U.S. To Buy More Hornets

The Pentagon has announced it will buy 124 more Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets between now and 2013.

“This decision is a tremendous win for our men and women in uniform, taxpayers, and America’s defense industrial base,” said Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who along with the rest of the Missouri delegation, has been one of the program’s biggest boosters, along with other lawmakers from Missouri. Not surprisingly, that’s where Boeing’s defense operations are based.

Bond, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), Rep. Todd Akin (R) and Rep. Russ Carnahan (D)  celebrated by bringing a simulator of the jet to Capitol Hill.

Congress and Boeing, which makes the Super Hornet and the EA18-G Growler, an electronic attack variant, have pushed the Pentagon hard to buy these jets in bulk, arguing that the a multi-year buy will save money, support the industrial base and keep a shortage of fighter jets from worsening.

Last year, the Pentagon declined to sign on to a multi-year deal that Congress had authorized, trying to pave the way for a new fleet of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the decks of aircraft carriers. But since that decision, the Joint Strike Fighter has encountered problems with development that sent the cost soaring over its previous $300 billion price tag and delayed the schedule.

“The Navy’s decision to enter into a multiyear contract will save nearly $600 million over the life of the contract,” said Rep. Buck McKeon (Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. “These are real savings that can be reinvested back into our national security priorities.

“Until the Joint Strike Fighter comes online and is deployed, our nation faces a requirements shortfall that must be mitigated. The Navy’s decision will help fill that gap.”

This will be great news for the ground pounders in Afghanistan, some of whom are on their sixth tour of duty in the war torn land and would just like to have a truck that won’t explode under them.