Loiselle: Navy opposes Congress adding unrequested Super Hornets

The Navy does not want Congress to add F/A-18E/F Super Hornets the service did not request in its budget, according to Adm. Andrew Loiselle, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 4.

New Super Hornets will not be a suitable platform by the end of their 30-year service life, Loiselle said Tuesday at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Conference.

"That takes us out to about 2055," he said. "There isn't a lot of analysis out there that supports fourth-generation viability against any threat in that timeframe. You have to juxtapose that with the capabilities a [Service Life Modernization] Block 3 will deliver."

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday criticized industry for "lobbying Congress to buy aircraft we don't need" during remarks at Sea-Air-Space on Monday. He also said industry must be more agile to new technology and must do a better job avoiding maintenance delays in private shipyards.

Loiselle said Tuesday that Gilday was referring to Super Hornet procurement. Boeing produces the Super Hornet.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee added $889 million in funding to buy 12 Super Hornets in its mark of the fiscal year 2022 defense spending bill.