US Air Force Secretary disagrees with US President-elect Donald Trump over Lockheed Martin’s F-35 with Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet dispute.
Speaking to US “Defense News” Magazine Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James made clear that there is no room for dispute for F-35.
Trump, just a day after meeting the Defence Department’s F-35 program chief and CEOs from Lockheed and Boeing , tweeted out that he had asked Boeing to price out a Super Hornet that would be “comparable” to an F-35.
This call was highly welcomed by Boeing but the Air Force remains a strong supporter of the F-35 program. “The Air Force does not view the F/A-18 and the F-35 to be substitutable at all,” James said and continued, “They fulfil different requirements. They’re both fine aircraft, don’t get me wrong. But it’s fourth generation, and F-35 is fifth generation.”
211216-N-QI061-1222 NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. (December 16, 2021) An MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 (VUP-19), sits on the flight line at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Dec. 16, 2021. VUP-19, the Navy’s first Triton squadron, will continue to maintain and operate the aircraft off the East Coast to further develop the concept of operations and refine tactics, techniques, and procedures. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard/ Released)