{"id":56584,"date":"2019-03-22T20:32:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T20:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/22\/industrial-base-considerations-played-role-in-f-15x-decision\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:10:07","slug":"industrial-base-considerations-played-role-in-f-15x-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/03\/22\/industrial-base-considerations-played-role-in-f-15x-decision\/","title":{"rendered":"Industrial base considerations played role in F-15X decision"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 When it came time for the U.S. Defense Department to make a decision on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/12\/27\/four-big-questions-for-the-air-force-in-2019\/\"> which fourth-generation fighter to buy for the Air Force<\/a>, industrial base considerations \u2014 and not acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan \u2014 helped tip the scale in favor of Boeing\u2019s F-15X, a senior defense official said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere were other things on the table\u201d besides the F-15X, said the official, who disclosed that the Pentagon\u2019s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office drove the department\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2019\/03\/20\/what-aircraft-does-the-us-air-force-need-to-beat-china-and-russia-this-new-study-has-an-answer\/\" target=_blank>decision to procure new fourth-gen planes<\/a> to replace the Air Force\u2019s aging F-15C\/Ds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But when CAPE, the Air Force and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis finally agreed on the broad decision to more fourth-gen fighters, \u201cthe conversation then turned to: How are we going to maintain a robust industrial base?\u201d the official said during a briefing with reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/air-warfare-symposium\/2019\/02\/28\/the-air-force-doesnt-want-f-15x-but-it-needs-more-fighter-jets\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"166\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5132662.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The US Air Force doesn\u2019t want F-15X. But it needs more fighter jets.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The top two Air Force leaders made it clear that buying new fourth-generation planes was not their first choice.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt really then turned into a conversation of, for the future of the Department of Defense, it\u2019s going to be good to have multiple providers in the tactical aircraft portfolio, and that\u2019s what led our way into the F-15X decision.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This public acknowledgement of the behind-the-scenes discussions that led to the Air Force\u2019s request for eight F-15Xs in its fiscal 2020 budget comes two days after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/03\/20\/ig-launches-investigation-into-shanahan-over-alleged-boeing-bias\/\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Department\u2019s inspector general announced it was investigating Shanahan<\/a>. The IG is looking into allegations that Shanahan showed favoritism toward his former employer, Boeing, where he was employed for 30 years before being named deputy secretary of defense in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bloomberg report that initially broke the news of the F-15X procurement decision cited one unnamed source who stated that Shanahan influenced the process \u2014 something Shanahan has repeatedly denied, saying through his spokesman that he had recused himself from all decisions involving Boeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson\u2019s own acknowledgement that the service had not wanted to buy new F-15s continued to raise speculation that Shanahan had played a role.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/air-warfare-symposium\/2019\/02\/27\/congressional-supporters-stand-ready-to-protect-f-35-from-f-15x-budget-threats\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3747465.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Lawmakers stand ready to protect F-35 from F-15X budget threats<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Air Force leaders say their commitment to the F-35 is ironclad. Supporters of the program aim to ensure it stays that way.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense official speaking to reporters on Friday denied that Shanahan had any knowledge of when Boeing or any of its platforms was being considered during budget deliberations, though Shanahan was aware that discussions were happening broadly about the optimum mix of fifth-generation jets \u2014 like the F-35 \u2014 and fourth-gen platforms, which can include Boeing\u2019s F-15 as well as Lockheed Martin\u2019s F-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCAPE ran the program budget review\u201d that assessed whether to buy new fourth-gen jets, the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWorking with the standard of conducts office, we put in place a pretty strict regime of keeping anything related to Boeing out of his purview during the program budget review process,\u201d he added. \u201cHe was involved in broad capability discussions or broad force shaping discussions, [but] when it came to any specific platform that involved Boeing, those conversations were held strictly away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So why did CAPE push so strongly for buying additional fourth-generation jets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The official pointed to two major factors. First was the need for additional capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The average age of the F-15C\/D fleet is 35 years, with some aircraft nearing the end of their service lives. FY20 budget documents note \u201cSERIOUS structures risks, wire chafing issues, and obsolete parts\u201d and add that \u201creadiness goals are unachievable due to continuous structural inspections, time-consuming repairs, and on-going modernization efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CAPE considered accelerating procurement of the F-35, which in FY20 is limited to 48 units. However, its cost analysis \u2014 which pegs the cost of each F-15X at about $90 million for the aircraft and spares \u2014 found that F-35 operations and maintenance costs outweigh that of fourth-gen planes like the F-15, the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second argument in favor of buying new fourth-generation planes is that the national defense strategy establishes the need for both stealthy tactical aircraft that can penetrate into a contested zone, as well as planes with large payloads that can launch ordnance from standoff distances, the official said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Out of the Air Force\u2019s inventory, the F-15 in particular has that as a selling point. Of all the service\u2019s fighters, it can carry the largest payload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defense official didn\u2019t go into detail about what alternatives it considered or why it chose the F-15 over the F-16. Instead, he spoke more broadly about the need for industrial diversity in the run-up to the development of a sixth-generation fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMaintaining a diverse industrial base is in the best interest of the Department of Defense, not just in the [tactical aircraft] portfolio but in basically any other portfolio as well. So the kind of more diversity we can get there, the more competition we have, the better prices we have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the decision puts pressure on F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin to decrease production and sustainment costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last month at the Air Force Association\u2019s air warfare conference, OJ Sanchez, Lockheed\u2019s vice president for sustainment innovation and operations, said the company was on track for reducing the cost of an F-35A conventional mode to $80 million per jet by 2020, as well as to meet a $25,000-cost per flight hour by 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Wilson said the company is not making progress quick enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe just don\u2019t think that there has been enough attention on the sustainment costs of the aircraft and driving them down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems industrial base concerns were a major factor in picking Boeing over another provider of a fourth-generation 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Industrial base considerations played role in F-15X decision - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It seems industrial base concerns were a major factor in picking Boeing over another provider of a fourth-generation capability.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Industrial base considerations played role in F-15X decision\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It seems industrial base concerns were a major factor in picking Boeing over another provider of a fourth-generation capability.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" 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