Defense Acquisitions: Progress of the F/A-18E/F Engineering and Manufacturing Development Program.
Abstract
The F/A-18E/F program began, in 1992 to increase the operational capabilftie's of the current fleet of F/A-18 aircraft. The objectives of the program are to provide Improved capabilities over current F/A-18s in five key areas-range, payload, carrier recovery payload, growth capacity; and survivability. Congress capped the development effort at $4.88 billion (in fiscal year 1990 dollars) and directed that the ElF unit procurement cost not exceed 125 percent of current CID model costs. The F/A-18E/F development flight test program began in February 1996. The Integrated Test Team, using five single-seat E models and two 2-seat F models, is conducting the tests. Two early operational assessments of the ElF aircraft, using wind tunnel data and analytical models, were made in early 1996 and 1997. Two operational assessments of the E/F aircraft, based on data obtained during test flights using the engineering and manufacturing development aircraft, were conducted in November 1997 (OT-IlA) and in June through August 1998 (OT-llB). The Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) conducted these assessments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 15, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA364757
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office