Political Quotes

“the requirement for the additional procurement of F/A-18C/D aircraft does not come from the industrial community and is not a result of trying to string out a program which has come to the end of its viable life. The requirement comes from the Department of the Navy and its own inventory requirements. According to the Director of Air Warfare for the Navy, a minimum of 436 F/A-18C/D aircraft are required to fill the 10 active carrier airwings. The Navy expects that without continued procurement, it will be 30 aircraft short of the CNO mandated and congressionally approved requirements. If we include the normal attrition factor into the equation, the gap grows even wider for even though the F/A-18 is the safest aircraft in tactical Naval aviation history, approximately eight aircraft per year are lost. The night-strike capabilities of the C/D are critical to the fighting effectiveness of our carriers and allow for the use of the full range of the Navy's current weapons inventory. These aircraft improve pilot situational awareness and survivability over their A/B model counterparts. They are also fully compatible with shipboard maintenance and diagnostic equipment. The F/A-18E/F aircraft is on schedule and cost and its performance exceeds expectations so far. So why do we need more C/D's? Because the procurement schedule of the E/F will not produce significant numbers of aircraft until 2009.”