F/A-18 fighter program may be near the end

Without more Super Hornet orders, whether from the Navy or foreign nations, the El Segundo plant could close by the end of 2016. “What you’re looking at is the end of California as a fixed-wing manufacturer,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst at Teal Group Corp. in Fairfax, Va. “It’s been coming for some time and, sadly, there are not a lot of possibilities for changing that outcome.”