Boeing canvasses lawmakers to build support for more F/A-18 aircraft

As the Obama administration drafts its fiscal 2010 defense budget, Boeing Co. officials are hitting the marble on Capitol Hill in the hopes of amassing a strong coalition of lawmakers who support buying dozens more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

The tactic is not a new one. But until now, Boeing limited its outreach on the Navy fighter program to members of the congressional defense committees.

In December, for example, a small group of Super Hornet supporters -- 22 House members and 10 senators -- penned letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates. But that effort paled in comparison to campaigns for other defense programs, including a letter-writing operation involving nearly 200 House members and 44 senators who want to boost procurement of F-22 Raptor fighter jets for the Air Force.

Taking a cue from F-22 advocates and others, Boeing has launched an "information campaign" for lawmakers in the 44 states that have a share of the Super Hornet work, Bob Gower, vice president of Boeing's F/A-18 programs, said Monday.

"Last year, we worked primarily the defense committees," Gower said. "We've really expanded that to be broad-based and ... make sure people understand what this means to their local economies."

Super Hornet supporters will send another letter -- with more signatures -- to the Obama administration in March or April, when the Pentagon puts its finishing touches on the budget, a congressional aide tracking the program said Monday.

The Navy program generates 30,000 direct jobs and another 80,000 indirect positions around the country. But unless the Pentagon pumps more money into the program, suppliers will begin wrapping up work on the fighter in October 2010, Gower said.

The Navy already plans to buy 89 Super Hornets over the next three years through the traditional procurement process after the current multiyear contract expires this year.

But Boeing has given the Navy an unsolicited offer to buy 149 aircraft at $49.9 million apiece -- a 7 percent to 10 percent cost savings per aircraft.

A multiyear agreement would allow the Navy to sign a long-term contract for a fixed price, providing stability for Boeing and reduced prices for the Pentagon. The first two multiyear deals on the Super Hornet saved a total of $1.7 billion, Boeing officials said.

The offer originally expired in December, but Boeing has extended it in the hopes that the forthcoming budget includes another multiyear contract to begin in fiscal 2010 and last through fiscal 2013 or fiscal 2014.

But persuading the Pentagon to ramp up its purchases of any programs could be difficult this year. Gates and Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., warned last week that the recession could lead to cuts in the military's procurement budget.

On Monday, an OMB official said the White House is considering setting aside $524 billion in discretionary spending for the Pentagon in fiscal 2010, $11.3 billion more than appropriated in fiscal 2009. The $524 billion amount reflects what the outgoing Bush administration had officially forecasted for next year, the official said.

Some Hill Republicans have seized instead on a $584 billion wish list that senior military officials prepared in anticipation of the change in administrations, and are prepared to criticize anything less as an unwarranted budget cut.

Despite forecasts of tightened defense spending, Boeing's Gower said he has never been more optimistic about the chances for another multiyear contract for the Super Hornets. Aside from the economic benefits, Gower said, there is an operational need for more carrier-based fighters.

Boeing has been in ongoing talks with the Navy about prospects for increasing procurement of the Super Hornets as a way to alleviate a shortage of strike fighters that was expected to peak in 2017 at 69 aircraft and continue in smaller numbers until 2025, when the Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter becomes fully operational.

But the Navy in the summer uncovered problems with plans to extend the life of its F/A-18 Hornets, which could exacerbate efforts to keep the older jets flying to mitigate the looming shortfall.