Vice Adm Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces, has warned Congress that he only have 170 Super Hornets that are fully mission capable and can fight a war.
By U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Bryan Mai [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“At the beginning of October, in our Super Hornet community alone, only half of our total inventory of 542 aircraft were flyable, or mission capable,” Shoemaker wrote in a statement.
A Navy spokesperson told Flight Global that a mission capable Super Hornet is “not ready for full combat but could perform some missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.”
Sailors had to cannibalize parts from non-deployed aircraft to keep those in the front line flying.