Skilled worker, parts shortages still hurting Hornet and Growler maintenance, government watchdog finds15 Sep 2018 David B. Larter"A shortage of skilled workers and repair parts is causing backlogs in maintenance depots for Hornets and Growlers, creating headwinds in the Navy’s efforts to put more aircraft in the air, the Government Accountability Office found.
The Navy, which is chipping away at a readiness crisis among its fighters and electronic attack aircraft, is being hampered by a lack of skilled workers and capacity, specifically at depots on the West Coast at Whidbey Island, Washington and Lemoore, California. Furthermore some parts needed to repair the Hornets and Growlers were manufactured by suppliers who have gotten out of the business, significantly slowing the process and forcing the Navy to cannibalize parts on aircraft to offset the delays, the September report found....
...For now, the Navy is doing everything it can to fix the parts shortages with the workers it has in place at the depots, the GOA found. “The Navy’s ongoing and planned actions include locating another vendor source, reverse engineering, cannibalizing parts (i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft), or waiting until the part is available,” the report found.
Making progressThe Navy is making progress in its fight to bring up more jets, which last year had just one in three of its fighters ready to deploy, an issue driven mostly by high operational demand in the fight with ISIS. Today,
almost half of the Navy’s 546 Super Hornets are considered “mission capable,” a sign that the readiness investments made in the Mattis era are beginning to bear fruit....
...The Navy started 2018 with 241 fully mission capable aircraft, and that number is now at 270, he said. The Navy is also working with Boeing to repair the worst of its hard-worn jets. In May, the Defense Logistics Agency awarded a five-year, $427 million contract for Super Hornet parts and spares to begin working through a backlog of down jets.
Boeing also recently inducted of the first Super Hornet into a service life extension program that will eventually see Boeing working on 40 to 50 F/A-18s per year in its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas. That program will fix Hornets in the worst condition.
The Navy is also adding new Super Hornets to the mix. The President’s 2019 budget request included 110 new Super Hornets planned across the five-year future-year defense plan."Source: https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/ ... dog-finds/