Navy Set to Lose Out on Jets Due to Dispute With Boeing

Boeing and the Navy aren’t getting along, and it’s costing the military essential jets needed to phase out aging aircraft and be prepared for potential conflict with China.

The Navy is set to get only 16 of the last F/A-18 Super Hornet jets Boeing will ever make instead of the 20 appropriated due to a dispute over intellectual property rights that’s dragging out negotiations, Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee and a former Super Hornet pilot, tells POLITICO.

Washington has been eager to replenish rickety jet stocks and stave off a strike fighter shortfall with new Super Hornets — featured in Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” and considered the backbone of the Navy’s aviation operations at sea. But there’s a time crunch because Boeing is ending production in 2025 to focus on new technologies.

Read the source article at Politico