The Pentagon Paradox: The Development of the F-18 Hornet

Stevenson, James P.

ISBN 10: 1557507759 / ISBN 13: 9781557507754

Verlag: Naval Inst Pr, 1993

Beschreibung

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Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers S_447130382

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: The Pentagon Paradox: The Development of the F-18 Hornet
• Verlag: Naval Inst Pr
• Erscheinungsjahr: 1993
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 1557507759
• ISBN-13: 9781557507754
• Einband: Hardcover
• Zustand: Very Good

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

Provides a developmental history of the F-18 Hornet from the drawing board to its results in the Gulf War, and chronicles the design war between military officers who favor fewer, more sophisticated aircraft, and those who claim that larger numbers have always won in warfare. Discusses the promised performance of the new F-18E/F designs. Appendices include official memoranda from various agencies. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Reseña del editor

Did the U.S. Navy avoid Congress's explicit direction to "navalize" the winning design in a flyoff competition - by lying to Congress with the argument that the winner was not carrier capable - and then develop the losing aircraft into an even worse fighter for its carrier squadrons? To find the answer James Stevenson, an experienced aviation writer, dug through government files and interviewed key players to present this hard-hitting, behind-the-scenes account of the development of one of the Navy's current front-line aircraft. His investigation exposes the politics of Pentagon weapons procurement, a process that pits service against service, the military against Congress, admirals against generals, pilots against engineers, hard liners against reformers. This book provides a developmental history of the F-18 Hornet from drawing board to its results in Desert Storm. It is the story of a multi-billion-dollar aircraft-design war between those military officers who insist that America's interests will be protected best by sophisticated aircraft, even if America can afford fewer of them, and a group known as the "Fighter Mafia, " who claim that larger numbers have always won in warfare and that for equal dollars America can only produce greater numbers if each one is less sophisticated. He shows that by picking the YF-17 - and renaming the F-17 as the F-18 - over the clearly superior YF-16, the Navy antagonized the Air Force, Congress, and its own F-14 community, and sparked a major legal battle. Undeterred, the Navy took the light, cheap YF-17 and loaded it with technology and weight, which produced an F-18 that has less maneuverability, less acceleration, a range no better than the1952-vintage A-4, and costs almost three times as much as the F-16. From its first flight in 1978, the F-18 performance continued to degrade. Nevertheless, in 1992 the Navy asked for additional money to modify the F-18 as the F-18E/F. This request was in reality funding for a brand-new