Northrop Grumman has recorded two major manufacturing milestones of F/A-18 components at its facility at El Segundo in Los Angeles.
The company, which is a major sub contractor on the Hornet and Super Hornet programs completed its 500th rear fuselage shipset on December 16, and also completed its 300th classic Hornet centre barrel. The Super Hornet shipsets comprise the entire centre/aft fuselage section including the twin tails and all associated systems for F/A-18E/F and EA-18G models, and these are shipped by road to Boeing’s St Louis facility for final assembly.
The classic Hornet centre barrels are designed for retrofit to F/A-18A-D models to extend to fatigue life of these aircraft. Ten of the RAAF’s F/A-18A/Bs have been fitted with Northrop Grumman manufactured centre barrels at L-3’s Mirabel, Canada facility.
Since 1979, Northrop Grumman has delivered 1479 classic Hornet and 501 Super Hornet rear fuselage shipsets.
