Navy looking at the Advanced Super Hornet upgrades? via Defense Tech.

via DT.

The Navy is evaluating a series of upgrades to the F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft designed to increase the range, performance and “stealthy-ness” of the aircraft.
The technological innovations include engine improvements, new electronics, the use of a conformal fuel tank, an enclosed weapons pod and efforts to reduce the radar detectability or “signature” of the aircraft, service officials said.
These upgrades have resulted in newly configured or modified F/A-18s demonstrator flights in St. Louis, Mo., and Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md., to provide assessment data for the Navy, said Capt. Frank Morley, F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Manager.
“We’re getting good performance numbers on it and good signature measurements. These are items the Navy is considering,” Morley said in an interview with Military​.com.
The Boeing-funded enhancements, called the Advanced Super Hornet, are aimed at increasing performance while reducing the radar cross-section of the aircraft.
“We reduced the signature of the aircraft by over 50-percent. We added low-signature treatments to specific areas of the airplane and then when we designed the conformal fuel tanks and enclosed weapons pod. They are designed specifically to address aerodynamic and signature components,” said Paul Summers, director of capabilities growth, F/A-18, Boeing.
Aerodynamically configured conformal fuel tanks are engineered to carry up to 3,500 pounds of fuel, Boeing officials said. The conformal fuel tank and external weapons pod are engineered to help make the aircraft able to fly further with more weapons — without increasing signature or drag for the airplane, Morley explained.
“If you have an external weapons pod then you can put weapons on that have a higher signature. You can be more aggressive in an anti-access or denied environment. It will give you more options for firepower without bringing up the signature of the airplane,” Morley said.

Read the entire article at DT.

But I wonder...could this all be part of the plan?  Float the idea of additional Super Hornet buys and when that causes a stir, then gently relabel the plan with a mere upgrade of existing airplanes.

I know it will sing to Tea Party and Deficit Hawk Republicans while also sounding like a common sense approach to Defense Hawks.

You know the Democrats will be all over it if they can reduce Pentagon spending.

Which leaves the Marine Corps crying foul (well ... part of the Marine Corps anyway).

This fight is getting more than interesting.  If the solicitation was simply a trial balloon and we're seeing high stakes poker and politics mixed into one then the Pentagon is about to end is kumbaya moment and we're about to see a fight for budget that hasn't happened since the end of WW2.