Boeing’s Souped-Up Super Hornet Adds Smart U.S. Navy Firepower

Yes and the cost per hour should be way less than the F-35. I will look forward to the F-35 helmet system and communication system being embedded in the F-18 Super Hornet

The F-35 cost will continue to go down, the recent order was less than $100M a copy and it is still young in the procurement cycle. Two additional assembly plants come online this year and with so many countries/companies making parts I would assume we should see some competition start to rise to the top in future procurement. Or at leas with Trump and the helm I am sure he is going to shake down the suppliers for some savings soon. Yet, I really like the idea of another generation of Hornets, for a carrier based platform two engines are always better than one and Boeing is incentivised to bring it to market at a low price to compete against the F-35C, better to make a little and stay in the game then have nothing.