Jun 14, 2018
Original Feature, Non-Operational
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Original Feature, Non-Operational
The Marines are looking for a few good planes, and they’re search has taken them to an Arizona boneyard where the Corps’ old F/A Hornets have been gathering dust and rust for years.
Boeing has refurbished two of a planned 30 F/A Hornets stored at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson – known as “the boneyard” – and will soon finish more, according toWarIsBoring.com. The planes will be modified to a current “C+” standard under a contract with Boeing and the USMC signed in 2014.
It’s not the first time the military has brought back decommissioned planes from the graveyard. The Marines pulled and restored several retired heavy-lift helicopters during the height of the Iraq War to help with a shortfall in the fleet as a result of heavy usage and crashes...
Lt. Gen. Jon Davis, the USMC deputy commandant for aviation, told Senate lawmakers that just 32 percent of the Corps’ Hornet fighters were operational. The branch needs at least 58 percent of the F/A-18s to be flight ready so that there are enough planes for combat, flight instruction and day-to-day training.
Google search tells me there is only 229 F/A-18s in the Marine Corps, which means only 73 are operational. They need 132 to keep up with daily operations and training. That is quite a discrepancy.
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