The winner of the Japanese military’s competition for its next fighter jet could reap additional benefits with other countries in the international market, Boeing’s [BA] top official for military aircraft said yesterday.
Japan is expected to award the contract for 40 to 50 fighters by the end of the year following the submission of proposals in September. Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is squaring off against Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Japan’s Defense Ministry would be looking for the first four airplanes to arrive some time in 2016.
“I wouldn’t say any one competition is the competition, but I do believe that if we’re fortunate enough to be chosen by Japan with the F/A/-18E/F that a number of other countries will stop and take a look,” Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, said in an interview.
“The Japanese are a very intelligent customer, a smart customer,” he said. “They do their homework, and so they add a little credence–a lot of credence–when they make a decision.”
Chadwick noted there are a number of countries looking to their next generation of weapons systems and said he expects to aggressively market Boeing’s products.
“There’s a lot of recapitalization going on,” he said.
The winning plane could have an advantage because the added production with the Japanese could help keep unit costs down and make them more appealing to other nations.
“The higher the rate, the economy of scale will give you a better price,” he said. Chadwick said because the F/A-18E/F is in production, it has an edge over the F-35.
“From a price perspective, from a capability perspective, from a risk perspective and from an industry perspective I think I like our changes with the Super Hornet against the Eurofighter and the F-35,” he said.
Lockheed Martin officials argue their plane is well into production, with 30 set to be built under the fifth round of low-rate initial production, and with each variant of the plane having already combined for hundreds of flights since the beginning of the year. It is 9 percent ahead of its test points schedule, the company said.
Lockheed Martin’s John Balderston, Lockheed Martin’s campaign director for the Japanese competition, and Dave Scott, the company’s director for international business develop for the Joint Strike Fighter, said their proposal met all of the requirements outlined by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
The F-35 was designed to operate in the high threat environment Japan finds itself in East Asia, they said.
“We’re feeling very competitive,” Balderston said.