Extended Hornets

The Navy will begin extending the service lives of the first two F/A-18 Hornets slated to reach 10,000 hours later this year, Capt. Francis Morley, F/A-18 program manager, said yesterday at the Navy League's annual SeaAirSpace symposium at National Harbor, MD.

The Navy has identified 150 legacy Hornets that the service will extend to 10,000 hours -- 4,000 hours beyond their original planned service lives -- in order to mitigate a projected strike fighter shortfall in the coming years.

"Those first two airplanes occur this year, and then we go from there and ramp up," Morley said.

The captain said the work, which will require retrofits and modifications on certain areas of the aircraft, are usually done in concert with normal depot periods.

The service life extension process for each aircraft should take about six to eight months, he said.