Inflation has risen by 700% since then. So Mr. McCain's A4 cost $6.1 million in 2008 dollars. Applying a generous factor of three for technological improvements, the price for a 2008 Navy F18 fighter should be about $18 million. Instead, we are paying about $90 million for each new fighter.
I wonder how good of a comparison that is. Was an A4 designed for the same mission as an F18? Is a "factor of three for technological improvements" really generous?

I love the concluding sentence.
At least they are safe from cyberattack since no one in China knows how to program the '83 vintage IBM software that runs them.
It reminds me of an anecdote that I shared with an Information Systems class in Business School, as I explained that - in the 21st century - we were using dot-matrix printers, floppy disks, and giant, low-resolution monitors to run the Army supply system. People thought that I was exaggerating. When the professor asked me for some plausible benefit of this, I pointed out, "well, I suppose you can't hack into an old 386 if it doesn't even have an ethernet port."