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| Stop Production of F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighters, Boeing Focuses on 6th Generation Jet in 2025 |
Typically, major military program development systems are designed to be kept in production and in use for as long as possible. It is known that the initial production of the F-18 fighter began in 1974 and has continued in various variants to date.
Production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter could be extended to 2027, if it wins a tender for the Indian Navy, which is looking for a new fighter to deploy on its carriers.
In that competition, the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft competed against the Dassault Rafale. The aerospace giant halted production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter to focus on developing the sixth-generation fighter.
Boeing will use its financial and manpower resources for promising projects such as the F-15EX fighter, the T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet, and the MQ-25 Stingray autonomous refueling aircraft.
Boeing plans to direct about 1,500 employees who support the Super Hornet program to these projects. Boeing is already building three new facilities in St. Louis to produce a new type of aircraft, the 6th generation. “We plan for our future, and building fighter planes is in our DNA. As we invest and develop the next era of (combat aircraft) capabilities," said Steve Nordlund, vice president of Boeing Air Dominance quoted from aviacionline.
The F-18 fighter was originally developed by McDonnell Douglas, but after its acquisition by Boeing, its production fell into Boeing hands.
Quoted from the Bulgarian Military, more than 2,000 F-18 fighter aircraft have been produced, including the F-18 Hornet, F/A-18 Super Hornet, and EA-18G Growler variants. The company will not be taking any other orders this year, except for an additional 8 Super Hornet orders approved by the US Congress.
A total of 20 new F-18 Super Hornet orders were awarded by Congress, 12 in 2022 and another 8 in 2023. After deliveries of an additional 8 F/A-18 Super Hornet packages are completed in 2025, the production line for these aircraft will be closed. .
Thus, a total of 698 Super Hornets will be added to the US Navy's inventory within 30 years. The F-18 fighter, which was first produced by McDonnell Douglas in 1974, will remain in production for exactly 51 years if you count the Hornet version that coincided with the discontinuation of production (2025).
The Super Hornet started production in 1995 and will spend 30 years in production. The program to upgrade Super Hornet aircraft in the US Navy's inventory to Block III level is also continuing. Accordingly, some work on the modernization program will continue.