they are all referred to as blocks now within the fleet. All of the operational F-18's in the fleet are wired for the AMRAAM and the last of the AIM-7's are going, going, going.......
"Offtopic Note: AIM-54C did not work for the better part of a decade after going into service.
One the problems that plagued it during that period was a publicly identified flaw in it fuzing system that resulted in the missile detonating halfway to the target.
The digital upgrade of the AIM-54C paralleled AMRAAM development, and both suffered from major teething troubles.
Obviously, both of those missiles are absolutely amazing, but like the Sparrow and Sidewinder before them, they needed a decade or more to reach their full potential."
no argument. The last block of AIM-54C's were awesome weapons and the broad characterization of the AIM-54 as unsuitable for use against fighters was simply obsolete at that point.