Boeing says US crimping its fighter-jet market

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Reuters) - A senior Boeing Co (BA.N) executive said Wednesday his company was refraining from full competition with rival Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) in the lucrative international fighter-jet market at U.S. government behest.

Boeing, maker of F-15 Strike Eagle and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters, is "not actively marketing" these to Lockheed's eight F-35 Joint Strike Fighter co-development partners, Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing's military aircraft division.

"Now, we are providing them information," he told reporters at a company news briefing. "A lot of them are asking questions. And we want to let them know they do have an alternative. It's called the Super Hornet, or if they wanted to go in the F-15 direction."

Chadwick said he would like to see the U.S. government "unequivocally let international customers know that, no matter what capability or product they would like, the U.S. (government) stands behind it and will support their decision as a sovereign country."

"That would make my week," he added. But "that's just not the approach they take in the international arena." He said it would take time for the new administration of President Barack Obama to "really engage" on "what in the end is a fairly small piece of their overall responsibilities."

Boeing, the top U.S. exporter and the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier by sales, is battling to stay in the fighter market as the U.S. government puts more and more of its eggs in the F-35's basket.

Chadwick said keeping a "warm" domestic production line for aircraft such as the Super Hornet was critical to overseas sales. The Navy is seeking nine fewer F/A 18s than called for last year as it embraces the F-35.

Three radar-evading F-35 versions are under development by Lockheed, the Pentagon's top contractor: a conventional version for the Air Force, a short-takeoff-and-vertical landing model for the Marine Corps and a third for the Navy's aircraft carriers.