AMARG completes F-18 withdrawl

The last of 23 F-18Cs have been shipped or prepared to be shipped from the Boneyard in Tucson, to Cecil Airport, in Jacksonville Florida. They are undergoing upgrade to convert them to F-18C+ airframes. They removed engines and wings, retracted the landing gear, and put them on drop deck trailers at Tucson for shipping. The original schedule called for 9 aircraft to be shipped in 2016, seven this year, and seven next year. The shipping crew at AMARG were able to combine the two years into one, and prepare the aircraft ahead of schedule. Sixteen aircraft have been shipped, with seven loaded on trailers and staged.

The plan calls for 30 aircraft to be transferred to the Marine Corps and upgraded. The remaining seven aircraft will come from the Navy, as they replace them with Super Hornets. Under the C+ upgrade, the aircraft will undergo a SLEP to increase their life from 6,000 to 8,000 hours, will have their avionics upgraded, and receive AN/APG-65 radars.

Tucson’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) recently completed a project to withdraw 23 F/A-18C Hornet jet fighters from war-reserve storage and deliver them to the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) for return to flying service.

The 309th AMARG is part of the Ogden Air Logistics Complex and Air Force Sustainment Center within Air Force Materiel Command.

As explained by Teresa Pittman and Rob Raine, 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, in the article 309th AMARG delivers 23 F/A-18C Hornets ahead of schedule, using continuous process improvement, termed “Art of the Possible,” the AMARG team dramatically reduced the time to deliver each aircraft, completing the project for the Marine Corps one year ahead of schedule.

theaviationgeekclub.com...

Any upgrades on airframe?

a reply to: Blackfinger

That's part of the upgrade. They're using low time airframes, and the first part of the upgrade is a SLEP. They're not turning them into Block IIIs, or semi-stealthy or anything like that. But they are strengthening them.