N-G Contract to Replace F-18 Center Sections Hits $30.6M

F/A-18C(click to view full) Northrop Grumman Corp. Air Combat Systems in El Segundo, CA received a $24.8 million modification to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-06-C-0080) for the procurement of 37 shipsets of F/A-18 Hornet Center Barrel Replacement Plus (CBR+) hardware. This effort is part of the Service Life Extension Program for the Navy F/A-18 A-D Hornet aircraft. The “center barrel” is the crucial center part of the aircraft fuselage that supports the wings and landing gear. This part is may be replaced for crash damage, or just because of the continual hard landing damage sustained by aircraft in the “controlled crashes” of carrier landings. The F/A-18 Hornet was expected to have a service life of 20 years, but that was based on 100 carrier landings per year. The US Navy has been busy during the Hornets’ service life, and so the planes are wearing out faster. This is a program that will be picking up steam… GlobalSecurity.org notes that with 355 Hornets scheduled to receive CBR+ upgrades by 2012, a peak demand of 45 aircraft per year is expected in 2009, based on current aircraft usage. Average cost per aircraft for the CBR+ effort is projected at $2 million, […]