Free Republic

Another multimillion-dollar F/A-18 Super Hornet has been lost from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, marking the second such catastrophic incident in barely a week. According to multiple sources speaking to CNN, the latest jet went down in the Red Sea following what appears to be an arresting gear malfunction during landing. The pilot and weapons systems officer were forced to eject and were later rescued, suffering only minor injuries. But the jet, valued at over $60 million, now rests on the ocean floor — unrecovered and unrecoverable. This isn’t an isolated incident. Just last week, another F/A-18 fighter...

Lockheed’s strategy of basing its F-35 marketing strategy on its “stealth” capabilities is beginning to backfire as their effectiveness is being increasingly challenged by competitors and outside analysts. (RAAF photo) Boeing has been loudly criticising Lockheed Martin’s F-35 in hopes that the Navy and other clients will buy more of its EA-18G Growlers for support and F/A-18 Super Hornets as contingency. Developed in a Joint Strike Fighter contract that Lockheed won over Boeing in 2001, the F-35 is wildly over budget and has run into various design problems. Chief among them, according to Boeing, is the weakness of its stealth...

Boeing Co. could get a chance to sell its St. Louis-built F/A-18 Super Hornet to India after the administration of President George W. Bush reversed a 15-year ban and agreed to supply F-16 fighter jets to neighboring Pakistan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently said U.S. defense companies will be allowed to bid on India's expected request for information on advanced fighter jets. "If the F/A-18 is one of those airplanes, Boeing is pleased that the U.S. would allow us to compete," Boeing spokesman Tom Young said Monday. "But until we understand what those requirements are, it's premature to speculate...