Only half of the F/A-18 fighter jet fleet still fully maintained
Published: Friday, Mar 22nd 2024, 12:10
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The Swiss Air Force will only carry out full maintenance work on half of the F/A-18 fighter jet fleet. One reason for this is the great expense and longer delivery times for replacement material. The aircraft in service since 1997 must continue to fly until they are replaced by the F-35 in the 2030s.
The technically demanding work on the aircraft structure and the delivery of replacement material took longer than originally planned, according to a statement from the Federal Office of Armaments (Armasuisse) on Friday. The completion of the project will be postponed by two years to the end of 2027 within the approved budget.
Some of the work has already been completed. This includes the introduction of modernized systems for communication, navigation and identification, updating the aircraft software, renewing the flight simulator and adapting the mission planning systems. However, work to check and refurbish the aircraft structure is taking longer than planned.
For these reasons, according to Armasuisse, some of the remaining work on the aircraft structure will only be carried out on 15 out of 30 aircraft. According to current planning, this will be completed in the first half of 2026. The other half of the aircraft will undergo additional inspections as part of periodic maintenance.
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