This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 28, 2011 - WASHINGTON - Like a strike fighter aircraft that averts danger from all directions as it heads toward its mission, the political agility of the Boeing Corp.'s F/A-18 Super Hornet program is being tested as it maneuvers through congressional budget-cutters, dodges errant flak from the Missouri legislature and hones in on foreign sales.
The mission: selling enough Super Hornet strike fighters to maintain profitability and keep open the production line. And the stakes are high in the St. Louis region, where about 5,000 Boeing workers support the production line of the Super Hornet and the related EA-18G Growler.
Boeing Aircraft
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a combat-proven strike fighter with built-in versatility. Its suite of integrated and networked systems provides enhanced interoperability, total force support for the combat commander and for troops on the ground.
The EA-18G Growler, being delivered to the U.S. Navy, will be the cornerstone of the naval Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) mission. Derived from the F/A-18F aircraft, the EA-18G incorporates advanced AEA avionics bringing capability for suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and non-traditional electronic attack operations.
So far this year, the Super Hornet and Growler programs have escaped the congressional budget slashers, although the spectre of across-the-board Pentagon cuts would loom if the deficit-reduction "super committee" fails to come up with a plan -- or if Congress doesn't approve it -- by Christmas. No one knows yet how specific military procurement programs like the Super Hornet would be affected
Both the U.S. House and Senate defense appropriations measures match the White House budget request of about $2.3 billion for 28 Super Hornets and $1 billion for 12 Growlers in the fiscal year that started this month. While the separate-track defense authorization bills differ -- with U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood, complaining this week that the Senate version calls for eight fewer Super Hornets than the House version -- U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., says the appropriations mark is the more important number.
A Boeing spokesman in St. Louis, Philip Carder, told the Beacon that the company "will not address specific congressional budget deliberations as they are ongoing." But he said Boeing is "prepared to continue to deliver future Super Hornets and Growlers on-budget and ahead of schedule," as has been done so far.
Last fall, the Navy awarded Boeing a $5.3 billion multi-year procurement contract for 124 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft. Under its terms, Boeing is scheduled to deliver 66 Super Hornets and 58 Growlers to the Navy from 2012 through 2015. Even so, to keep those purchases on schedule, Congress must continue to appropriate the money to buy the aircraft.
On Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon, the Hornet's biggest competition comes from Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter program, which has been plagued by delays, performance questions and huge cost overruns. In February, the Pentagon estimated that each of the F-35s to be acquired next year would cost about $207 million -- with the cost rising to $304 million apiece if the aircraft's share of research and development spending is factored into the estimate.
Related designs of the radar-evading F-35 have been designed to replace three different military aircraft -- the F-16, A-10, and earlier versions of the F/A-18 -- but not necessarily the high-tech Super Hornets or the AV-8B tactical fighter aircraft.
Last month, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said he was still committed to the F-35 program over the long term. "Modernizing our aging ... fighter force depends on the fifth-generation capabilities of the Joint Strike Fighter," Donley told a convention of the Air Force Association.
But other Pentagon officials -- trying to figure out how to cut about $350 billion in national security spending over the next decade as stipulated by the August deficit-reduction law -- were looking at an option of further postponing production of 100 F-35 fighter jets as part of a five-year defense plan. The program has already been restructured twice in the last couple of years. That decision is expected by December.
That is why the Missouri House's approval earlier this month of a resolution that called on Congress to fully fund production of the F-35 -- and indirectly criticizing the Super Hornet (although not by name) and other current-generation aircraft as "aging and obsolete aircraft" -- sparked criticism from lawmakers trying to advance the Super Hornet in Congress.
After a bipartisan group of officials, including Gov. Jay Nixon, McCaskill and Akin, criticized the resolution, Republican House leaders issued public or private apologies and moved to adopt a new resolution praising the Super Hornet.
Super Hornet and Super Committee
A major argument made by Super Hornet supporters on Capitol Hill is that the aircraft -- assembled at Boeing's facility in Hazelwood -- is less expensive than the F-35, thoroughly battle-tested and always delivered on time.
McCaskill has been highly critical of the F-35 program, condemning it recently as the "poster child of a bloated, out-of-control, over-budget, behind-schedule aircraft." While a Super Hornet costs about $50 million, an F-35 can cost three or four times that amount, depending on the model and the production schedule.
"A strong case can be made on the merits, that in terms of capability and price, that the F/A-18 -- in this budget climate -- should be our fighter jet of choice," McCaskill told Beacon political reporter Jo Mannies on Friday.
Akin calls the Super Hornet "a critical asset for our defense." In a statement criticizing the Missouri House resolution backing the F-35, Akin said that the Super Hornet "has operated extensively in every major military engagement of the last 25 years and is critical to our national security. Without the Super Hornet, the Navy's carriers would be suffering a tremendous shortfall in its fighter inventory."
In a mini-dispute among Hornet backers, Akin -- who is running for the Republican nomination to oppose McCaskill next year -- accused the senator of "failing to defend" the aircraft in the Senate Armed Services Committee, which he alleged "jeopardizes Missouri jobs and threatens our national defense capabilities."
Both Akin and McCaskill are senior Armed Services members who chair a subcommittee -- in Akin's case, the seapower panel, while McCaskill's chairs a readiness and management subcommittee.
Akin told the Beacon that the Senate Armed Services committee approved "eight [Super Hornets] short of where we were on the House side." But he conceded that the separate Senate Appropriations Committee's defense spending bill funded 28 Super Hornets. According to a committee summary, the Senate defense appropriations bill, which allocates the funding, includes $2.27 billion to buy 28 Super Hornets. That is close to the House-passed appropriation of $2.3 billion for the same number of aircraft.
McCaskill dismissed such criticism, telling Mannies that the appropriations level is a stronger mark for the Super Hornet in the Senate. She said that talks in support of F/A-18 spending levels already were underway as senators waited for the House authorization bill, which she said was loaded with earmarks.
While matching funding in the House and Senate appropriations bills is important, the wild card on Capitol Hill is the super committee -- officially, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction -- that was created by the deficit-reduction compromise in August.
It is charged with recommending at least $1.5 trillion in additional deficit-reduction steps over 10 years by November 23; that package would then be submitted for votes in Congress by Christmas. But if the super committee is unable to agree on such a proposal -- or Congress fails to approve it -- a "trigger mechanism" would automatically be activated, cutting $1.2 trillion. Half of those cuts would hit national security budgets, meaning the total security cuts over a decade about be about $900 billion.
Because the Super Hornet is less expensive and more dependable, McCaskill contended Friday, it is "in a stronger position, with our budget problems, than the (F-35) Strike Fighter." That may be especially true given the current Pentagon internal discussions of delaying the F-35 program.
But Akin seems more worried, not only about the Super Hornet but an array of other Pentagon programs. If the super committee fails and those automatic cuts are implemented, Akin -- who voted against the deficit deal in August that set up the super committee -- predicts that the cuts would cause "terrible destruction to the Department of Defense, to the point that they would be unable to accomplish a whole series of different missions that they plan for." He added: "Not only is the amount that would be cut a disaster, but the way it would be cutting -- across the board -- would make it twice as bad."
The Boeing Super Hornet spokesman, Carder, told the Beacon this week that "Boeing shares the concerns voiced by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other military leaders that deep cuts in military spending must be avoided to protect national security, preserve the U.S. defense industrial base and preserve the nation's global technological leadership."
But Carder added, "It is too early to determine what the specific implications of the deficit reduction measure will be for Boeing and the products and services we provide for our nation's security."
Carder said Boeing's "immediate focus is on the [fiscal year] 2012 budget and emphasizing the relevance of our programs and Boeing's performance in delivering them to the warfighter at the best value for taxpayers."
Because Boeing "has been anticipating flattening defense budgets for some time," Carder said that "in addition to our initiatives to maximize affordability and improve productivity and efficiency, we have been positioning the company for growth by focusing on increasing international opportunities, as well as moving into new markets and targeted adjacencies" -- such as unmanned systems, cyber security, energy management and support and logistics.
Foreign Hornet Sales Important, but Hiatus Likely
Foreign sales also have been important in maintaining the Hornet's production line in St. Louis, although there may be a hiatus in foreign orders until the next contract is negotiated.
On Oct. 21, Boeing delivered the last four of two dozen Super Hornets to the Royal Australian Air Force ahead of schedule. That contract, signed in March 2007, represented the first foreign sales of the aircraft. Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said in a statement that the company was proud that the Super Hornets had been delivered "on time and on budget."
This week, a Boeing spokesman told the Beacon that the Super Hornet is now in the running for potentially lucrative fighter-jet contracts in Brazil, Japan, Malaysia and unspecified "countries in the Middle East." But competitors -- mainly military aircraft manufacturers in France and Sweden -- are also being considered.
Shortly before President Barack Obama visited Brazil for talks in March, McCaskill sent letters to both Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Vana Rousseff extolling the virtues of the Super Hornet and committing herself to support Brazil's request for key aerospace technologies as part of a possible deal to buy Hornets.
The Super Hornet is considered to be one of the three main competitors for Brazil's next-generation FX-2 fighter aircraft program. Also in the running are France's Rafale fighter and an aircraft manufactured by Sweden's Saab. But Rousseff has asked for various concessions and technological help.
In her letter to Brazil's president, McCaskill wrote that "the United States government stands fully behind the potential sale of F/A-18 Super Hornets, and select accompanying technology, to the Brazilian Air Force. This transaction is an important step forward in strengthening the relationship between our two countries."