Clear the decks Super Hornet to challenge F-35.

• Author: Harper, Jon

Shifting political winds are generating a new fighter jet competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The end result could be more F/A-18 Super Hornets and fewer F-35 joint strike fighters, according to defense and aerospace analysts.

President Donald Trump has bashed the F-35 program and complained about its high price tag. He asked Boeing, the manufacturer of the F/A-18, to price out a "comparable" Super Hornet as a potential alternative to Lockheed's jet.

The new commander-in-chief suggested that major programmatic changes are afoot. "We're going to do some big things on the F-35 program and perhaps the F/A-18 program," he told reporters in January. "We're going to get those costs down... and we're going to have competition. And it's going to be a beautiful thing."

The Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy are buying the A, B and C variants of the F-35, respectively. The Pentagon is already laying the groundwork to compete the F/A-18 against the F-35C, the carrier-launched version of the joint strike fighter.

During his first week in office, Secretary of Defense James Mattis issued a memo directing his deputy to oversee a review that compares their operational capabilities.

Mattis also tasked his subordinates to "assess the extent that F/A-18E/F improvements--an advanced Super Hornet--can be made in order to provide a competitive, cost effective, fighter aircraft alternative."

The results and recommendations of the review will inform upcoming budget decisions, he said.

Meanwhile, Lockheed and Boeing executives have been meeting with Trump to tout their technologies and cost reduction efforts.

"The F-35 is the most capable multi-role fighter in the world," a Lockheed spokesman told National Defense. "We look forward to continuing to work with the DoD and partner nations to deliver the F-35 at the most affordable price possible."

In a statement Boeing said: 'We have been responsive to requests for information from the incoming Trump administration. ... We remain committed to working with the new president and Congress to provide affordable, capable Boeing products and services to meet our national security needs."

The joint strike fighter is a fifth-generation aircraft designed to evade the most advanced enemy radars and have unprecedented situational awareness and information-sharing capabilities. The F/A-18E/F is fourth-generation but experts said Boeing is capable of taking the Super Hornet up a notch.

"There are improvements that you could make that would make it more like an F-35" including better sensors, extended range and low-observable technology, said Bryan Clark, a naval analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said the joint strike fighter's capabilities are "on a completely different level" than the F/A-18s that exist today. But "you can do some things to the Super Hornet to make it kind of a four-and-a-half generation aircraft so it can be more relevant against the projected threat."

Boeing is proposing several modifications to the current Block 2 design to create a "Block 3" advanced Super Hornet, said Caroline Hutcheson, a company spokeswoman.

They include removing fuel tanks from the wings and replacing them with conformal fuel tanks to increase the aircraft's range and speed, which would make it more...