US Navy confident it can fix its fighter jet shortfall — and avoid another
By Megan Eckstein
Mar 2, 04:27 PM
SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy has a carefully balanced plan to dig out of a fighter shortfall and stave off another in the 2030s — but several pieces must come together exactly as planned.
The plan involves adding 4,000 more flight hours of service life to existing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, fully fielding the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter and developing the Next Generation Air Dominance program’s F/A-XX manned fighter — and doing all of that on schedule.
Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, the commander of Naval Air Forces, told Defense News in a Feb. 15 interview that the Navy is making progress in adding new fighters to its inventory and will have fully closed the gap — which had grown to 49 aircraft — by 2025.
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2022/03/02/us-navy-confident-it-can-fix-its-fighter-jet-shortfall-and-avoid-another/
