Conferees face multiyear fighter decision
Differing approaches to procuring Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets could become an issue during House-Senate negotiations on defense policy bill.
Both the House and Senate are eager to buy more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the Navy, but their different approaches for procuring the carrier-based fighter jets could set up a battle during conference negotiations on the fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill.
Amid concerns about a looming strike fighter shortfall that will plague the Navy until 2025, the Senate last week included in its version of the authorization measure an additional $560 million for nine more Super Hornets than requested by the Pentagon.
The House-passed bill authorizes funding for the nine Super Hornets in the budget request. But it also gives the Navy authority to enter into a multiyear procurement deal with Boeing Co., the plane's maker, and includes a $108 million down payment for additional jets after next year.
The Senate traditionally has been more skeptical than the House of multiyear deals, which commit future congresses to continue funding programs.
In June, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., said he is unsure whether the multiyear proposal would generate substantial savings, as is required, despite Boeing's assertions it would save 10 percent.
In its report on the authorization bill, the Senate left the door open to a multiyear deal but stressed that it "must fully comply" with the law.
House Armed Services Seapower Subcommittee ranking member Todd Akin, R-Mo., said Friday he would fight for the House's language when the two chambers sit down to negotiate differences in the bills.
"In my opinion, it's best for the nation, best for the Navy and best for the budget to do the multiyear," said Akin, whose district is near Boeing's defense headquarters in St. Louis.
But supporters of the Super Hornet hope they may be able to both increase the number of fighters procured next year while securing a multiyear deal, congressional aides said.
Indeed, the House Appropriations Committee last week included nine additional Super Hornets for a total of 18 in its fiscal 2010 Defense Appropriations bill and inserted the $108 million down payment in the next multiyear deal. The House plans to consider that bill as early as Wednesday.
The Navy expects its strike fighter shortfall will reach 69 aircraft in 2017 and continue in lesser numbers until 2025, when the carrier-based version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is expected to come fully into service.
However, problems with extending the lives of the older fleet of Hornets could exacerbate the problem.
To mitigate the effects of the fighter shortage, Boeing has been pushing hard for the multiyear deal, which would give the company and its suppliers more stability and allow them to cut costs.
They have given the Navy an unsolicited offer for a multiyear deal that would include buying 149 Super Hornets over the next five years at a cost of $49.9 million apiece. The current deal on the Super Hornets expires this year.
The Navy has long planned to buy 89 more of the fighters over the next three years through a traditional procurement process, although the program's future hinges on the Pentagon's ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review of military plans and requirements.
"Our ability to predict how aircraft would be procured is not great, but it's clear to us that additional aircraft will be procured," Bob Gower, vice president of Boeing's F/A-18 programs, said in a recent interview. "I've personally never been more convinced that more F-18s ... will be procured."