An older aircraft program would need substantial modernization to remain in service for as long as a newly procured type. An alternative still in development could carry more uncertainty because it has undergone less testing. Catapult launches and arrested recoveries also subject an airframe to repeated loads that limit its service life. The comparison with submarine dives illustrates how demanding operating cycles consume a structure's usable life. Replacement calculations therefore have to account for the aircraft's future standard and operating stresses as well as its initial purchase. A related distinction concerns warship speed: a peacetime maximum need not represent the speed attempted in war when commanders accept greater machinery strain and shorter service life. The exchange also raises the role of weather and operating conditions in reported speeds.
Notable Point · 1:30:24-1:32:34
Carrier aircraft fatigue changes the cost of replacement
Replacing an aircraft with an older design does not remove modernization costs, while catapult launches and arrested recoveries impose their own limits on airframe life.