The fighter is powered by two AL-31FP by-pass turbojet engines, giving the jet a max speed of nearly 1,500 mph. The Sukhoi Su-30SM multi-role fighter is the variant of the Su-30 MK family of jet fighters designed specifically for the Russian Air Force. The Navy priced the F/A-18 at $29 million in 2009, which in 2018 equates to:į/A-18 Hornet Cost: $34.1 million 19. Two F404-GE-402 enhanced performance turbofan engines power the F/A-18 max speed to Mach 1.7. One of the most well-loved, most expensive fighter jets ever. The F/A-18 operates from all 10 active aircraft carriers and is a dominant sight at Blue Angels airshows. Navy aircraft for attack, forward air control and tactical air control. At the current production rate, the production is expected to run to the first quarter of fiscal 2026, Loiselle said.The United States’ first strike fighter, the F/A-18 is a twin engine, multi-mission tactical aircraft. Loiselle said the turn-around time of an SLM will be 15 months.īoeing currently is building Block III Super Hornets to the Navy. Loiselle said two Block I Super Hornets were put through SLM but based on the results the Navy decided not to proceed with SLM of Block I aircraft “unless there is some requirement to do so in the future.” If there are changes in the future that require additional capabilities I need more Block III aircraft, then I have the ability to dial up that rheostat on SLM and be able to do that for a longer period of time and to potentially use the FRCs to increase capacity for SLM beyond the currently planned 35 per year.” ![]() “Right now, I do not plan to do SLM on the entirety of my Block II force and I do not plan to do it on my Block I force. “Right now, our SLM plan is our rheostat that we’re using to control availability in the out years, depending on schedules and future budgets that are unknown at this point in time,” he said. “Full-kit inductions will provide full Block III capability identical to new production aircraft at one third of the cost, giving us 4,000 additional flying hours, or enough to fly for 13 additional years. “We expect continued cost savings as SLM matures and we are executing our planned transition to full-kit, 10,000-hour SLM inductions if fiscal ’23,” Loiselle said. “In the past year we’ve seen a 30% percent cost reduction in our Phase One 7,500-hour SLM deliveries due to the implementation of best practices with pre-SLM grooming, engineering reutilization and overall touch-flavor learning and efficiencies,” he said. Andrew Loiselle, director, Air Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, said the Navy has drilled down on the issues with the SLM and has begun to turn around the cost of the program. He said the Navy’s strike fighter shortfall “will not be resolved until six years later in 2031 because of further unplanned reduction in F-35 purchases, reduced aircraft inductions into the F/A-18 program.”įrederick “Jay” Stefany, performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, told the subcommittee that said the SLM program had been “stabilized.” The Navy also did not request any Super Hornets in the 2023 budget proposal. He said the Congress authorized the procurement of 12 F/A-18/E Super Hornets in the 2022 budget as “risk mitigation,” aircraft the Navy said that it did not want. Norcross said he was skeptical of this year’s analysis of the F-35C production rate and the “lackluster” F/A-18E/F SLM program and the “non-rapid development of the Navy’s Next-Generation Air Dominance. ![]() However, last year the Navy told us that the strike fighter shortfall would be resolved to zero in 2025, primarily due to the solid justification for terminating the new F/A-18 Super Hornet line.” Donald Norcross (D-New Jersey), said in his opening remarks that “two years ago the strike fighter shortfall would have lasted until 2030. The line also will be used to upgrade many Block II aircraft to the Block III configuration.ĭuring an April 27 hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces, the chairman, Rep. The program beginning in 2023 will increase the service life to 10,000 flight hours. The initial SLM phase extended the service life from 6,000 flight hours to 7,000 flight hours. The SLM is a sustainment program designed to increase the service life of Block II F/A-18E/Fs. The Navy is planning to use a “rheostat” approach to adjust the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter Service Life Modernization (SLM) program to mitigate the strike fighter shortfall in the fleet, a senior service official said. NAVY / Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Julia BrockmanĪRLINGTON, Va. An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the “Vigilantes” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) on April 13 during a U.S.-Japan bilateral exercise.
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