From what I understand the F/A-18E/F has slightly less range than the
Tomcat, but (with ATFLIR and the HMCS) is a much more capable Strike
Fighter... not to mention its much better maintenance numbers and radar.

Kinda sad, 30 years design progress and we get an airframe that can't exceed
.... or even match ... the Turkey's performance (except at high alfa ... big
whoop!). Wouldn't have been a big deal to retrofit advanced WCS/Radar
capability. Of course the maintainability could not have been solved
without a clean sheet of paper redesign (pretty much what the E/F is
compared to the original Bug anyway).

R / John