Military Aircraft, the F/A-18EF Super Hornet Program: Background and Issues for Congress Page: 4 of 15
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Military Aviation, the F/A - 18E/F Super
Hornet Aircraft Program: Background and
Issues for Congress
Introduction
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the Navy's highest priority aviation
modernization program, replacing Navy F-14 Tomcat and F/A-18C/D Hornet combat
aircraft.2 It has been employed in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and is currently
in full rate production. Principal issues surrounding the program include the number
of Super Hornets to be procured and how well the program is being managed.
Background
The decision to undertake the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program was made
during a period of great turbulence in Navy aviation modernization, when the Navy
was struggling to identify and implement the best way to modernize its aging fleet
of F-14 fighters and A-6E attack aircraft. The A-12 program (a stealthy replacement
to the A-6E) was terminated in January 1991. The AFX program, another proposed
replacement for the A-6E, began in 1991, but was also terminated. Efforts to develop
a carrier-based naval version of the Air Force's F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter were
abandoned in 1991 and proposals for a carrier-capable version of the Air Force's
F-117 were never endorsed by Navy leadership.
In the midst of these program starts and stops, the principal alternative to the
F/A-18E/F (a major upgrade of the F/A-18, a smaller, one- ortwo-seat strike-fighter
designed in the 1970s as a lower-cost supplement to the F-14) was a modest upgrade
of the F-14: a large, two-seat fighter designed in the 1960s with potential
air-to-surface attack capabilities.
Proponents of the F/A-18E/F argued that upgrading the F/A-18 to take over the
F-14's air-to-air combat mission would cost less in procurement and operatingexpenses than upgrading the F-14 to take over the F/A-18's air-to-surface attack
mission. Some also argued that the F-14's long-range air defense mission, known
as the outer air battle, will be less important in the post-Cold War era, when naval
aircraft are expected to be used at shorter ranges in littoral (off-shore) operations in
2 The Navy currently operates four squadrons of F-14s, composed of 39 aircraft. All are
expected to be retired by July 2006. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, currently
projected by Defense Department officials to produce up to 680 new fighter/attack planes
for the Navy and Marine Corps, could yield operational aircraft in 2012.
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Bolkcom, Christopher. Military Aircraft, the F/A-18EF Super Hornet Program: Background and Issues for Congress, report, July 13, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7257/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.