F/A-18E/F contract brings DOD aircraft orders this week to 25 in deals worth $2.2 billion
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PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 26 Jan. 2012. U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) military aircraft purchases continued to roll along on Wednesday, with a U.S. Navy order of 15 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrier-based jet fighter-bombers under terms of a $687.5 million contract modification. Wednesday's order brings this week's DOD combat aircraft orders to 25 in three separate deals collectively worth nearly $2.2 billion.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., Wednesday ordered 14 F/A-18E single-seat strike fighters and one F/A-18F two-seat fighter bombers from The Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis. The Super Hornet has an internal 20-millimeter gun and can carry air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and a wide variety of bombs. The aircraft represents the primary jet fighter and ground-attack capability for Navy carrier battle groups.
On Tuesday the Navy ordered five E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier-based maritime patrol and surveillance early warning aircraft from the Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) Aerospace Systems segment in Bethpage, N.Y., in a $781.5 million contract modification, and on Monday the U.S. Air Force ordered five C-17 Globemaster III military cargo jets in a $693.4 million contract modification.
The twin-engine F/A-18E/F multirole fighter aircraft are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet strike fighter. The aircraft also can act as a carrier-based airborne tanker by adding an external air refueling system. The F/A-18 aircraft, which has been in the Navy inventory since the early 1980s was designed to replace the A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair carrier-based bombers, as well as the F-4 Phantom jet fighter. Ultimately the F/A-18 also replaced the Navy's fleet of F-14 Tomcat jet fighters.....
