The Navy is considering extending production of its F/A-18 Super Hornet beyond 2017 because of delays in production of the Navy's carrier-launched F-35C and increased demands on the Hornet fleet, service leaders said.
Navy leaders had planned to halt production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet at Boeing's St. Louis plant in 2017 as the service prepared to replace Hornets with Joint Strike Fighters.
In order to reduce operational risk, Navy aviation leaders have said the service needs two to three additional squadrons of Super Hornets as older F/A-18As, Bs, Cs and Ds reach the end of their useful service life.
"We have looked at the F-18 inventory as part of our overall inventory management. The CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) has testified that looking at our inventory from now into the mid-2020s and 2030s -- we need about two to three squadrons of Super Hornets to really reduce risk going forward as we procure F-35Cs," Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, airector of air warfare, told Military.com in an interview.
A carrier air wing consists of about 44 strike aircraft made up of two 10-aircraft squadrons and two 12-plane squadrons complemented by several electronic jamming aircraft. Therefore, the Navy's stated need for additional squadrons would require the addition of more than 20 new aircraft.
The current composition of most carrier-based air wings includes 24 Super Hornets and 20 Hornets. The Navy plans to replace the existing Hornets with F-35Cs.
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