by Haijun watcher » Fri Mar 04, 2022 10:02 am
For the airdales here:
Defense News
US Navy confident it can fix its fighter jet shortfall � and avoid another
By Megan Eckstein
Mar 2, 01:27 PM
SAN DIEGO � The U.S. Navy has a carefully balanced plan to dig out of a fighter shortfall and stave off another in the 2030s � but several pieces must come together exactly as planned.
The plan involves adding 4,000 more flight hours of service life to existing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, fully fielding the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter and developing the Next Generation Air Dominance program�s F/A-XX manned fighter � and doing all of that on schedule.
Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, the commander of Naval Air Forces, told Defense News in a Feb. 15 interview that the Navy is making progress in adding new fighters to its inventory and will have fully closed the gap � which had grown to 49 aircraft � by 2025.
But by 2030 or 2035, the F/A-XX must be developed and in its fielding process; otherwise, Whitesell said, the Navy will start losing jets from the inventory without bringing in any replacements, creating a new fighter shortfall.
The first lever is the Super Hornet Service Life Modification program. The SLM program will take Block II aircraft hitting the end of their planned 6,000-hour service life and add 4,000 more hours of flight time, plus upgrade them to the Block III capability set through a variety of airframe repairs and the insertion of an advanced cockpit.
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For the airdales here:
[url=https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/03/02/us-navy-confident-it-can-fix-its-fighter-jet-shortfall-and-avoid-another/]Defense News[/url]
[quote][b][size=200]US Navy confident it can fix its fighter jet shortfall � and avoid another[/size][/b]
By Megan Eckstein
Mar 2, 01:27 PM
SAN DIEGO � The U.S. Navy has a carefully balanced plan to dig out of a fighter shortfall and stave off another in the 2030s � but several pieces must come together exactly as planned.
[b][u]The plan involves adding 4,000 more flight hours of service life to existing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, fully fielding the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter and developing the Next Generation Air Dominance program�s F/A-XX manned fighter � and doing all of that on schedule.[/u][/b]
Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, the commander of Naval Air Forces, told Defense News in a Feb. 15 interview that [b][u]the Navy is making progress in adding new fighters to its inventory and will have fully closed the gap � which had grown to 49 aircraft � by 2025.
[/u][/b]
But by 2030 or 2035, the F/A-XX must be developed and in its fielding process; otherwise, Whitesell said, the Navy will start losing jets from the inventory without bringing in any replacements, creating a new fighter shortfall.
The first lever is the Super Hornet Service Life Modification program. The SLM program will take Block II aircraft hitting the end of their planned 6,000-hour service life and add 4,000 more hours of flight time, plus upgrade them to the Block III capability set through a variety of airframe repairs and the insertion of an advanced cockpit.
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