Boeing Will Close It's Super Hornet Production Line In 2025

Boeing's Super Hornet family. Front to back: a single-seat F/A-18E, a two-seat F/A-18F, and an EA-18G. 

Boeing Warzone/The Drive: Boeing To End F/A-18 Super Hornet Production In Two Years  

Boeing says a potential foreign contract could prolong Super Hornet production for two years, but the writing is on the wall for the line.

 Boeing says that it expects to end production of new F/A-18E/F Super Hornets in 2025. It has left open the possibility that it could still be building Super Hornets two years after that for an unspecified "international customer," which is very likely a reference to a potential Indian Navy contract. No matter what, by all indications, the company is expecting to stop making new F/A-18E/F before the end of the decade. 

The company announced its timeline for shuttering the F/A-18E/F production line, which is located within its facility in St. Louis, in a press release today. As it stands now, the only orders for Super Hornets that Boeing has left to fulfill are for the U.S. Navy. These jets, as well as examples of the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare derivative, are only currently in service with the Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force.  

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WNU Editor: An end of an era. 

Boeing Will Close It's Super Hornet Production Line In 2025  

Boeing will close Super Hornet production line in 2025 -- Defense News 

Boeing to stop production of F/A-18 Super Hornet jets in 2025 -- Reuters  

End Of An Era! Super Hornets ‘Concede’ To F-35C; Boeing Announces Closure Of Production Lines For F/A-18 Jets -- EurAsian Times  

Boeing unveils plans to end production of its St. Louis-made F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet -- St. Louis Business Journal

Boeing Says It's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Jet Can Operate On Indian Navy Aircraft Carriers

⛷ #SuperHornet hits the slopes!
Watch as an F/A-18 takes off from a ski-jump ramp, demonstrating the ability to operate effectively from @IndianNavy aircraft carriers. pic.twitter.com/eBSaYF97sy

— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) December 21, 2020

Warzone/The Drive: Watch A Super Hornet Launch Off A “Ski Jump” During Testing Aimed At The Indian Navy 

Boeing says it has proven the jet’s compatibility with Indian Navy aircraft carriers, which lack catapults. 

Boeing has released a video of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet launching from a ground-based “ski jump” ramp, in a demonstration for India, which is looking to buy a new carrier-based multirole fighter. The Indian Navy’s current carrier, as well as its next flattop, lack catapults, which means the service requires a jet that can take off from a sloped ramp before returning to the ship using arrestor gear. 

Boeing has been flying a Super Hornet from the ground-based ramp at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland for some time and you can read more about the program in this previous War Zone article. The same ramp has been used during testing of the short takeoff and vertical (STOVL) landing capable F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. 

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WNU Editor: Just two questions. What is the load of the plane because I see no payload in the above video. How will it land?

Pentagon Now Configuring A Hypersonic Cruise Missile To Fire From A Carrier-Launched F-18

FOX News: Pentagon to arm F/A-18 Super Hornet with hypersonic missiles 

The decades-old F/A-18 has gone through a large number of upgrades, adjustments, enhancements and service-life extension programs

Could arming the F/A-18 Super Hornet with hypersonic missiles keep the aircraft relevant for the next decade or two as larger numbers of F-35s arrive and the service prepares for stealthy, highly networked, 5th-Gen empowered, longer-range war? 

Possibly. 

The decades-old F/A-18 has gone through a large number of upgrades, adjustments, enhancements and service-life extension programs to preserve its combat functionality in increasingly high-threat environments. The U.S. Navy has spent years reinforcing the airframes of F/A-18s, upgrading weapons, adding new avionics, sensors and electronics and even integrating carrier-landing enhancing software to the jets called “magic carpet.” 

The U.S. Navy has also engineered conformal fuel tanks for the F/A-18 to extend mission dwell time and potentially lower its radar signature. The goal with all of this is to ensure that the 4th-gen fighter remains viable against a new generation of enemy sensors, weapons and air defenses. What would a hypersonic cruise missile do for an F/A-18? 

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WNU Editor: It looks like the F/A-18 Super Hornet is going to be flying around for awhile.

The US Navy's Last F/A-18C Hornet Fighter Jet Just Made Its Last Flight

Navy Lt. Andrew Jalali prepares for the official final active-duty flight of the last Navy F/A-18C Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 at Naval Air Station Oceana, October 2, 2019. US Navy/Mass Comm Specialist 3rd Class Nikita Custer

Business Insider: The Navy's last F/A-18C Hornet fighter jet just made its last flight

* The Navy's last F/A-18C Hornet, aircraft number 300, completed its last active-duty flight on Wednesday.
* Both the F/A-18A and F/A-18C Hornet variants have been replaced by the updated F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

NORFOLK, Virginia (NNS) — The last Navy F/A-18C Hornet, aircraft number 300, made its official final active-duty flight at Naval Air Station Oceana on October 2.

Assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 106 at Cecil Field, Florida, aircraft number 300 completed its first Navy acceptance check flight October 14, 1988. Lt. Andrew Jalali, who piloted the Hornet for its final active-duty flight at Naval Air Station Oceana, was also born in 1988.

"Today marked the final United States Navy F/A-18C Operational Hornet flight," said the Commodore, Command Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic, Capt. Brian Becker.

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WNU Editor: These F-18s have been active for 30 years.

What It Takes To Keep The U.S. Navy's Hornet Fleet In The Air

USMC

Warzone/The Drive: Confessions Of A U.S. Marine F/A-18 Hornet Maintainer

What it really takes to keep the USMC's tired Hornet fleet in the air and first-hand experience of Marine Aviation's waning readiness.

We have heard so much lately about poor readiness across America's air arms, but the USMC, in particular, has left some of its most essential aircraft communities in especially dire straits. The service's worked over F/A-18 Hornet fleet is one of them. Over the last ten years, it has become all too common to see Marine tactical air squadrons with rows of planes sitting in pieces on the apron, their key components having been cannibalized to help healthier jets limp back into the air. Maintainers have even had to scrounge through the boneyard and even museums looking for impossible to find parts. And all of this negatively impacts a unit's ability to stay current on critical skills, not to mention morale and personnel retention.

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WNU editor: An excellent review on what it takes to keep these jets in the air.

The U.S. Navy's Super Hornets Are Being Upgraded To 'Super-Duper' Hornets

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alex Corona

Popular Mechanics: The Navy's Super Hornets Are Getting an Upgrade

The Super Hornet Block III will have improvement to allow it to fight alongside the F-35C for the foreseeable future.

The U.S. Navy and Boeing are working to update the service’s fleet of Super Hornet fighters to a new Block III standard while gradually updating existing planes to the new standard. The Super Hornet Block III will have improvements to the plane’s electronics, radar cross section, and range, allowing it to fight alongside the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter for the foreseeable future.

The Super Hornet fighter was introduced in the 1990s as a bigger, more capable version of the original Hornet fighter, now called “legacy Hornet.” As older aircraft such as the F-14 Tomcat and legacy Hornet peel off to that great boneyard in the sky, the Super Hornet has gradually come to dominate the flight decks of the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers, and today most of the Navy’s strike fighter squadrons fly either the F/A-18E, the single seat version, or the two seat F/A-18F.

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WNU Editor: Bottom line .... this upgraded F-18 will be flying with the US Navy for a long time.

Boeing Strives To Build A Better Super Hornet

Boeing's Advanced Super Hornet prototype with conformal fuel tanks and a fully enclosed weapons pod. Boeing

The War Zone/The Drive: Boeing Might Include Stealthy Features on Overhauled US Navy Super Hornets

The service life extension program will give the jets thousands more flight hours, but could include other upgrades.

Boeing has disclosed that the expected service life extension program for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornets could include stealth features and improved avionics and mission systems in addition to a more general airframe overhaul. This more comprehensive update would not only keep the aircraft safely flying at least until 2040, but could potentially make them a capable, but low-cost alternative in many scenarios compared to the service’s up-coming F-35C Joint Strike Fighters or any future sixth generation design.

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Update: Boeing Examining High-Use Super Hornets to Validate Life-Extension Plans; Already Buying Material, Setting Up Facility (USNI News)

WNU Editor: The U.S. needs a low-cost alternative to the F-35 .... it looks like the Super Hornet is it.

Boeing Wants The U.S. Navy To Buy A Few F-18 Super Hornets Instead Of The F-35C

BOEING IS PITCHING AN ADVANCED SUPER HORNET AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO LOCKHEED'S F-35. IMAGE SOURCE: BOEING.

Motley Fool: Boeing Plots Full-Scale Assault on Lockheed Martin's F-35

Billions of dollars of fighter jet profits are at stake.

President Donald Trump loves Lockheed Martin's "fantastic new F-35 jet fighter" -- at least now that Lockheed Martin has cut its price on the F-35, he does. That said, last we heard, the president still wanted Boeing to price out a "comparable F-18 Super Hornet" so that he can comparison-shop.

And Boeing is only too happy to do that.

In recent weeks, word has been filtering out of a new "white paper" being circulated around Washington, D.C., which touts Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet as a better value proposition than Lockheed's F-35 -- and makes the case for the U.S. Navy to buy more of the former and less of the latter.

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WNU Editor: I love Boeing's approach to the Pentagon on this sale ....

.... by switching out 200 purchases of F-35s for 200 purchases of Advanced Super Hornets, Boeing says the Navy could save about $8.6 billion. What's more, Boeing also says its Advanced Super Hornet would be easier to maintain. Factoring savings from operations and maintenance costs into the equation adds up to "about $30 billion" saved over 20 years.

That's enough to buy the Navy two brand-new Ford-class supercarriers with the savings -- which is a proposition attractive enough that it might persuade the Navy to give Boeing's proposal a listen.

Here is an easy prediction .... Boeing will be given a chance to make their case.

F-35 Stealth Fighter vs. Block III Super Hornet

F-18 & F-35 (YouTube)

James Mugg, National Interest: Battle for the Sky: F-35 Stealth Fighter vs. Block III Super Hornet

A debate over the future of US naval fighter jets has been on a slow burn for months, but it’s starting to heat up. There are reports that Boeing is surreptitiously marketing the F/A-18XT or ‘Block III Super Hornet’ to decision-makers in Washington via a one-page ‘white paper’. The chain of events stretches back to at least December, when Donald Trump announced to the Twitterverse that he’d ‘asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet’ as an alternative to the F-35. (Though Boeing has had plans for a further evolution of the Super Hornet for several years.)

The notion of a Super Hornet alternative to the F-35 Alpha or Bravo models for the Air Force and marines respectively was promptly (and rightly) squashed, but Defense Secretary Mattis ordered a review of current plans for acquiring the F-35C carrier variant. The Pentagon’s thinking about how much they’re willing to pay for the extra capabilities afforded by the F-35C, and how many aircraft they need for the kinds of missions only an F-35 can do.

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WNU Editor: Competition is always good.

President Trump Hints That The Pentagon May Buy A Large Number of Super-Hornets

F-18 vs. F-35: Why Is Trump Talking Up the Super Hornet?

Defense News: Trump flirting with big Super Hornet order

WASHINGTON — At the rollout of Boeing’s newest commercial airliner, President Donald Trump indicated his administration could be looking at a large Super Hornet order. Huge, even.

“We are going to fully rebuild our military. By the way, do you care if we use the F-18 Super Hornets? Or do you only care about—what do you think?” Trump said Friday, addressing veterans and servicemembers in the crowd at a Boeing plant in North Charleston, S.C. “We are looking seriously at a big order. We’ll see how that [goes].”

Trump’s trip marks a growing relationship between the new president and Boeing, which has been a target of both his praise and scorn. In December, Trump tweeted that the Air Force One replacement, which is to be helmed by Boeing, should be cancelled because of what he viewed as inordinate expense.

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WNU Editor: The Air Force are going to get their F-35s .... no impact there .... but the US Navy version is an easy target. It is a smaller purchase block and they are not going to be in the air until 2018 or beyond .... hence the reason why the US President is focused on that part of the program.

More News On President Trump Hinting That The Pentagon May Buy A Large Number of Super-Hornets

Trump Eyes ‘Big Order’ of New F/A-18XT Super Hornets -- DoD Buzz
Trump, With Praise for Boeing CEO, Hints at Big Fighter-Jet Deal -- Bloomberg
Trump hints at 'big order' of F/A-18 Super Hornets instead of some F-35s -- FOX News
Trump hints at large order for Boeing's Super Hornet fighter jet -- Crain's Chicago Business
Trump: 'We are looking seriously at a big order' of F-18s as the Navy's F-35 drags behind schedule -- Business Insider
Trump: US 'Looking Seriously at Big Order' of F-18 Super Hornet Fighter Jets -- Sputnik
Trump's F-35 calls came with a surprise: Boeing's CEO was listening -- Chicago Tribune/Bloomberg
F-18 vs. F-35: Why Is Trump Talking Up the Super Hornet? -- Ciro Scotti, The Fiscal Times

This Is Why The F/A-18 Is An Impressive Plane

Popular Mechanics: Why the F/A-18 Is Such a Badass Plane

The 35-year odyssey of the mighty Hornet.

On the first day of the Persian Gulf War, four F/A-18Cs took off from the USS Saratoga to bomb an airfield in southwestern Iraq. These F/A-18s were heavy. Each carried four MK 84 2000-lb. bombs, two AIM-7 Sparrows, two AIM-9L Sidewinders, and a centerline drop tank. As the Hornets from VFA-81 (the "Sunliners") made their approach, an E-2 Hawkeye airborne control aircraft passed word to the pilots: Two Iraqi MiG-21s were on the hunt.

The MiGs turned to intercept the Hornets, closing at 1.2 Mach. While two of the Hornets stood off, Navy Lieutenant Commander Mark I. Fox and his wingman, Lieutenant Nick Mongilio, turned into the enemy. Fox locked onto one plane, firing both a Sparrow and a Sidewinder, while Mongilio launched a single Sidewinder at the other. In a heartbeat, both Iraqi planes were destroyed. A mere 40 seconds passed from the initial E-2 warning to downing the Iraqi jets.

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WNU Editor: It makes you wonder if the F-35 can truly replace what the F/A-18 can do.

Update: National Interest analysis is that Advanced Super Hornet could perform 80% of F-35 missions (The Next Big Future)

U.S. Navy To Buy More F/A-18E/F Super Hornets

A F/A-18E/F Super Hornets of Strike Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VFA-211) is lined up for take off on the flight deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) aircraft carrier in the Gulf June 18, 2015. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Reuters: U.S. Navy aims to buy more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets: source

The U.S. Navy plans to divest its older model Boeing Co (BA.N) F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets in coming years and hopes to buy dozens of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets to deal with a shortfall of strike fighters aboard its carriers, a Navy official said.

The plan, which is still being finalized, could be implemented as early as part of the fiscal 2018 budget, said the official, who was not authorized to speak 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 official.

The Navy also plans to field and deploy a new unmanned carrier-based refueling plane, the official said.

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WNU Editor: The U.S. Navy is not the only ones who are buying Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets ... Are Canada's New F/A-18E Super Hornets Already Obsolete? (National Interest).

“Bitchin’ Betty” Says Farewell: Beloved Voice Behind Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Retires

Inverse: "Bitchin' Betty," the Voice of the F/A-18's Cockpit Warning System, Retires

She's bossed around pilots every day for over 20 years.

“Bitchin’ Betty’s” real name is Leslie Shook, but many of the men and women whose lives she’s saved don’t know that.

Shook has been on every flight the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter has flown since 1995, when the F-18 entered service — or at least her voice has.

Fighter jets, like most airplanes, have pre-recorded emergency messages and command prompts to call a pilot’s attention to aspects of the plane more urgently than a blinking light can. When Boeing was designing the F-18, many of the alert messages transferred over from its predecessor, the F-15, but they still needed to record more. Leslie Shook was a media producer for Boeing filling in as a sound engineer to record the sound bytes, but the hired voice talent wasn’t cutting it. The voice of the cockpit warning system had to be urgent, sharp, and commanding, Shook thought, and while she was demonstrating what she wanted, her manager overheard her. The fill-in sound director became the talent, as Shook became “Bitchin’ Betty,” the affectionate nickname fighter pilots give the disembodied voice of their plane’s warning system.

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WNU Editor: I suspect that for some pilots .... that is a voice that they will never forget.

The U.S. Navy Tries To Keep Its Existing Fleet Flying While It Waits For Its F-35s

An F/A-18 Hornet launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). Truman and embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 are under way on deployment supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and maritime security operations. (Feb. 29, 2008) Wikimedia

Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics: The U.S. Navy Struggles to Keep Hornets Flying While the F-35 Stalls

​The F-35 was supposed to be here by now​.

Faced with delays in the adoption of the F-35, the U.S. Navy is trying to keep F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet fighters flying until replacements arrive. According to Military Times, the service is stretching the lifespan of existing planes, keeping them in the air far longer than originally planned.

The U.S. Navy's F/A-18C Hornets comprise half of the fighter force on a typical Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. These older Hornets, known as "legacy Hornets" to differentiate them from the Super Hornet, were only meant to fly an average 6,000 hours.

Generally speaking, this works out to about 20 years of peacetime flying. The problem? Most of the "legacy Hornets" were bought in the 1980s, making them roughly 30 years old. The period from 1991 to 2015 also have seen a higher operating tempo than expected, with an nearly continuous stream of wars, peacekeeping missions, no-fly zones, and punitive actions requiring air power.

WNU Editor: More evidence that the F-35 program is not delivering as promised.

Update: The problems with the F-35 just keeps on coming .... F-35 Ejection Seat Fix Delayed to 2018; Pilot Restrictions Continue (Defense News)

A Must See Video Of F-18 Fighters

Amazingly Thrilling Video Of F-18 Fighters With Ambient Sound -- Gizmodo

This spectacular footage of F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets is how all aviation videos should be: Just amazingly crispy shots with no stupid musical soundtrack. It makes you feel like you are sitting right there in the cockpit with the pilots. An incredibly detailed look into the F-18s of the USS Enterprise.

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My Comment: Yup .... impressive video .... and up the sound on your speaker.

The End Of The U.S. Air Force's F-18?

Sources: Source: Boeing Co. F/A-18 Hornet program

Credits: Javier Zarracina/Los Angeles Times Programming by Anthony Pesce.

For F/A-18 Super Hornet, The End May Be On The Horizon -- L.A. Times

Workers at Northrop Grumman Corp.'s 1-million-square-foot El Segundo facility on Aviation Boulevard have been cranking out fuselage sections for the Navy's F/A-18 fighter jet for decades.

But now, the end may be near.

Since entering service in 1983, the lithe twin-engine fighter-bomber has been a symbol of U.S. military might, catapulting from aircraft carrier decks and obliterating targets in the sky and on the ground.

Today there are increasing fears that the F/A-18 Super Hornet assembly line may be shut down because of dwindling orders, as the Navy prepares for a new generation of warplane — the controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

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My Comment: After 30 years ... i guess it's time is up.

A Look At The Upgraded F-18 Super Hornet

The Navy’s Carrier-Launched Fighter is Getting a Spiffy Upgrade -- Robert Beckhusen, War Is Boring

But will America’s admirals buy it over the F-35?

The Navy hasn’t put the money down for it yet. But this week, Boeing wheeled out a major upgrade to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Navy’s standard carrier-launched fighter plane. The new Advanced Super Hornet is stealthier, more powerful and boasts a much greater flying range than its predecessor.

It’s practically a brand-new jet. And an affordable one: $56 million for a factory-fresh copy or an estimated $14.6-$22 million to add the enhancements to an older Super Hornet. The heavily upgraded fighter is an option if admirals start getting cold feet over the troubled, $200-million-per-copy F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The upgrades are designed to be subtle. Instead of keeping the weapons attached to the outside of the plane like in a conventional F/A-18, the Advanced Super Hornet holds its missiles and bombs — 2,500-pounds worth — inside an enclosed pod. This smoothes out the plane’s contours and makes it harder to detect with radar.

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My Comment: What appeals to buyers are the costs and the fact that existing F-18 maintenance crews can carry over their training to this new Super Hornet .... saving even more money. If the F-35 continues to have problems .... and the U.S. defense budget continues to be cut .... the F-18 Super Hornet is/will be a viable alternative.

U.S. Navy To Purchase 124 F-18s

Photo: Super Hornets (Courtesy Boeing)

Pentagon Agrees To New Multiyear Contract For Boeing Super Hornet Jets -- The Hill

The Pentagon has agreed to enter a new multiyear contract for Super Hornet fighter jets, handing Boeing and its congressional supporters a long-sought victory.

Ashton Carter, the Pentagon’s acquisitions chief, and Robert Hale, the Pentagon’s comptroller, on Friday informed congressional leaders that they are preparing to award a multiyear contract to Boeing for 124 Super Hornet fighter jets and their electronic attack versions, the Growlers. The contract would run from no later than Sept. 30, 2010, through 2013.

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More News On The Purchase Of Boeing's Super Hornets

Navy to buy 124 Boeing Super Hornets for $5.4B -- St. Louis Business Journal
Boeing to Sell U.S. Navy 124 F-18s for $5.4 Billion -- Bloomberg Business
Multi-year Boeing fighter deal to save $590 million -- Reuters
Navy close to multiyear deal on new fighters -- Navy Times
Defense opts for multiyear F/A-18 deal -- Government Executive
Support for Pentagon's Boeing buy -- Politico
Gates OKs F-18 Multiyear - -DoD Buzz

Boeing Offers US Navy F-18s Under $50 million

From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) highlighted the affordability and capability of its F-18 fighter jets, saying Wednesday it had offered them at less than $50 million each to cover the U.S. Navy's expected "fighter gap" until the new F-35 fighter is available.

"We continue to work on F-18 to make it more affordable, more survivable... and more capable and offer that up as an alternative to some of the other programs that might be pursued," Jim Albaugh, the head of Boeing's defense business, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

The twin-engine F-18, which was developed in the 1970s for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, can be used for surveillance and other missions, and could be an alternative if there are delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, he said.

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My Comment: How much are the f-35s again?