The Boeing Super Hornet: Why Is It Significant For The Navy?: Steve Parker Exclusive | News Centre

Great question. You know, what should be selected, what the Indian Navy gets is the most advanced carrier aircraft in the world. So Boeing is just now delivering to the U.S. Navy the Block 3 configuration. We just started delivering it last year. It's the most advanced aircraft, Super Hornet, we've ever built. A 10,000-hour airframe, so think of life, 20, 30, 40 years of life for the Indian Navy. It's got all the latest sensors, all those fifth-gen sensors integrated into the Super Hornet. So it's got a really powerful radar for detecting threats. It's the right choice. We really do believe it's the right choice. In the Navy, when you look at peacekeeping missions, defense of India, and being tied in with the U.S. Navy, the largest Navy in the world, you know, the Indian Navy is picking up on billions of dollars of U.S. investment.

Yeah, good. I really appreciate the question. That to me, I've done a lot of work in India over time, and I've worked very closely with Tata with a joint venture that Boeing had where we produce Apache fuselages not just for India but for every Apache customer around the world. It's very similar for the Super Hornet. We've got a package that we think is, you know, very, very compelling. 3.6 billion dollars over 10 years, and it's focused on engineering and manufacturing as well as work that we can put in-country. But from a Boeing perspective, our track record in India, we believe humbly, is second to none. When we make a commitment, we honor that commitment. We're going to do the same with Super Hornet. And it's not so much in terms of just what work transfers in from the U.S., it's about developing indigenous Indian capability so that India can produce products longer term and export. Apache is a great example. Every fuselage that is built in Hyderabad in that joint venture is exported around the world. So that's our focus. We've taken a long view. We've been in here for 75 years. We're very proud of the relationship with India, and that's why I think we've got a really good package here. The aircraft is amazing. We believe it's the right solution, the only twin-seat fighter that can operate off the Indian carrier. Big game changer there. Can control unmanned aircraft, autonomous capabilities coming, but making India critically important. And I think we've got a really good package along with members of our Hornet industry team: General Electric, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman. Yeah, we feel we've got a pretty compelling package there.

Absolutely. Yeah, we're looking at some work packages that we'll bring in. You know, and again, not just Super Hornet but other platforms. Today, in Indian suppliers, we have over 300 engine suppliers. So even in my portfolio of bombers and fighters, F-15, Super Hornet, T-7 trainer, and others. So we're very proud of how the Indian companies' supply base is coming forth. Great capability. And then the engineering prowess in India, you know, we have 4,000 employees in India, and it's more than just software. It's aeronautical engineering. It's real value-added work on the manufacturing side.

Cost per aircraft, I'm going to stay away from because it's a competitive, you know, better bidding process. But that 3.6 billion is over and above the commitments we've already made in India. So again, we'll work out the finer details. You're going to see some more announcements over the next couple of months prior to DefExpo. But again, it's not just work for the sake of the value. We've looked at it from what's important for India. You know, what's the government's real agenda, what's their purpose, what do they want to do. And pulling on our Indian team here, the 4,000-strong team, I think we've got some really good stuff that's going to pop out should we be selected with the Super Hornet.

Yeah, I think at the end of the day, to me, it's very simple. I think very simply, and it's as simple as this: when you're on a carrier out in the blue sea, do you want the best aircraft that's going to bring your pilots back and give you the maximum chance of success against an adversary? Or do you want something that you might have got because somebody already had a presence here? I think the Indian Navy wants the best aircraft to make sure that the Indian nation is protected, and that's what we believe. Now, that being said, we've also got the track record in-country from a Make in India perspective. So I like our chances. I think the value proposition that we've put forward is strong. Again, it's for 26 aircraft: 18 single-seat, eight twin-seat. Only our Super Hornet can operate off the carrier with the twin-seat aircraft, and that's the aircraft that can control the drones and provides the autonomy. That's a compelling advantage. So when you buy 26 of our Super Hornets, you can operate all 26 off the carrier. The competition can't say that.

Yeah, I think, you know, at its most basic, this is a great opportunity for the relationship between India and the U.S. to continue to prosper. I think over the last decade, you know, we've really seen some strong ties being developed. This is an opportunity for the Indian Navy to take advantage of the significant investment the U.S. government's made in the Super Hornet. Over 800 aircraft delivered, just delivering the latest capability and all the things that can come from that relationship. And in times of need, right now the world's, you know, it's a different place with some of the conflicts around the world. This is a time for a strengthening of that relationship, I think, country to country, and this is a great way of doing it through the Super Hornet acquisition and the sharing of knowledge from a carrier air wing perspective and potentially a sharing of knowledge of how we will utilize, you know, uncrewed vehicles and unmanned vehicles together in the future, both nations.

It's hundreds. You know, the Australians have a fleet, Kuwaitis will soon be getting their deliveries of their Super Hornets. The Navy runs Growlers as well, over 150 Growlers, which is an electronic attack version of the Super Hornet. And then Super Hornet itself is five to six hundred. So what our value proposition here is, it's low risk. All the systems have already been developed. It's ready to go day one. We know the carrier's coming soon, very soon. This is the aircraft to put on it. Proven in peacetime and at wartime. We think this is the right solution.

Yes. I mean, at the end of the day, like, it's the Indian government's decision to make. I'm not going to... because we hear it's still a long way off. Yeah, I think, look, you know, we've had a very, very successful operational demo down in Goa a few months ago. We've released video footage. I think it was, you know, perhaps the most tweeted story when it popped out. But I think the down-select is probably coming imminently, the next month or so from the U.S. Navy, and then we'll go through the government process. We'd like to understand, you know, where we sit, because we've got a production line that has, we're delivering U.S. Navy aircraft too. So again, we're protecting slots, if I could say that, for the Indian Navy. But, you know, decision needs to come shortly, and hopefully, you know, we'll hear something towards the end of the year. But we feel, we feel, you know, we've put a good offer in. We feel like we understand the requirements. The capability speaks for itself. And I think our Make in India strategy and what we put forward there as well is very, very compelling.

I would like to. I think there might be a down-select in terms of which of the two platforms the Navy is going forward with, and then obviously we'll go through the government's timeline, and I won't try and predict what that timeline might be. It could be into next year. We'll see. We may be doing another interview again and talking about it.

No, no. And part of this, it's a Foreign Military Sale with the U.S. government, so that would be up for them to talk about. But typically we don't talk about cost of the aircraft until we've been selected because it's a competition.

Yeah, look, we've got an active production line right now. I'm doing 24 aircraft a year. I've got another modernization line where I'm taking Block 2 Hornets for the U.S. Navy and I'm producing them in a Block 3 configuration. So we're very flexible with what the U.S. Navy may need. We want to make sure that we can, you know, secure those slots. I would like to think of a decision in, let's say, within the next three or four months, and then we can start talking about when deliveries want to take place. And certainly Boeing has shown in the past that we will lean forward working with our customers to protect those delivery slots. And there's things that we can do there to make sure that we can deliver on time. 36 months is the typical timeline for most aviation products, but I think the things that we can do along with the U.S. Navy here to get them much quicker to the Indian Navy, should they desire, which I think they will. You know, when it comes back to the cost and the question you just asked me, what I will tell you is the Super Hornet has the best cost per flying hour track record of any fighter. Publicly available data in the U.S., it's $19,000 cost per flying hour. A lot of the other fighters are double that in range. So, you know, again, we think we've got a really attractive acquisition cost, we've got an attractive sustainment cost, a very, very robust Make in India package, real good long-term work. We think we've got a compelling package. We're just humble to be able to offer it, and we're hopeful that the Indian Navy will select us.

Yeah, look, you know, one way of looking at this is when the U.S. Navy deploys their carrier battle group all over the world, through the South China Sea, the Super Hornet is the strike fighter backbone. That is the aircraft that is out there each and every day. It will be no different for India. Now, it can play the naval role. It also is a very, very effective land-based aircraft. The Australians operate it, the Royal Australian Air Force operates it in Australia to that effect. Super Hornets teamed in with Growlers. So again, very capable, very large weapon load, extremely competitive from a range perspective. We think we've got a range, so a distance it can operate over a carrier or a distance it can operate over land, coupled with its payload, its reduced signature from a survivability perspective, and some of the survivability items that I can't talk about. Again, it's the backbone for the U.S. Navy. If it is protecting their carriers and the U.S. way of life, it's going to find its way into India and do a great job there as well.

Thank you, sir. Thank you.