$6 billion on stopgap fighter plane deal
It's official - Australia will acquire (buy or lease) 24 F/A-18 Super Hornets - probably the F model which will accommodate a crew of two, like the F-111. Really, it was a two horse race - F/A-18F or F-15E Strike Eagle.
Comparison........F/A-18F........F-15E
Empty Weight......13,864Kg.......14,379Kg
Max T/off Weight..29,900Kg.......36,000Kg
Range...................681NM..........2100NM
Max Speed.........Mach 1.8.......Mach 2.5
Unit cost.........$59M...........$49M
I'm sure there's more to it than these bare numbers, but I can't see why the F-15E Strike Eagle wasn't considered. I stand ready to be educated.
posted by Chris @ 7:12 pm
4 comments
4 Comments:
I know the F18 has twin engines I don`t know if the F15 is a single engine if it is well the reason would be that the RAAF prefer twin engines for the safety factor in case of engine failure but who can tell when the people who buy don`t fly.
The F15 has twin engines. Could it be because of perceived commonality between old F18s and new F18s? Is it because the F18F is seen as a new design, whereas the F15E is seen as an old design? Did Boeing simply not offer the F15E? Is it because the F15E uses boom-recepticle refuelling, while the F18F uses probe-drogue? Is there some other operational reason? Because answers are not forthcoming at the moment, and we really have a right, as taxpayers, to know why this decision was made, at a real unit cost of a staggering $250,000,000 per aircraft. I'm willing to be persuaded.
why they went this way is unknown as all the heirarchy of the RAAF were all of the opinion that the Raptor was the best buy.
Maybe because of this... http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21392097%5E16681%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
Coop.
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