Printed from https://fiscalreceipts.com/program/0525/ — built September 26, 2026. Every figure is citation-backed; see the page online for per-number provenance.
F-18 Series
Watch this program
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 | $624.0M |
| FY25 | $639.5M |
| FY26 | $757.0M |
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 | $327.0M | $443.4M | $624.0M | ||
| Enacted | – | $461.1M | $640.2M | $639.5M | |
| Request | – | – | $640.2M | $680.6M | $757.0M |
blank = series not published for this year; – = absent from that edition.
Asked vs spent: the PB2024 book requested $640.2M for FY2024; the PB2026 book reported $624.0M as actual total obligation authority — $16.3M below the request. 623.96 − 640.24 = -16.28 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 Series
This line item funds modifications to all models of the F/A-18 and EA-18G 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, both the single seat and two-seat F/A-18s 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 and close air support. Since fighter capabilities are available in either mission, a robust self-defense capability is retained. The EA-18G has the capability to operate autonomously or as a major node in a network centric operation. The performance of the aircraft is compatible with the primary strike/fighter aircraft inventory, allowing it to be fully integrated into specific strike packages. It also has the capacity to provide broad area coverage for extended periods of time to support numerous strikes or other air operations in a federated context. The EA-18G is a scalable, flexible solution facilitating "Task Organized" force structures. Task organized force structures employ adequate forces to accomplish a specific task while maintaining operational and personnel tempo at acceptable levels. The EA-18G is designed to perform a range of Electronic Warfare/Electronic Attack functions either simultaneously or independently. EA-18G man in the loop operation and advanced information display system allow real time assessment of the tactical situation and the appropriate response executed in accordance with the rules of engagement. The EA-18G electronic attack upgrades meet or exceed EA-6B Airborne (with ALQ-218, ALQ-99, USQ-113) Electronic Attack capability to detect, identify, locate and suppress hostile emitters; provide enhanced connectivity to National, Theater and strike assets; and provide organic precision emitter targeting for employment of onboard suppression weapons to fulfill operational requirements. The F/A-18 System Configuration Set (SCS) has transitioned from a H-Build software model that delivered a major release every two years to a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) that will deliver smaller releases more frequently as part of Continuous Integration, Delivery & Deployment (CID&D). Under CID&D, the previous SCS H-builds have been combined into a common baseline that provide release opportunities when capabilities are ready. The F/A-18E/F and EA-18G schedules reflect two release opportunities per Fiscal Year (FY); this is a notional schedule only as the program is not tied to two releases a year and will determine when to release based on requirements and software readiness. Under CID&D the program will deliver capability to the warfighter with relevance and more quickly than the waterfall construct of H-builds allowed. Current aircraft inventory and Flight hours flown as of 9 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) F/A-18E - 325 (315 Active, 10 Reserve): service life 6,300 hours (current); 10,000 hours (extended); average service life remaining 2,247 (current-all Block I/II Non-SLM inducted); 6,208 (extended-Block II and 10K Block III aircraft only) F/A-18F - 250 (248 Active, 2 Reserve): service life 6,300 hours (current); 10,000 hours (extended); average service life remaining 1,685 (current-all Block I/II Non-SLM inducted); 5,173 (extended-Block II and 10K Block III aircraft only) EA-18G - 160 (155 Active, 5 Reserve): service life 7,500 hours (current); No extension at this time; average service life remaining 4,314 (current)
Justification
Justification — F-18 Series
The overall goal of the modifications budgeted in FY2026 is to implement commonality/capability and structural safety and reliability improvements. OSIP 24-00 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) is a multi-service system that provides United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy (USN), and United States Marine Corps (USMC) aircraft the capability to cue and verify onboard weapons and weapons sensors to a specific azimuth/elevation and to confirm sensor line-of-sight. The intent is to reduce tasks required of aircrews, verify seeker/sensor position, and enhance weapons employment opportunities. OSIP 12-01 Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) provides F/A-18 A+/C/D/E/F and E/A-18G aircraft with the ability to detect, track, and engage air and ground targets, at extended ranges, using the infrared and visible light spectrums. Changes in F/A-18 air-to-air employment and continual improvements to air-to-ground standoff/precision strike weapons necessitate increased pod performance and reliability to support longer required detection/engagement distances. OSIP 06-02 F/A-18C/D/E/F and EA-18G Training System supports compliance with fleet readiness and training requirements. These requirements mandate that training systems be concurrent with aircraft hardware, software, and system capabilities. OSIP 23-04 Core Avionics supports retrofit upgrades, mitigation of obsolescence issues, and improvements to various avionics systems that have been, or are being, incorporated into fleet aircraft. This OSIP provides updates to the Automated Maintenance Environment (AME) and the integrated electronic technical manuals, and provides mission planning updates. OSIP 02-07 AESA/AN-APG-65/AN-APG-73 includes recurring and non-recurring efforts for reliability and operational safety improvements to, as well as obsolescence mitigation for, the APG-65 and APG-73 radars and associated software requirements. OSIP 21-08 EW Unique supports required safety of flight modifications, addresses obsolescence issues, and incorporates system improvements for all electronic warfare-unique requirements, to include hardware and software modifications. OSIP 01-10 Network Centric Operations will implement a common configuration of network centric capability across all F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft. OSIP 10-16 Priority Stores facilitates aircraft capability upgrades to carry priority stores for F/A-18A-F and EA-18G aircraft. Priority Stores Integration contains fleet-required air to air and air to ground weapon configuration upgrades to support fleet requirements. This OSIP also provides for F/A-18A-F and EA-18G aircraft weapon systems software and aeromechanical hardware upgrades needed during fleet operations to ensure that mission readiness and safety of flight regimes are maintained. OSIP 13-19 Physiological Episodes (PE) supports the mitigation of aircrew Physiological Episodes (PE) in F/A-18 and E/A-18G by correcting aircraft deficiencies in aircrew life support systems, and addressing safety and reliability issues. OSIP 11-21 Communication Systems supports AN/ARC-210 Receiver Transmitters (RTs), Link 16, TACAN, Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) capabilities, Global Lightning (GL) and Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) integrated with the F/A-18 weapon system. These communication systems operate with standard United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, and United States Air Force digital communications devices to facilitate close air support, deep air strike, and tactical air control missions. OSIP 03-24 Electro-Optical and Infrared (EOIR) Modernization provides F/A-18 E/F aircraft with the ability to detect, track, and engage air and ground targets, at extended ranges, using the infrared and visible light spectrums. OSIP 14-26 Service Life Modification (SLM) BLK III required to support retrofit upgrades, manage obsolescence issues, and improvements and modifications to various avionics systems that have been or are being incorporated into fleet F/A-18E/F Block II aircraft that are being upgraded to Block III. The FY 2026 request was reduced by $12.884 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 $4.374 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 | $624.0M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY25 Enacted | $639.5M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY26 Disc. Request | $757.0M |
| Aircraft Procurement, Navy | N | FY26 Total | $757.0M |
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 | $14.2B | $624.0M | $639.5M | $757.0M | $757.0M |
Follow the dollar
Appropriation → program element → top high-confidence awards → recipient families → congressional districts.
Follow-the-dollar covers 312 of 1,938 programs — only high-confidence budget→award links are shown. why coverage is partial? →
The diagram illustrates the cited table below — amounts shown in the diagram are transaction sums per award (no citation chips); the per-district obligations in the table cite USAspending queries.
| District | Program obligations |
|---|---|
| MO-01 | $57.2M |
Related awards
Award linkage is shown for 32 of 200 profiled companies — high- and medium-confidence USAspending matches, each row labeled; medium is the weaker evidence. why partial award coverage? →
| Recipient | PIID | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| RAYTHEON COMPANY | N6893617D0004 | high |
| THE BOEING COMPANY | N0001918D0001 | high |
| THE BOEING COMPANY | N0001925F0280 | high |
Contractor concentration
No concentration index is published for this line. This line's high-confidence links do not clear the floor for a published concentration index — at least 3 awards across 2 contractor families holding positive obligations, with positive net linked dollars. An index below that floor is a fact about the sample, not about the market. Whatever further links this line carries are medium-confidence, and what each medium evidence path does and does not establish is set out in the methodology. Both bases are in the downloadable warehouse.
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 Series. 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 · O357
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 · O361
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 · O362
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