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Bill would give go-ahead to buy Super Hornets

Navy officials have not asked for more Super Hornets, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill may tell them to buy some anyway.

Citing concerns about the “strike-fighter gap,” the House Armed Services Committee last week inserted into its final version of the national defense authorization bill a provision giving the Navy permission to forge a multi-year contract with Boeing, maker of the Super Hornet.

“The committee supports procurement of additional F/A-18E/F aircraft to mitigate the naval strike-fighter inventory shortfall and believes that procurement of additional F/A-18E/F aircraft through a multi-year procurement contract is more cost effective and prudent than procuring new aircraft through an annual contract,” the final version of the bill said.

The bill was approved by the committee June 17 but still must be passed by the entire House of Representatives before moving toward the Senate and the White House.

The committee says the fighter gap is far larger than the Navy’s recent estimates. The committee said this year’s shortfall is 110 aircraft, the shortfall in 2010 will be 152 aircraft and the peak will be 312 — or about 30 percent of the fleet’s target size — by 2018.

“The committee believes such drastic shortfalls in strike-fighter inventory are unacceptable,” the bill said.

On the other hand, the Navy has estimated the fighter gap to range between 125 and 243, peaking about 2015.

The Navy has suggested it will spend about $25 million per aircraft to extend the life of the aging F/A-18 Hornets from 8,600 to 10,000 flight hours. New Super Hornets would cost about $50 million each.

Lawmakers are skeptical of that plan and have ordered the Congressional Budget Office to submit a report about the most cost-effective approach to increasing fighter jet capability in the coming years.