pace of development of unmannered drones - but at some point their capability is going to increase to the point where they will be quite cost effective in comparison. Aren’t they launching them off carriers now?
They have not tested the F-35 off carriers,yet.
Also keep in mind that the F-35 is a single engine aircraft, compared to the F-18 which has two engines. Only one engine tends to make the aircraft cheaper to operate.
The Navy agreed to buy F-35s, agreed to the program, and had played their role in making decisions and getting the purchasing schedule that has been agreed. The Navy’s funding problems doesn’t mean that they can screw up all the other services.
Making new aircraft is a risky business. Cost estimates are often wrong. The government has set up a buying program that demands that cost estimates be made a certain way, taking some credit for things that are expected, but not necessarily proven, and requires an expensive set of tests to prove the expected qualities. By definition, historical numbers don’t take into account changes in system design.
The only thing real about the JSF is its price tag.
It has jumped to $135 million dollars per plane and the Dutch Government has bowed out of the project because of the price tag.
Why did the Navy sign up for a single engine aircraft? Historically, they’ve gone for two engines: F-4, A-6, F-14, F/A-18. The A-7 would seem to be the only prior aberration from this theme.
A-4 and AV-8
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