It was recently announced that the Australian Air Force (RAAF) would extend the operational life of the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jets for the next decade. For this reason, the RAAF will upgrade its Super Hornet fleet to Block III. Prior to the RAAF's plans, there was news that Boeing had just started a Block III upgrade for the US Navy's (US Navy) Super Hornet.
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From the Boeing Defense Twitter account, Boeing announced the arrival of the first F/A-18 Block II Super Hornet at the St. Petersburg facility. Louis which will be upgraded to the new Block III configuration. The Block III upgrade will be implemented as part of the Service Life Modernization (SLM) program, which will add 4,000 flight hours to the service life the Super Hornet will deliver.
The F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet currently form the backbone of Carrier Air Wings, these twin engine aircraft are capable of performing all profiles of air-to-air and air-to-ground missions.
The US Navy operates Super Hornet Block II, consisting of 322 F/A-18E (single seat) and 286 F/A-18F (tande, seat) delivered since 2005, through April 17, 2020. On September 24, 2021, Boeing delivered to the US Navy the first of 78 newly produced Block III Super Hornets, not the upgraded Block III.
The first @USNavy Block II #SuperHornet to receive the Block III avionics kit has arrived in St. Louis for service life modification. The jet will depart with a 4,000 flight hour increase, a large area touch screen display and upgraded capabilities. pic.twitter.com/OkGczxEEVr
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) July 13, 2023
The first phase of the SLM program has been ongoing for several years, extending the life of the Super Hornet from 6,000 to 7,500 flight hours. The second phase, which started this year, seeks to extend the service life to 10,000 flight hours and make the necessary modifications for upgrade to Block III.
The main capabilities provided from the Block III Upgrade Package include Advanced Cockpit System which is centered around a 10 × 19 inch big touch screen, sophisticated network infrastructure that combines the Instributed Targeting Processor Network (DTP-N) and Tacti-Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) ed search-and-track) an/ASG-34 and Conformal Fuel Tanks (CFT) with an additional fuel capacity of 3500 lb.
Meanwhile, for comparison, the advanced cockpit station & large area display of the Boeing Block III Super Hornet - which flew earlier this year. #avgeek #TacFighterTues pic.twitter.com/d5w8iXGl12
— Tim Robinson (@RAeSTimR) May 14, 2019
There are currently three lines of work involved in the program, two in St. Louis and one at Southwest's Fleet Readiness Center, which can modify up to 40 aircraft per year. Last year, Rear Adm. Andrew Loiselle, director of the Air Warfare Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, noted that implementing best practices during Phase One of the SLM allowed for a 30% reduction in costs. The initial cost that SLM budgeted per aircraft was US$5.5 million, with a 15-17 month turnaround time.
The number of aircraft to be upgraded and their service life extended is unclear, as the US Navy has not finalized them. However SLM will be used to control aircraft availability, ultimately scaling up or downgrading the program according to future budgets, schedules and requirements.