David Axe
Security,
Can the U.S. Marine Corps get Old F/A-18 Hornet Fighters Flying Until More F-35s Arrives?
The U.S. Marine Corps is developing a wide-ranging scheme because keeping its old F/A-18 Hornet fighters combat-ready until the service eventually buys enough new F-35 stealth fighters fully to replace the aging Hornets by the year 2030.
As of early 2019 the Marine Corps had procured 135 vertical-landing F-35Bs too although 23 F-35Cs because aircraft-carrier operations. By 2030 the Corps wants to eat 420 F-35s disperse across 20 front-line squadrons and two custom units.
By then the F-35 used to be the Marines' only fighter aircraft, having replaced no only the F/A-18 besides too the AV-8B bound airplane and the EA-6B electronic-warfare plane.
In bid to bridge the 11-year transition to an all-F-35 force, the Marines are leaning at the remaining 11 Hornet squadrons, which together fly more than 160, mainly 1990s-vintage Hornets. The fighters are a mix of single-seat F/A-18A++ and F/A-18C and two-seat F/A-18B and F/A-18D models.
"F/A-18s are, and will remain, the foremost bridging platform to F-35B/C, with a planned sunset of 2030," the Corps states at its 2019 aviation plan.
The transition rgeister sees the Hornet units transitioning to F-35s at a estimate of almost one per year. The Marines at the meantime scheme to upgrade the planes. The most significant update is the APG-79v4 electronically-scanned array radar that replaces the F/A-18's old mechanical radar. An AESA radar is more reliable and more powerful than mechanical radars are.
"Coupled with its complement of advanced precision- guided weapons, advanced LITENING targeting pod, network interoperability and beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, the [AESA-equipped] Hornet provides relevant and deadly capacity to the [Marine Air-Ground task Force] and combatant commanders," the aviation scheme states.
"With sundown at the horizon, the F/A-18A-D is nearing the final agree because adding capabilities," the scheme continues. The Marine F/A-18s' final configuration includes avionics and software upgrades, new weapons including the AIM-9X obstruct II and AIM-120D air-to-air missiles, the laser-guided Advanced Precision-Kill Weapon System rocket and the common Stand-Off Weapon glide bomb, the new LITENING aim pod that feeds high-definition video into the cockpit and few radio upgrades.
But the Marines are struggling to get the old, upgraded F/A-18s at the air. "Readiness is direct affected," the aviation scheme explains. "The equip system is no able to get velocity with material demands ... the trait of maintenance custom curricula, maturation and standardization has no kept velocity with readiness requirements ... [and] contemporary maintenance manning levels are unable to backward demands because labor."
"It is basic that this void be filled with concord maintenance backward to create a certain shock at readiness," the scheme states.
Moreover, many of the Hornets appeal end inspection and even time-consuming replacement of their center-fuselage structures at bid to lengthen their service lives past 8,000 or even 10,000 flight hours and ensure they're safe to fly until 2030.
The Marines eat a back-up plan. no only is the Marine Corps bringing into service some of the healthier Hornets that the U.S. fleet at contemporary years has retired, the Corps too is considering buying undergo F/A-18s from allied countries.
That's the too tactic the Canadian air compel is pursuing because its get F/A-18 squadrons although it acquires retired Australian Hornets. Similarly, the Marine Corps at 2011 acquired 72 of the British military's old AV-8s and broke them down because spare parts.
"Possible F/A-18C divestment at mix nations at the 2020 timeframe can equip additional opportunities to strengthen the USMC airplane inventory," the aviation scheme states. The Australian and Kuwaiti air army both are at the process of replacing their F/A-18s, potentially freeing up scores of airframes at the next few years.
"The overall increase at the USMC F/A-18 inventory will assist to farther mitigate material shortfalls," according to the aviation plan. if complete the upgrade, backward and acquisition efforts progress although planned, Marine F/A-18s could involve their get until their stealthy replacements eventually arrive.
David Axe serves although Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad.
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