The US Navy will be short of around 70 fighter jets in the future years due to delays in the deployment of the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II.
In the future years, the US Navy may face a shortage of roughly 70 carrier-based fighters.
To replace this gap, the service expects to purchase at least 70 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets, as it prepares to retire its aging fleet of F/A-18 “legacy” Hornet fighter jets in the near future.
The Navy will be short of around 70 fighter jets in the future years due to delays in the launching of the Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II (the carrier variant of the problematic Joint Strike Fighter), as well as longer-than-expected maintenance durations for older model Hornets and increased usage rates.
According to Reuters.com, the plan to purchase the Super Hornets might be adopted as early as the fiscal 2018 budget, according to a US Navy officer who is not authorized to comment publicly.
“To decrease the strike fighter shortfall and to best prepare future air wings for likely threats we will soon divest from legacy Hornets, look to buy several squadrons worth of Super Hornets and continue with efforts to bring on the F-35 carrier variant,” said the source.
According to Boeing spokesman Todd Blecher, the strategy would result in dozens of new orders for Boeing and allow the company’s St. Louis assembly line to continue operating for several more years: “We would welcome an opportunity to develop a plan, with the Navy, that would allow us to continue providing the robust capabilities of the Super Hornet well into the future.”
In November, the business was dealt a setback when Congress failed to include 12 Super Hornets in the fiscal 2017 defense authorization bill, potentially creating a production gap until numerous overseas orders for Kuwait and Canada are finalized.
However, according to US Navy sources, the fighters might still be included in the fiscal 2017 budget as part of a supplemental budget that senators are encouraging Republican President-elect Donald Trump to submit after assuming office.
Instead, the surviving Legacy Hornets might be sent to the Marine Corps, which is in desperate need of operational aircraft, as we’ve already mentioned.
Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher Gaines and Petty Officer 2nd Class Kevin V. Cunningham / U.S. Navy
