US Navy to increase F/A-18 Block II life by 4,000 flight hours
September 29, 2025
The US Navy is awarding contractor Boeing a $198 million contract to extend the service life of its F/A/18 Block II Super Hornet carrier-based aircraft and to integrate Block III avionics. The deal involves increasing the airframes’ service life from 6,000 flight hours to 10,000 flight hours.
Super Hornet Block II flight hours to increase to 10,000
According to reporting by Defence Blog, the F/A-18 Super Hornet remains the backbone of the US Navy’s tactical aviation fleet, and now the Navy is working to extend the Block II’s flight hours by 4,000 to 10,000 flight hours.
The Navy has awarded what is expected to be the final order for the Super Hornet. With no more export orders, Boeing is set to shut the production line down in 2027. Meanwhile, the Navy is working on developing the next-generation F/A-XX fighter jet and associated loyal wingman drones to eventually replace the Super Hornet starting in the mid-2030s.
But the F/A-XX’s future remains uncertain, and the Super Hornet will certainly continue to serve for decades to come. Meanwhile, China is also rapidly upgrading its carrier-based tactical fleet with naval variants of the new fifth-generation J-35A expected to soon appear in service.
Did you know USNavy carriers haven’t had a true manned deep strike capability since the F-14 was retired in 2006? The Navy’s current workhorse, the F/A-18E/F, although a very capable platform, struggles to hit targets beyond 250 miles with a full load without tanker support.… pic.twitter.com/O12C6e8h8r
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) June 7, 2025
The current (and final) variant of the Super Hornet is Block III. These come with advanced avionics, larger cockpit displays, reduced radar cross-sections, increased range, and other improvements that lessen the urgency to transition to next-generation aircraft.
Navy’s range gap following retirement of F-14 Tomcat
The F/A-18 Hornet replaced the venerable F-14 Tomcat (retired 2006) and the A-6 Intruder (retired 1997) and is the world’s most common carrier-based fighter jet today. It has around 550 Super Hornets in service, plus approximately 150 electronic warfare EA-18G Growlers.
The F-14 Tomcat was a much longer-range fighter jet, and its retirement left the Navy with a painful gap. The exact difference in range between the F-14 and F/A-18 depends on various factors, such as weapons loadout.
The retirement of the tanker KA-6D variant of the Intruder has further exacerbated the range problem. The original Hornet has been replaced in Navy service by the Super Hornet, which is essentially a new aircraft built on the same airframe.
While the Super Hornet offers many improvements over the older Hornet, it is seen as struggling to meet some of the requirements of a future peer-to-peer war in the Indo-Pacific.
So until the F/A-XX arrives, US aircraft carriers will have to rely on armed drones to extend their reach and stay outside Chinese A2/AD zones. For true deep strikes, the USNavy may need to lean more on cruise missile armed submarines. It hurts me to say it, but without… pic.twitter.com/XgJPALX6uK
— Air Power (@RealAirPower1) June 7, 2025
During the War on Terror, a limited range was not such a big deal. But now the Navy’s focus is on the Indo-Pacific, where range is paramount and China’s rising anti-ship capabilities may force the Navy’s carriers further out to sea.
Navy struggling to fill the range gap
The Navy is rushing to bring the new MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone into service, but that system is facing delays. The incoming F-35C comes with a considerably longer range, but the Super Hornet’s range remains a big concern.
In October 2024, The War Zone reported the Navy was asking for ideas on how to extend the unrefueled range of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
Aircraft carriers need to be retrofitted during mid-life refits to operate F-35Cs, and only around five carriers have so far been certified to operate F-35Cs. The remaining carriers only operate F/A-18s, including the service’s newest in-service carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78).
