LO:
Thanks for the comments on the Aus journey to F-35.
Kill ratios and predictions by VP's of LM ... projections made that may someday be put to the test at which point one will know the real number.
F-18G. Woff, I may be wrong, but the USN discovered in the past 10-15 years that airborne EWM/EW/ECM capability is a high demand mission both during a "big fight" and during COIN and other "smaller" fights. I suspect that the original numbers authorized were less than the service asked for, and that later plus ups included three considerations:
1. Getting what was originally asked for
2. Congressional pressure to keep production up for a constituency
3. Revision of requirements in light of the EA-6B usage and demand from 2001-2014 in various ops.
That's a guess, of course, informed by modest experience (at best) in operations and acquisition/programming/politics and the interface thereof.