Super Hornet rep for problems untrue

Inside Naval Air Systems Command headquarters at this southern Maryland base, Navy program officials for the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter program have heard the stories circulating in the Pentagon.

Their aircraft, the stories go, can’t carry certain weapons, can’t fly high enough, can’t go fast enough. Design problems such as wing flutter plague the plane and — perhaps worst of all — parts that will wear out fast enough to severely shorten the plane’s life-span are not being replaced.

There’s just one problem with the stories, say the Navy officials: None of them is true.

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