re: #466 Gus

Everyone always hates the latest fighter jet. People made fun out of the F-18 when it was set to replace the F-14. It’s tradition.

The F-14 had Top Gun, so there was an attachment to it, but the Navy found that it was heavy, very expensive to maintain, and didn’t perform well in certain environments. The F-18 was a step towards having a single platform for multiple missions, meaning the Navy could reduce costs and could consolidate equipment in carrier mechanical areas.

The F-35 is expensive to acquire, so the DoD will try to keep it around for a while, but they dispensed with the F117 fairly quickly so who knows what they’ll do with the F-35. It will depend on how time the airframes have on them whether the F-18 outlives the F-35 (though they’re transitioning to the Super Hornet, so upgrades may keep them going).