Navy, Marine Corps Modernize Aviation Amid Fiscal Pressures.

• Author: Easley, Mikayla

Facing high-end threats abroad and fiscal pressures at home, Navy and Marine Corps aviation forces are preparing for the next generation of warfare.

The sea services' aviation components own a variety of capabilities essential to the Defense Department's vision for future joint all domain operations --including the striking power of the Navy's carrier air wings, as well as firepower and heavy lift for Marine Corps ground forces.

To ensure those capabilities can maintain an edge over U.S. adversaries in future strategic environments, the Navy is emphasizing new platforms that will allow the service to operate at longer ranges and faster speeds in the next 10 to 15 years, said Rear Adm. Shane Gaha-gan, program executive officer for tactical aircraft programs.

"The ranges that we need based on the threats that are out there--[which should] have kinetic and non-kinetic effects--are only increasing over the years. They've pushed naval aviation farther and farther out," he said during a recent panel at the National Defense Industrial Association's annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference.

Gahagan pointed specifically to long-range weapons, such as hypersonic missiles, as technology the Navy is pursuing. Hypersonics are expected to be highly maneuverable and travel at speeds greater than Mach 5, and pose a major challenge for enemy air defenses.

In addition, the Navy may need to boost aircraft procurement in the future to avoid shortfalls and sustainment problems, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, "U.S. Military Forces in FY 2022."

"For many years, naval aviation has been procuring mature systems with predictable costs and schedules," Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at CSIS, said in the report. "Long-established production lines have recently finished ... [and] new systems will eventually replace them, but there will be a gap."

Notably, the Navy plans to end production of the F/A-18 Hornet combat jet in 2022. The procurement of other aircraft such as the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter won't compensate for the loss of the F/A-18, according to the report.

Gahagan said the service has plans for a sixth-generation fighter to be developed under its Next-Generation Air Dominance program intended to replace the Navy's fleet of F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets by the early 2040s.

In the meantime, Gahagan noted the service life of F/A-18 E/F airframes is being extended to 10,000 flight hours under the Block III...