Flying on by Andrew

DSTO tests extend Hornet lives

The DoD recently confirmed that plans to refurbish up to 49 of the RAAF’s F/A-18A/B Hornets with new centre barrel fuselage sections had been revised down to just 10 airframes.

Scaling back the Air 5376 Phase 3. 2 plan allows project managers to ‘hand back’ up to $400 million in allocated funding while still getting the entire fleet of 71 aircraft through to their planned withdrawal date late next decade.