>>We are screwed if we don’t get the next strike fighter fielded in a timely fashion.<<
We already have it: The F/A 18 (or E/A 18 of people want to label the increment).
The Super Hornet owns her mission sky already.
Super hornet gets out-run by almost any fighter fielded by the Russians. An old F/A-18 can run away from it. We got sold a bill of goods on this one.
An admiral in the program was quoted in “Flying” Magazine as saying the “super” hornet is superior in all ways EXCEPT acceleration, top speed, and turning ability.
When we got rid of the F-14, and the intruder based tankers, the strike radius of carriers dropped drastically. It’s so bad that the Indians are insisting on more powerful engines than the USN version of the “super” hornet.
Not for the Marine Corps it doesn't and the Super Hornet's performance is nowhere near that of the fighter it was supposed to replace, the F-14.