The US, with its huge defence budget, likes to keep three in work. Most European countries have just one manufacturer who can do the job: BAE Systems in the UK, which builds the Eurofighter Typhoon Saab in Sweden for the Gripen and Dassault in France, which builds the Rafale. “That’s something I think they will probably have to try and convince the Navy and Department of Defence on, that they’re as good as the other two, because the other two have decades of experience,” says Stallard.Ĭompetition to build the jets is a uniquely American phenomenon. One hiccup may be Boeing’s limited experience developing stealth fights, something the Navy will want to allow its planes to hide from enemy radar. “It’s kind of theirs to lose,” says Stallard. So if they have to assert air supremacy, they have a plane that could do that and the F-35 can drop bombs around it,” says Stallard.īoeing is seen as the front runner for the new jet contract thanks to its work on the modern Top Gun fighter. “They want something that can be the equivalent to the Air Force’s F-22 for flying off a carrier. The first generation of these jets took flight in 1978. However, the F/A-18s are based on 1970s technology. The F/A-18, nicknamed Super Hornet, has two, giving them a longer long-range. While modern F-35s only recently entered service for the Navy, they are largely seen as an attack and strike craft rather than a plane that could stand up in a dogfight, says Rob Stallard, an analyst at Vertical Research Partners.Īnother drawback to the F-35 is it has just one engine, which means limited durability over the expanse of the Pacific. The backdrop for the new contract is growing tension with China.
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