We Must Not Let the F/A-18 Line Go Cold

a reminder of a Salamander cornerstone when facing the PRC challenge

Carrier aviation is a dangerous business. No one does it better, especially at high tempo, than we do—but we are not perfect.

As noted by Peter Meijer last night:

What happened?

Another F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier has been lost in the Red Sea, the second jet lost from the carrier in just over a week, five people familiar with the matter told CNN.

It is not entirely clear what happened yet, as the investigation is ongoing, but two of the people said there was some kind of arrestment failure as the jet was trying to land on the carrier and the pilot and weapons systems officer had to eject. They were recovered by a rescue helicopter and are both alive, but they suffered minor injuries, one of the people said.

Because the reporting states there was a WSO too, that means we are probably looking at one of my precious, the two seater F/A-18F.

It reminded me of something I’ve been wanting to post about, tied to the subtitle.

For you new readers, it concerns a demand we’ve developed here over the last few years;

“No weapon system presently under production shall have its production line go cold until its replacement is under production.”

We have a problem that a serious nation faced with a serious challenge west of the international dateline would not be doing.

BEHOLD!

Following a decline in orders from customers, the American aerospace company Boeing will end production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft in 2027.

The final order for this multi-role combat aircraft came from the United States Navy in March, which placed an order for 17 of these fighter jets valued at approximately $1.3 billion (RM5.85 billion).

This production of 17 F/A-18 Super Hornets for the United States Navy will be Boeing’s last.

We almost closed it in this year, but we’ve been blessed with time, as a halt to this madness took place with an extra order.

This is strategic industrial malpractice to the highest degree. We already struggle to fully equip the airwings we have without a little sleight of hand and unnatural acts. A problem we have at a warm peace is only accentuated at war.

Until the F/A-XX is FOC and production is fully up to speed, we cannot close the Super Hornet line if we are at all serious about being able to fight and win the long war, that TX Hammes warned about on Midrats, that is in the offer in the next few years. We cannot find ourselves inside the window of greatest danger of a war in the Pacific with only one light fighter, the F-35, in production.

Final note: once again, if we are going to be dropping birds in the water on a regular basis, we need more salvage vessels.

H/t RB.