Let's Go Brandon -- March 30, 2024

Locator: 46869B.

Elsewhere, link here: does the F-35 make military sense? The F-35s are for "something else." A four-letter word, rhymes with Koran, and starts with the letter "i." $2.5 billion / 25 F-35A fighters = $100 million apiece

Independent cost analysis, from October, 2023:

WASHINGTON — The flyaway cost for the F-15EX Eagle II is approximately $90 million for each aircraft in the program’s second production lot, about $7.5 million more than the newest price for an F-35A. [90. - 7.5 = $82.5].

... a contract for the next three production lots of the Boeing-made F-15EX was finalized on September 28, 2023, a major milestone for the program. But the $90 million per unit cost in the contract — a number that is expected to grow in successive lots — will likely raise eyebrows among critics both within and outside the service who argue that officials should focus on buying more F-35s.

Under the new agreement, the price for an F-15EX will start at “approximately” $90 million for lot 2, rise to $97 million in lot 3 and then dip to $94 million in lot 4, according to an Air Force spokesperson. The two parties previously finalized a deal for the aircraft’s first lot in November 2022, setting a flyaway price of $80.5 million for six jets with two test aircraft already purchased — meaning the costs on the F-15EX are going up per unit year over year until the fourth lot is introduced. (The Air Force measures flyaway price in then-year dollars, which are adjusted for inflation.)

As a cost comparison, the Air Force’s variant of the stealth fighter has an “average” flyaway cost of $82.5 million for the jet’s 15th, 16th and 17th production lots, which will be delivered in calendar years 2023, 2024 and 2025.

*****************************
Flashback

Flagship for the F-15 squadron -- the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron -- to which I was assigned back in 1984. 

Wow, 40 years ago. 

I retired 17 years ago in my mid-50's. Great memories but no nostalgia.