The Air Force is going to keep flying and updating the F-15 for another couple of decades. They don’t have any choice. Bush & Crew have been intent on killing the Raptor program, and Obama seems like he’s advised by the “we won’t ever need an air superiority fighter” crowd. So with Raptor stuck at a little over 180 units, all eyes turn to JSF. But if the Air Force is only going to be buying 48 F-35s a year, it will be a couple or few decades before the F-15 can be retired.

What concerns me is the fact that they have said that one will be in service by the end of this year, how can they do that if the contract has only just been signed? It takes a lot of time to built a plane this size from scratch.

They may be planning on hopping the line. The USAF may be willing to be flexible in their own deliveries if the new buy will help the line stay open a little longer. I think I remember seeing that kind of talk regarding a possible Canadian order.

$11 million dollars per jet? What, are we going the European route and subsidizing our aircraft now? Because beyond that, there’s no way, given the way unions have screwed up our work force. Labor costs have doubled in the last decade, and they aren’t going to get cheaper.

Skilled labor doesn’t come cheap, whether it’s in unions or not. Nor do more complex materials, avionics, software, or basically all the other inputs that go into a modern fighter aircraft.

Isn’t the twin-engined procurement for an aircraft to use in the northern parts of the country?

There’s another requirement out there for medium transports to replace the C-130. Long-range strategic transport is also a big issue as the country wants to support missions overseas, but whether they could afford 3-4 C-17s is a big question. Then again, Hillier was talking about buying an amphibious ship not too long ago. That’s not too cheap, either.

Basically, the Super Hornet is on offer to any friendly nation who wants to buy it.

Can’t see it happening in the AF with every new fighter dollar is going to go to F-22 or JSF. That would require a major change in outlook.

CH-53K will probably end up a marine-only program, and I’d bet that they’d be interested in foreign participation only if the Euros were interested in piggybacking onto the existing plan. Time is of the essence for the marines, and they aren’t going to want to spend years dickering over various aspects of the program with a bunch of other players.