The procurement shift is framed through a changing international system. The Cold War had been bipolar, while the Soviet collapse encouraged an assumption that a US-centered unipolar order would endure even though multipolarity had been the longer historical norm. As the expected threat receded, cost-benefit analysis became more heavily weighted toward cost than toward each specialist capability added to the air wing. The Hornet and then Super Hornet moved from one member of a diverse carrier group toward the common airframe carrying much of its workload. This was a strategic assumption about the future distribution of power as much as a maintenance decision.
Notable Point · 43:14-45:17
The post-Cold War budget paradigm turns against specialists
As planners treated the post-Soviet world as enduringly unipolar, acquisition decisions shifted from the capability each specialist added toward cost-weighted commonality.