The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft fleet has surpassed 12 million flight hours, marking an important milestone for one of the most enduring families of aircraft in modern naval aviation. This achievement underscores the capability, reliability and availability of these aircraft, which have served as the backbone of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps air power for decades.  

Put into perspective, the aircraft have completed the equivalent of 500,000 days, or nearly 1,370 years, of nonstop flight defending national interests and ensuring global security.  

The lead business financial manager (BFM) for the F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) received the 2024 Department of the Navy annual Financial Management Contribution to Business Processes and Internal Controls individual award during a ceremony June 18 at the Pentagon for her critical work resolving a material weakness flagged by Navy auditors.

Rapidly delivering critical capabilities to the fleet earned the F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) a trifecta of awards at NAVAIR's annual Commander's Awards ceremony on June 4.

NAVAIR Commander Carl Chebi presented the following three awards to PMA-265 teams:

NAVAIR Edward H. Heinemann Award

APG-79(V)4 Radar Integrated Product Team rapidly fielded the most significant capability enhancement to the F/A-18C/D Hornet in its nearly 40-year service life.

Two U.S. Navy civilians from the F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) received the Spanish Air and Space Force’s Excellence in Sustainment Award for Foreign Collaboration in Maintenance, becoming the only Americans honored with the distinction in the award’s 17-year history. 

John Smith, international programs manager, and Don Valentine, Canadian and Spanish F/A-18 Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program manager, were recognized for their outstanding work on PMA-265’s F/A-18 FMS team, during a ceremony March 27 at Zaragoza Air Base in Spain.

The U.S. Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) for the F/A-18 E/F Infrared Search and Track (IRST) Block II system in November 2024, providing the fleet with an enhanced capability to search, detect and track airborne targets at long range.

The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) recently announced that the CF-18 Hornet Extension Project (HEP) achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC), a significant accomplishment in a five-year collaborative effort with the F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265). This milestone marks the delivery of the first six HEP2 upgraded fighter aircraft to 3 Wing Bagotville, Canada. In total, 84 aircraft will be upgraded through this project, which will provide all aircraft with HEP 1 interoperability upgrades and 36 aircraft with HEP 2 combat capability upgrades.

The U.S. Navy awarded The Boeing Company a $1.3 billion contract March 19 for the purchase of 17 F/A-18 Super Hornets and delivery of a technical data package vital to the sustainment of the platform. 

Born out of necessity and innovation, the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet introduced a level of aircraft superiority that had not been seen before and set the standard for future development of next-gen fighters. Now, celebrating the 45th anniversary of its first flight Nov. 18, the original strike fighter aircraft is affectionately referred to as the “Legacy.”

Appropriately coined, the nickname encapsulates not only the cutting-edge capabilities of the aircraft at the time, but its place in history as the first in its class that would pave the way for future aircraft platforms.

The F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) welcomed a new program manager Aug. 3 when Capt. Michael “Sniff” Burks relieved Capt. Jason “Stuf” Denney as PMA-265's 15^th program manager during a change of command ceremony at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.

The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges (PMA-205) and the F/A-18 and EA-18G (PMA-265) program offices are fielding a sophisticated Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) training system that has the potential to revolutionize the way the Navy trains, leading to greater readiness and significant cost savings. 

The LVC training, commonly referred to as Link Inject-to-Live (LITL), injects high fidelity simulated air-to-air and surface-to-air targets into the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G weapon systems and is projected to save the Navy millions of dollars annually.