Boeing to End Production of Super Hornet Combat Jet, Co-Star of ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Boeing Co.
BA 1.15%
said it plans to end production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet combat jet in 2025, closing a chapter on a Navy workhorse featured in the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The future of Boeing’s combat jet production has been in doubt for a decade as orders dwindled. The company continues to make F-15EX fighters, and it said resources would be focused on support aircraft and a potential new generation of crewed and uncrewed jets.
Military sales still account for around half of Boeing’s revenues, but the defense business has been weighed by losses on new contracts and declining Pentagon funding for existing programs, including the Super Hornet and the EA-18 Growler, an electronic attack version of the jet.
Boeing has been producing around two F/A-18 family jets a month at its main combat aircraft facility in St. Louis, inherited with its 1997 acquisition of McDonnell Douglas.
The company said Thursday that new-build production would end in late 2025 after it delivers the last planes to the U.S. Navy, though it will continue to service and modify the existing fleet, having delivered over 2,000 worldwide. The 2022 reboot of the Top Gun franchise features F/A-18s rented from the Navy in many of its main action sequences.
Boeing said it still plans to expand the workforce at the St. Louis area facilities over the next five years. Redeploying workers to other programs would minimize the need for any job cuts from shuttering the Super Hornet line, the company said.
The seeds of Boeing’s shrinking combat jet business lie in its 2001 loss to
Lockheed Martin Corp.
for the contract to build what became the F-35, the world’s largest defense program. The two companies in 2015 also lost out to
Northrop Grumman Corp.
with a joint bid to build what became the B-21 bomber.
The Navy has resisted buying more Super Hornets in recent years, according to budget documents, only for Congress to mandate further purchases. Those deals are about to run out.
The F/A-18 has lost out to the F-35 in a succession of overseas fighter contracts, including Canada and Finland. Past export customers included Australia, Canada, Spain and Switzerland.
Boeing faces weakening orders and reduced or zero Pentagon funding for some other aircraft programs. The Air Force in its last budget request pushed for reduced buys of the F-15EX jet, which is also built in St. Louis. Boeing is assessing the future production of its P-8, a military version of the 737 passenger jet used for ocean surveillance.
Navy budget priorities are on refreshing its submarine fleet and its potential part in the Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft program championed by the Air Force. The NGAD program, a so-called family of systems involving crewed and uncrewed aircraft, is highly classified. Funding has been in place since 2015, and Air Force officials have talked about fielding planes by 2030.
Boeing said it is investing in new facilities around St. Louis and a new, classified plant in Arizona. Executives have in recent months touted the potential of classified opportunities. Lockheed and Northrop Grumman are also pursuing NGAD opportunities.
“We are planning our future, and building fighter aircraft is in our DNA,” said Boeing Air Dominance Vice President
Steve Nordlund.
Write to Doug Cameron at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Boeing Co.
BA 1.15%
said it plans to end production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet combat jet in 2025, closing a chapter on a Navy workhorse featured in the movie “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The future of Boeing’s combat jet production has been in doubt for a decade as orders dwindled. The company continues to make F-15EX fighters, and it said resources would be focused on support aircraft and a potential new generation of crewed and uncrewed jets.
Military sales still account for around half of Boeing’s revenues, but the defense business has been weighed by losses on new contracts and declining Pentagon funding for existing programs, including the Super Hornet and the EA-18 Growler, an electronic attack version of the jet.
Boeing has been producing around two F/A-18 family jets a month at its main combat aircraft facility in St. Louis, inherited with its 1997 acquisition of McDonnell Douglas.
The company said Thursday that new-build production would end in late 2025 after it delivers the last planes to the U.S. Navy, though it will continue to service and modify the existing fleet, having delivered over 2,000 worldwide. The 2022 reboot of the Top Gun franchise features F/A-18s rented from the Navy in many of its main action sequences.
Boeing said it still plans to expand the workforce at the St. Louis area facilities over the next five years. Redeploying workers to other programs would minimize the need for any job cuts from shuttering the Super Hornet line, the company said.
The seeds of Boeing’s shrinking combat jet business lie in its 2001 loss to
Lockheed Martin Corp.
for the contract to build what became the F-35, the world’s largest defense program. The two companies in 2015 also lost out to
Northrop Grumman Corp.
with a joint bid to build what became the B-21 bomber.
The Navy has resisted buying more Super Hornets in recent years, according to budget documents, only for Congress to mandate further purchases. Those deals are about to run out.
The F/A-18 has lost out to the F-35 in a succession of overseas fighter contracts, including Canada and Finland. Past export customers included Australia, Canada, Spain and Switzerland.
Boeing faces weakening orders and reduced or zero Pentagon funding for some other aircraft programs. The Air Force in its last budget request pushed for reduced buys of the F-15EX jet, which is also built in St. Louis. Boeing is assessing the future production of its P-8, a military version of the 737 passenger jet used for ocean surveillance.
Navy budget priorities are on refreshing its submarine fleet and its potential part in the Next Generation Air Dominance aircraft program championed by the Air Force. The NGAD program, a so-called family of systems involving crewed and uncrewed aircraft, is highly classified. Funding has been in place since 2015, and Air Force officials have talked about fielding planes by 2030.
Boeing said it is investing in new facilities around St. Louis and a new, classified plant in Arizona. Executives have in recent months touted the potential of classified opportunities. Lockheed and Northrop Grumman are also pursuing NGAD opportunities.
“We are planning our future, and building fighter aircraft is in our DNA,” said Boeing Air Dominance Vice President
Steve Nordlund.
Write to Doug Cameron at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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