Navy Budget Adds 14 F/A-18 Super Hornets — Fly to 2040s

Warrior Maven F-18 Fighter Series

PART I – Revving up the Fleet

PART II – F-18 Block III Upgrades, Stealthier F-18

PART II – Combat Roles of F-18

By Kris Osborn – Managing Editor – Warrior Maven

The Navy budget gives the service its long-sought after F/A-18 Super Hornet increase by adding 14 fighters and more than $1 billion in procurement funds – all as part of a sweeping effort to increase the F-18 fleet size, meet mission requirements, accommodate new technologies and ultimately fly alongside the F-35C through the 2040s.

Given the recent war-driven op-tempo involving global deployments and air strikes on ISIS, most of the F/A-18 E/F fleet, on average, has already consumed more half of its 6,000-flight hour expected service life. As a result, there has been a long-standing, multi-year Navy effort to acquire new F/A-18s in larger numbers to address urgent needs from combatant commanders.

When the F/A-18A and F/A-18C reach 8,000 flight hours, they are sent into the depot for service life extension upgrades with the hope of getting the airframes to 10,000 hours. However, many of the older aircraft have in need of substantial repairs and, in recent years, a large percentage of the Navy’s fleet of older Hornets have not been in service.