President Trump said Friday that he is “looking seriously at a big order” of Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornets.
Trump, speaking at a Boeing plant in South Carolina, said the fourth-generation fighter jet from Boeing will be a key part of rebuilding the military.
“We are looking seriously at a big order,” Trump said. “Dennis is a tough negotiator, but we’ll get there.”
He was referring to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.
Before Christmas, Trump tweeted he had asked Boeing to price out a fighter jet “comparable” to the fifth-generation F-35, which he had complained was too expensive.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also initiated a Navy-wide review to determine the best mix of advanced F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C variants that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier. Several experts and former military leaders, however, have stressed that comparing the Super Hornet and F-35 is comparing apples to oranges, in part because of the advanced stealth capabilities and sensors of the F-35.
White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was seen earlier on Friday holding a brochure for the advanced Super Hornet, labeled the “F/A-18 TX,” according to a pool report.
It wasn’t immediately clear what the “big order” was referring to.
A white paper from Sen. John McCain released last month said the Navy should buy an additional 58 F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets over the next five years to make up for delays in bringing the F-35C online.
The House version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act would have bought 14 Super Hornets, but negotiations with the Senate reduced that to just two F/A-18 jets, the number the Navy asked for in its fiscal 2017 budget request.
An F/A-18 Super Hornet costs about $78 million per plane, and an advanced version will cost “a couple million” more, a Boeing spokeswoman said. The company began working on an advanced version of the jet, designed to be complementary to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 in 2013, and conversations are ongoing with the Navy about the best mix of two planes in the fleet.
The advanced Super Hornet includes capabilities such as fuel tanks and weapons pods designed to be more stealthy and advanced electronics in the cockpit, according to Boeing’s website.
For comparison, the Navy’s version of the F-35 cost $121.8 million per plane in the most recent lot.
Trump also said he is getting “closer and closer” on a deal with Boeing to build two new Air Force One planes, a program he previously criticized on Twitter for costing more than $4 billion.
Muilenburg told Trump that he would keep costs under that $4 billion mark following a meeting between the two men in December.
