Even “High Gun” couldn’t save the F/A-18 Tremendous Hornet.
Boeing introduced Thursday that it expects to finish manufacturing of the fighter jet in late 2025 after a remaining supply to the U.S. Navy.
Manufacturing of the airplane may very well be stretched out to 2027 if India locations an order, the corporate stated.
The primary F/A-18 debuted in 1983 and was constructed by McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1997. Greater than 2,000 Hornets, Tremendous Hornets and Growlers have been delivered to the U.S. army and the governments of many allies, together with Canada, Finland, Australia and Malaysia.
However the airplane’s destiny has been doubtful in recent times. The Navy had deliberate to not purchase any Tremendous Hornets after fall 2021, citing the age of the airplane’s design. Solely an act of Congress saved manufacturing working.
Information of the airplane’s curtain name comes lower than a month after Boeing delivered the final of its iconic 747 jumbo jet that has been utilized in passenger and cargo service for half a century.
Boeing stated ending F/A-18 manufacturing will let it give attention to future army plane, each crewed and uncrewed, and enhance manufacturing of different protection applications. The corporate stated it plans to construct three new services in St. Louis, the place the F/A-18s are assembled.
“We’re planning for our future, and constructing fighter plane is in our DNA,” stated Steve Nordlund, vp of Boeing’s Air Dominance division.
The corporate stated it can proceed to develop upgrades to the present fleet of F/A-18 Tremendous Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. The latter is a carrier-based digital model of the jet.
The Tremendous Hornet featured prominently within the 2022 film “High Gun: Maverick,” with Tom Cruise reprising his function in a Nineteen Eighties film a few Navy pilot. The sequel received optimistic critiques and was among the many highest-grossing motion pictures of final 12 months.
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