美 해군의 F/A-18 Super Hornet 추가 도입 소식...

 

미 해군이 Boeing 과 124대의 F/A-18 Super Hornet 도입 협상을 진행하고 있다는 로이터 통신의 최신 보도입니다.

 

2006년 미 해군은 Boeing 으로 부터 다년계약 조건으로 Super Hornet 1기당 4,990만$ 에 구입한 바 있으며, 이번 로이터 통신

보도에 의하면 오히려 5년전의 가격보다 내린 가격을 Boeing 이 제시한 것으로 볼 수 있습니다.

 

Boeing 은 다년계약 조건으로 10% 할인 해서 1기당 순수 기체가격은 4,000만$ 내외, 무장을 포함한 최종 가격은 약 5,000만$

선으로써, 이는 미 해군이 공식적으로 공개하고 있는 F/A-18 Super Hornet 1기당 가격 5,700만$ 보다도 낮은 가격입니다.또한

F-35 JSF 개발 일정이 지연될 경우, Super Hornet 에 대한 추가 구매조건도 계약서에 포함시킬 것 이라는 보도입니다.

 

미 의회의 최종 승인절차가 남아 있습니다만, 이러한 미 해군과 Boeing 의 Super Hornet 판매 협상에 대해서 향후 미 해군이

구입할 F-35 JSF 에 부정적인 영향을 끼칠 것이라는 의견도 덧붙이고 있습니다.

 

아래 소개하는 사진들은 지난 4월 22일 기존 항공유와 Bio연료를 50:50 으로 혼합 "Green Hornet" 이라는 이름으로 시험비행

하는 장면들 입니다.

 

두번째 사진에서 멀리 보이는 활주로는 Maryland 州 Patuxent River 해군기지 입니다. 앞서 소개한 바 있습니다만, 미 해군 및

해병대 소속 항공기들에 대한 성능시험평가를 담당하는 NAVAIR (Naval Air Systems Command) 사령부가 위치한 곳 입니다.

이번 Green Hornet 시험비행 역시 NAVAIR 에서 실시하고 있으며, F-35B STOVL 기에 대한 시험비행도 현재 저곳에서 열심히

진행 중입니다.

 

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UPDATE 1-US Navy proceeding with Boeing F/A-18 deal-sources

Thu, May 6 2010

 

* Pentagon leaders said satisfied by 10 pct price cut

* Multiyear deal ensures St Louis production through 2013

* Gives Navy options if Lockheed's F-35 delayed further

 

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

 

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy plans to proceed with a multiyear deal to buy 124 Boeing Co <BA.N> F/A-18 fighter jets after securing a 10 percent price cut that satisfied top Pentagon leaders, sources familiar with the decision said on Thursday.

 

The Navy is due to send documents to Congress in the coming days explaining the multiyear agreement, which is expected to cost about $5.3 billion in total, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak on the record.

 

That amounts to a per-plane price in the low $40 million range for each fighter, excluding government furnished equipment, said one source. Including that equipment, the price per plane will be about $50 million, well below the $57 million price listed on a Navy website about the twin-engine fighter.

 

Boeing and its backers in Congress have been pushing for another multiyear contract because it gives the company a more stable funding source and shores up jobs in local economies.

 

This agreement would secure the St. Louis production line of the fighter -- which Boeing is also aggressively marketing overseas -- through fiscal 2013. The U.S. government's fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

 

The deal also gives the Navy a fallback option if more problems arise with the next-generation F-35 fighter being built by Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N> to replace older model F/A-18s and other fighter jets.

 

The Pentagon this year restructured the $300 billion Lockheed program, pushing back by two years the date at which the Navy will be able to start operating the new planes.

 

"It does keep leverage on Lockheed," said one congressional aide who is closely tracking the Navy's talks with Boeing.

 

Shares of Boeing, trading at $69.30 just before news of the Pentagon's satisfaction with the deal, briefly rose to $69.85 before giving up those gains.

 

DEAL TO COVER FOUR YEARS, OPTION FOR FIFTH

 

Officials at the Navy and Boeing declined to comment on the Pentagon's decision to proceed with the multiyear agreement.

 

Boeing has said its latest proposal would result in 10 percent cost savings from the previous multiyear deal. It also vowed to continue delivering both the fighter and electronic attack models of the F/A-18 to the Navy on time and on budget.

 

Boeing spokesman Philip Carder said the company would continue to provide information to the Navy and Pentagon as it weighed a multiyear contract.

 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was disappointed with Boeing's initial offer, telling lawmakers it fell short of the 10 percent savings needed to justify a multiyear agreement.

 

But Boeing later increased the cost savings in its offer, paving the way for a deal with the Navy, the sources said.

 

The agreement will run for four years -- from fiscal 2010 through 2013 -- but includes an option for a fifth year, according to the sources following the discussions.

 

It will also allow some variation in the number of jets to be bought each year to give the Navy more budgeting flexibility, but firmly caps the total number at 124.

 

The Navy said on Monday it had asked Congress for more time to work out a multiyear agreement with Boeing, saying that it was still working through issues with top Pentagon leaders.

 

Defense companies like multiyear contracts because they provide a more stable basis for mapping out company investments and earnings in future years. A four- or five-year deal allows companies to buy materials in bulk and invest more heavily in facilities, allowing them to pass savings on to the Pentagon.

 

From the Pentagon's viewpoint, such fixed-price deals make sense because they can insulate the government against cost overruns, as long as the contracts are structured properly.

 

But one former defense official said multiyear agreements sometimes include too many clauses that allow companies to pass unexpected costs -- such as spikes in commodity prices or higher labor costs -- back to the government. An earlier F/A-18 multiyear deal delivered actual cost savings far below the 10 percent rate that was promised, said the official.

 

Defense analyst Loren Thompson said the multiyear deal posed a possible threat to the aircraft-carrier variant of Lockheed's F-35 fighter, because it is due to be produced in smaller numbers than the Air Force and Marine Corps variants.

 

"The F/A-18 is potentially a threat to the carrier version of the F-35 because it's a potential alternative," he said. 

 

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

 

 

  ⓒ U.S. Navy

 

  ⓒ U.S. Navy