Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com> wrote in
news:q7rbeh0b5e@drn.newsguy.com:
> https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-air-force-wants-buy-131400075.html
>
> The Pentagon's annual budget request is a shopping list featuring some
> of the most sophisticated, cutting-edge technologies available on the
> planet. But one item that stood out in this year's request was the
> military's embrace of a 1960s-era fighter jet that the Air Force said
> it intends to acquire in significant quantities in the years to come.
>
> The Air Force has proposed buying up to 80 Boeing (NYSE: BA) F-15
> fighters at a total cost of nearly $8 billion over the next five
> years. The F-15 was developed by eventual Boeing acquisition target
> McDonnell Douglas in the late 1960s but has not been purchased by the
> U.S. military for nearly 20 years.
>
> To be clear, this is not just 1960s technology. Through the years,
> Boeing has continued to modernize the design; in 2015, it unveiled
> upgraded electronics and other improvements that the company says
> should keep the fighter relevant through 2040. But given the
> Pentagon's many options, the F-15 request is a surprise, especially
> since the Air Force also wants to keep the pace of buying the newer
> and more advanced Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35 flat.
>
> There's a lot of palace intrigue surrounding the decision, and it's
> difficult to predict whether this request will eventually be funded by
> Congress. But some of the commentary about the decision by military
> officials provides valuable insight into the way the Pentagon
> operates, and it helps lay out the bull case for investing in defense
> stocks.
>
> Finding the right tool for the job
>
> At face value, the F-15 decision came down to the Pentagon wanting to
> squeeze as much military might as possible from limited funding. The
> Pentagon's explanation, as contained in its budget acquisition
> summary, is that the F-35 and the smaller F-22 Raptor are too valuable
> and too expensive to operate against certain lesser threats.
>
> The purchase, according to the Pentagon report, "reflects the
> Department's strategy to layer capability to address different threat
> situations." The government is buying F-35s "to address advance
> technology aircraft being deployed by Russia and China," the report
> says. But to defeat lower-technology platforms, it wants to use older
> designs "which nominally have lower operating costs when compared to
> 5th generation combat jets such as the F-22 and the F-35."
Boeing is taking a financial bath on the
737 Max fiasco and needs to squeeze money out of
a President eager to buy oodles of hardware, even
if it is dated
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