Why does europe by the typthoon instead of F/A-18E super hornet?

Question

according to wikipedia, the fly-away cost of the eurofighter typhoon is roughly 122 million dollars. This is incredibly expensive considering the F-22A costs about 137 million, pretty close in price. The super hornet costs about 55 million dollars a piece and has about the same capabilities as the typhoon.

Now ideally everyone(allied) would buy the F-22, bringing its costs down further due to economy of scale. Allowing the USA to afford more F-22s, allowing its nato allies to have more abundance of a better aircraft at a lower cost.

But since there is an export ban on the F-22, why doesn't european nations just buy the superhornet?

Answer 1

politics my dear boy, that implies alot so that's all i need to say.

Answer 2

WIthout going into detail - it's all about economics and politics. The aerospace and defense industries are vital components to the economy of many countries, it does not make financial sense to import foreign aircraft if you already have an effective aerospace industry at home. If you buy your own aircraft, then the money is plunged straight back into your economy.

Countries that purchase aircraft from either the US / Russia / UK, are those that do not have large scale aerospace and development industries in comparison. WIth respect to the Typhoon, it is a 4 nation collaborative project - where the workload, cost, and final output of aircraft is shared. Any attempts to back out of such a contract will have severe financial and political consequences.

Just a couple of additional points - don't believe everything that you read on Wikipedia. The F22 costs significantly more than $137 million per unit - which is exactly why the US will struggle to export it. The Super Hornet is cheaper, but the Typhoon is a generation ahead of it in terms of capability. It is a effectively a new aircraft, whilst the F18 has had a number of upgrades to keep it current.

The Super Hornet is also optimised for ground attack (with some air-to-air capability). The Typhoon's main role is air superiority (with ground attack capability) - so one would have to choose which aircraft best meets their requirements.

Answer 3

European nations have become increasingly independently minded since world war 2. They resented being subordinate powers to the US and have resisted buying US military hardware as much as possible.

And it hasn't helped any that for years the US just refused to buy anything not american.

Answer 4

thats like saying would doesnt america buy the sukhoi 30 instead of the f 18

the typhoon is european built its a european brand jet they built it for themselves what woudl be the point of having a fighter jet program if your not going to be buying the jets you make?

if america was building a jet that costs alot of money would they buy jets from another country? no because america uses american made jets sweden uses swedish made jets russia china etc.....

and another thing to consider is that 122 million dollars is like 50 million dollars for europe casue theyr dollar is 100000 times more valuable than ours

Answer 5

One of the foremost reasons is this: European fighters are built around continuity. You can buy a european airframe and have european parts of all kind fit on it and work. A pick and choose mindset if you will. You only buy what you need. On the other hand, if you buy an American airframe, everything you buy for it is coming from america too. And it might not always be what you want or need. So cost effectiveness is driving alot of those choices. Also, keep in mind that the tables have turned with the new KC-X for the Air Force. We decided to buy the airbus proposal vs the Boeing 767 concept for our new tanker fleet. Since when did we buy european?....Just food for thought.

Answer 6

I think there are a few reasons. If the UK buys all foreign aircraft then their aviation industry closes down and they lose the experience forever. Once all your local aviation companies shut down they lose the skilled workers to other industries and they can never get them back.

Also the flow on effect to the economy is a positive one with Typhoon production providing jobs and research for the country.

Also the Typhoon has been on the drawing boards for decades. They have been developing the aircraft since the 1970's and 80's when the original hornet was just a baby. Thats a lot of R&D invested there. It would be tough for the British voters to take if they spent money on the project for 30 years then tossed it in and bought an American plane.

Also as it is a multinational operation it strengthens ties politically with the other countries who assisted in the development, Germany and Italy.