Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/0502/ — built September 26, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
F-18 A-D Unique
Budget figures
FY2026 award data is a partial year — USAspending reports awards on a rolling basis, and this corpus runs through 2026-09-04. why partial FY2026 data? →
Budget trajectory
| Fiscal year | Amount |
|---|---|
| FY24 | $108.2M |
| FY25 | $80.3M |
| FY26 | $53.8M |
All series figures: P-1 TOA · PB2026
Decade view
P-1/R-1 workbook TOA basis, shown compact in $B/$M (the workbook records USD thousands); each figure cites its own President's Budget edition
The vertical scale does not start at zero: the baseline sits just below this program’s smallest year, so a low point on this line is not a small amount. Read the shape for direction and the grid below for the figures.
● actuals (line) · ○ enacted · ◇ request — gaps are editions the program is absent from, never interpolated.
| Series | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actuals | $162.1M | $126.5M | $108.2M | ||
| Enacted | – | $141.5M | $116.6M | $80.3M | |
| Request | – | – | $116.6M | $92.8M | $53.8M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $116.6M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reported $108.2M as actual total obligation authority — $8.32M below the request. 108.23 − 116.55 = -8.32 USD millions — the compact figures above are rounded for reading.
Program lineage
No predecessor/successor lineage was recorded for this program element — no FY-to-FY transfer into or out of this line was stated in the ingested J-books, and none was inferred from the program structure.
Description
Description — F-18 A-D Unique
This line item funds modifications to the F/A-18C/D aircraft. The F/A-18 Naval Strike Fighter is a twin-engine, mid-wing, multi-mission tactical aircraft. The F/A-18 is employed in both Navy and Marine Corps squadrons. Commencing with the FY 1988 procurement, the single seat aircraft include a night attack capability. The F/A-18 can be missionized through selected use of external equipment to accomplish specific fighter or attack missions. This commonality provides the Operational Commander more flexibility in employing tactical aircraft in a dynamic scenario. The primary design mission for the F/A-18 is a strike fighter which includes the traditional fighter applications, such as fighter escort and fleet air defense, combined with the attack applications, such as interdiction, close air support and the attack of maritime targets. Since fighter capabilities are available in either mission, a robust self-defense capability is retained. Current aircraft inventory and Flight hours flown as of 10 April 2025: F/A-18C - 86 (74 Active, 12 Reserve): service life 8,000 hours (current); 10,000 hours (extended); average service life remaining, 1,058 hours (current-Non-HFH inducted); 2,156 hours (extended) F/A-18D - 56 (56 Active, 0 Reserve): service life 8,000 hours (current); 10,000 hours (extended); average service life remaining, 1,085 hours (current-Non-HFH inducted); 2,163 hours (extended)
Justification
Justification — F-18 A-D Unique
The overall goal of the modifications budgeted in FY 2026 is to implement commonality/capability and structural safety and reliability improvements. Marine Corps F/A-18C/D are, and will remain, the primary bridging platform to the F-35B/C as defined in the Marine Corps 2022 Aviation Plan. To accomplish this, the F/A-18 Hornet must remain lethal, survivable, and relevant through 2030, and requires modernization upgrades to be installed no later than FY26. These upgrades include the APG-79(V)4 AESA Radar, Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) , and NAVWAR (GPS Anti-jam capability). In order to fly F/A-18C/D aircraft to 2030, the service life of the airframe must be extended from 6,000 hour to 10,000 and subsystem readiness degraders must be addressed. Together, these modifications and upgrades will ensure the F/A-18C/D retains relevant combat effectiveness until Marine TACAIR has fully transitioned to the F-35. OSIP 11-99 F/A-18 Aircraft Structural Life Management Plan (SLMP) incorporates structural enhancements and changes required to attain F/A-18 service life and maintain sufficient aircraft inventory to meet fleet operational requirements through FY 2030. OSIP 21-00 USMC F/A-18 Upgrade supports United States Marine Corps (USMC) F/A-18C/D avionics capabilities, including both hardware and software. This effort is critical to meet the documented Marine Corps requirement for tactical aircraft that can support the National Defense Strategy and National Military Strategy through 2030. Specifically, this OSIP will implement hardware and software upgrades necessary to maintain a credible and capable USMC F/A-18 fleet while also upgrading the Hornet platform so that it can fully exploit the lethality available from a 4th / 5th generation TACAIR mix required to meet Operational Plan (OPLAN) requirements until the F-35 transition completes in FY30. OSIP 10-21 F/A-18 Air Vehicle C-D Readiness supports the correction of readiness degraders impacting F/A-18C/D aircraft cost per flight hour; Reliability, Maintainability, and Availability (RM&A); obsolescence; and reduction of life-cycle costs necessary to support Marine Tac Air transition to the F-35. The FY 2026 request was reduced by $2.509 million for Advisory and Assistance Services to promote efficiencies and advance the policies of the Administration in alignment with Executive Order 14222, "Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative." The FY 2026 request was reduced by $1.127 million for civilian personnel to optimize the workforce in compliance with Executive Order 14210, "Implementing the President's Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative."
Budget line items(workbook-cited)
P-1/R-1 workbook Total Obligation Authority basis (USD thousands) · PB2026.
Exhibit P-1
| Account | Org | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY24 Actuals | $108.2M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY25 Enacted | $80.3M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY26 Disc. Request | $53.8M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY26 Total | $53.8M |
Budget Details(R-2/P-40 facts)
J-book detail basis (R-2/P-40, USD millions) · PB2026 — a different accounting basis from the P-1/R-1 workbook TOA above; where the two disagree, the reconciliation strip under Budget figures shows both.
Wider than this screen — swipe the table sideways for the remaining fiscal-year columns.
| Project | All Prior Years | FY24 Actuals | FY25 Total | FY26 Base | FY26 Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program Element | $442.7M | $108.2M | $80.3M | $53.8M | $53.8M |
Follow the dollar
No follow-the-dollar view — this program's awards haven't been crosswalked at high confidence (flows cover 312 of 1,938 programs). why coverage is partial? →
Awards
No awards are linked to this program element at high or medium confidence — the budget→award crosswalk only asserts links it can defend, and this line has none yet.
Lobbying mentions
No Senate LDA lobbying filing in the tracked data mentions this program element by code or alias.
Oversight
Department-level designation (not specific to this program)
GAO lists 5 high-risk areas for DOD as a whole. That designation covers the department, not F-18 A-D Unique. No program-specific GAO finding for this line is in the ingested data. See the DOD oversight record.
Program dossier
No research dossier for this program — dossiers cover 50 of 1,938 programs, the largest fully J-book-detailed lines by FY2026 requested dollars. why no dossier here? →
Primary sources
Open any budget figure for its exact receipt. Verified line items lead with the highlighted government PDF; original spreadsheets download with their budget edition and exhibit in the filename.
Budget totals · TOA sources
FY2026 Department of Defense Budget: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O350
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2026_DoD_P-1_Procurement.xlsx.
FY2024 Department of Defense Budget: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O354
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2024_DoD_P-1_Procurement.xlsx.
FY2025 Department of Defense Budget: Procurement Programs (P-1) · comptroller.war.gov
Exhibit P-1 · O355
Complete workbook · unchanged saved copy. Saves as PB2025_DoD_P-1_Procurement.xlsx.
Detailed budget justification
The related TOA spreadsheets above use a different accounting basis from R-2/P-40 detail. Their amounts are not assumed to match these detailed sources.
APN BA1-4 Book · www.secnav.navy.mil