But the most visible change in the Block III is the addition of “conformal” fuel tanks. Photo by Tomás Del Coro. Fourth-generation airframes designed for 1970s battles were subsequently re-engined, reconfigured, and re-equipped to accommodate 21st century missions. 800+ Super Hornets delivered More than 10 million flight hours Tested and proven regular upgrades, ~$18K USD per flight hour Lower procurement cost Lowest total life cycle costs, Compatible with existing CF-18 infrastructure and current RCAF air refueling tankers system. Advanced data link and threat detection allow Super Hornet to better receive, process and send key intel. F/A-18 Super Hornet Navy. Here are Key features of a Block III Super Hornet: Advanced Network Infrastructure using an improved computer (DTP-N), SATCOM, network throughput (TTNT) and sensor/platform integration, allowing large amounts of data on and off the airplane. Photo by Cory W. Watts. But out there—real time—it’s 100 percent fundamentals. Watkins also notes that he was able to confirm the differences in handling qualities that had been predicted because of the fuel-tank modification. “These flight test results prove that the Advanced Super Hornet can outpace threats for decades to come under a program that is ready and able to meet aggressive cost and schedule requirements,” said Debbie Rub, Global Strike vice president and general manager. Adaptability to stay ahead of threats and continually incorporate new capabilities to meet the demands of current and future missions. It’s a known risk.” The critical flaw discovered was excessive wear on a part. The US AIr Force is not a current Super Hornet operator. Mike Tremel (call sign “Mob”), serving aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. (The Air Force has had to limit the speeds at which these older aircraft perform certain exercises.) The net result? It was Super Hornet versus F-35, and Russia’s aggressive posture in the region proved to be Lockheed Martin’s best friend,” Aboulafia told me. As of April 2020, Boeing had delivered 608 to the Navy, cementing the Super Hornet’s role as the “backbone of the fleet.”. 60m. But it appears her team ultimately did an exceptional job making sure the Super Hornet would be consistently combat ready. Enhanced network capability works in tandem with advanced cockpit display and onboard sensor fusion to help RCAF pilots process intel and detect long-range threats. A massive fighter contest in India is still shaping up. Enhanced situational … The venerable F/A-18 is today transformed into a “Generation 4.5” combat airplane. While they rarely capture the headlines or draw crowds at airshows like the marquis fifth-generation F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, today’s Super Hornets are quietly, competently, and cost-effectively serving as the Navy’s hardest worker. Over the course of its 10,000-hour service life, that difference adds up to a lot of fiscal responsibility. Longer lifespan, improved stealth characteristics, advanced networking capabilities, these in short the main steps forward that the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Block III will make, compared to existing Block II aircraft. With 11 weapons stations, the Super Hornet gives pilots extraordinary payload flexibility by carrying 400+ configurations of air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance – more than any other tactical aircraft. In attack mode, it was a rock-stable platform for delivering ordnance. As for the spare parts, the U.S. Navy will be flying Super Hornets beyond 2040 and so spare parts will not be an issue. If the Super Hornet Block III is selected, Boeing will commit to 100 percent Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB) obligation measured in Canadian content, which means more investment in Canada. The computer-managed flight control system allows pilots to maneuver “to the very limits of the aircraft,” letting them concentrate on targeting and firing weapons. At the 2017 symposium held by the Tailhook Association, a private group dedicated to supporting U.S. Navy carrier aviation, Tremel and his wingman Jeff  “JoJo” Krueger described the action. Advanced data link and threat detection allow Super Hornet to better receive, process and send key intel. ← Former SECAF Donley Tapped to Lead Pentagon Review Asian Carriers By the Numbers → Also on USNI News SECNAV Announces the Return of the … To Niewoehner, abandoning both programs meant the Navy was pulling the plug on the newest technology. The Super Hornet comes in at around $10,500. weapons load 1.6 Mach speed, 10,000 hr. R. Lee “Fanus” Watkins, one of the Block III test pilots at Patuxent River, reports his test-flight results with the conformal fuel tanks. Though today’s combat missions lean toward attack, in the Super Hornet’s split F/A designation, the “F” comes first in the hearts of its designers—and its pilots. Driven by a newly modernized production line, Super Hornet Block III offers Canada the most efficient and affordable means of transitioning operations from existing CF-18s to a new platform. The Commonwealth of Australia operates 24 Super Hornets. Much of the reason it could handle both roles is its fly-by-wire control system, arguably the most significant advance among fourth-generation aircraft. He estimated that the package would add 10 percent to $50 million flyaway cost of a Super Hornet. As for the Advanced Super Hornet representing a viable alternative to the Joint Strike Fighter program, that is an incredibly simpleminded belief. Serving as the U.S. Navy’s dominant force in the skies, the F/A-18 Super Hornet is purpose-built to provide the Royal Canadian Air Force with the capabilities needed to meet its most challenging mission needs. Air-to-air encounters during attack missions may be unlikely, but as Mike Tremel and the three pilots with him in the air learned, you’d better be prepared for them. A Super Hornet coming off the Boeing production line in St. Louis today is not at all like the Super Hornet I last flew in 1998.”. Despite the availability—and popularity—of the exportable fifth-generation F-35, fourth-generation fighters are also undergoing a renaissance abroad. Dan “Oddjob” Catlin completed two combat deployments flying F/A-18s during Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom with the Strike-Fighter Squadron 147 “Argonauts,” so he is well aware of the importance of cooperation in today’s aerial combat. “The Super Hornet is flying today. Up to 144 new F-15s may be built. Now I look back and think, ‘Wow! Correction: The article originally said that Super Hornet costs are rising. With the most weapons at range and the most affordable life cycle costs in the competition, as well as Boeing’s commitment to providing guaranteed work for Canadian companies, the Block III Super Hornet provides Canada with the complete solution: a low-risk, evolutionary aircraft that puts capability in the hands of the RCAF today. The estimated price tag for the Super Hornet package is US $5.23 billion — or nearly $6.4 billion according to current exchange rates — according to a notice issued by the State Department. As one of the first fighters with fly-by-wire controls, the original F/A-18 was a favorite among pilots. But you don't even need the full package of the ASH, just Super Hornets with the enclosed weapons pod acting with the Growlers. During a sunny afternoon bike ride atop the hills overlooking San Diego in December 1990, Navy test pilot Rob Niewoehner and a fellow Naval aviator paused to practice one of the privileges afforded members of the fighter pilot community—complaining. “From a lieutenant’s perspective,” Niewoehner recalls, “we wanted to fly the shiny toy, as opposed to the commanders, captains, and admirals who had to pay the bills for that stuff. Boeing said that the cost to modify a Super Hornet to an Advanced Super Hornet is about an additional 10 per cent of the cost of the aircraft, or a little more than $5 million per fighter. They cooperate to eliminate enemy aircraft. With 11 weapons stations, the Super Hornet gives pilots extraordinary payload flexibility by carrying 400+ configurations of air-to-air and air-to-ground ordnance – more than any other tactical aircraft. Cookie Policy They cost almost a billon dollars each. Those guys were so wise. The F-16s are also getting upgraded avionics and self-defense systems, and a life-extension program is planned to add 8,000 hours to each airframe’s service life. Boeing claims it can produce the ASH for $1 billion in development costs and a cost of around $56 million per aircraft — or about ten percent more than the cost of a current Super Hornet, Summers said. The Commonwealth of Australia operates 24 Super Hornets. With its larger wing and greater power, the Super Hornet can slam onto the deck with close to a full load of undropped bombs (known as “bringback”), giving fleet commanders far greater flexibility in planning missions. Now retired, Brenda Scheufele was one of the first women to fly in combat with the Navy, and worked as a test pilot on various weapons systems as well as flight-control developments to improve the handling of the legacy Hornet. At the end roughly we are talking half price of the Rafale strike force. Navy to build Advanced Super Hornet equivalents? The carrier-capable F-35C variant currently costs $121.8 million, but Lockheed promises to get it down to $100 million. When the Navy began looking for new multi-role fighters to replace the heavy swing-wing, two-crew Tomcat, the F/A-18 was front and center—but not the Hornet as Navy pilots knew it. F/A-18 XT Block III Advanced Super Hornet. During a close-air-support mission near the town of Ja’Din, Syria, on June 18, 2017, an F/A‑18E pilot scored the first U.S. air-to-air kill since 1999. With the lowest operational flight hour costs among all US tactical aircraft in production, combined with lower procurement costs, Super Hornet Block III saves billions of dollars over the aircraft's 10,000+ hour lifetime. ‘The Super Hornet is the most cost-effective aircraft in the U.S. tactical aviation fleet, costing less per flight hour than any other tactical aircraft in U.S. forces inventory. They can detect their targets from far away via the heat those airplanes give off, again allowing the Hornet’s radar to stay off as it stalks its prey. India, Egypt, and Greece have just accepted batches of French Dassault Rafale fighters, and Brazil took delivery of the first of 36 Swedish-built Gripens it purchased. Mark Phelps is a New Jersey-based aviation author who has been lucky enough to write about flying machines ranging from ultralights to supersonics. Advanced processing, networking, survivability and range/payload provide an operational advantage against technologically advanced systems and adversaries provide the following benefits: The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet is designed to meet Canada's broad range of mission needs at an affordable price. or The Block III upgrade is itself being rolled out incrementally. The Navy did include $15 million for research and development into a Super Hornet engine upgrade in its unfunded priorities list for the 2019 fiscal year. Performance As would be expected for an aircraft that is essentially an "up-sized" version of the CF-18, the Super Hornet performs rather similar to its older brother. Similarly, the Air Force’s fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons will receive $5.4 billion in upgrades to replace older mechanically scanned radars with much more effective Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, which the Super Hornets are also equipped with. The Advanced Super Hornet builds upon the Super Hornet design. Boeing recently completed its Industrial and Regional Benefit (IRB) obligation for Canada’s initial purchase of four C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, which was just over CAD$1 billion. Gillian and the Boeing team call it the Advanced Super Hornet, a modern update on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which itself was an update on the original F/A-18 Hornet… It can strike from farther away or fight longer. Boeing effectively redesigned the airplane. In September 2013, Boeing provided Canada with cost and capability data for its Advanced F/A-18 Super Hornet, suggesting that a fleet of 65 aircraft would cost $1.7 billion less than a fleet of F-35s. Northrop’s experimental YF-23 and the McDonnell Douglas A-12 attack airplane project (canceled just weeks later) were advanced-technology stealth programs, so-called fifth-generation jets. The latest iteration of that stepping-stone strategy is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block III. Put together, these upgrades enable the new Super Hornet to transmit and receive enormous amounts of data, which means it will be able to receive targeting information on distant adversaries and ground objectives without turning on its own radar—thus giving away its position—and will be able to share the data its radar picks up with stealthier platforms closer to the targets. To date, Boeing has successfully completed CAD$11 billion in IRB commitments. Boeing FA 18E Super Hornet. The Syrian pilot ejected safely. With shared information, every airplane in the package has a better view of what’s going on around them—improved “situational awareness,” in fighter pilot-speak. Catlin explains that the Block III Super Hornet is “designed to operate in and contribute to a network-enabled battlespace.” The newer avionics allow pilots to join a network with other aircraft in a strike package. The Block III cockpit retains Raytheon’s APG‑79 radar, introduced on Block II aircraft, but adds a new computer processor and advanced data link. Meanwhile, the F-35C carrier-capable variant of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter initially carried a sticker price closer to $109 million, since reduced to $94.4 million according to the manufacturer. Those excellent flying qualities also mean the F/A-18 is rock-solid when approaching to land aboard an aircraft carrier, still among the most difficult routines in aviation. Backed by a 100-year long partnership with Canada and an unmatched track record of meeting and exceeding industrial partnership commitments, Boeing is proud to offer the Super Hornet Block III and support the government’s capability and industrial requirements. The Navy would be buying the modernized Super Hornets for less than $70 million each. The US Navy buys Super Hornets for $52 million per aircraft, while the advanced model costs $6–$10 million more per aircraft, dependent on options selected. All four pilots were prepared for a strike; all the action in the area prior to their arrival had been on the ground. The latest infrared search-and-track pod gives the Hornets a greater stand-off strike capability. “Five will be the basic changes to the airplane,” Bob Kornegay, F/A-18 and EA-18G Capture Team Lead explains. “And a lot of additional capability comes with that,” said Traven. See the Advanced Super Hornet section in the article and the references listed there for more details. The Trudeau government has begun talks with the Pentagon for a foreign military sale of 18 Super Hornets, at a cost of $5-$7 billion. The Eurofighter consortium recently announced plans to retrofit existing airplanes with AESA radars, and build more Eurofighters for Germany, Kuwait, and Bahrain. Another vital element of the improved Block III Super Hornet is its advanced networking capability. F/A-18 Super Hornet - 100 years of naval aviation livery. Photo by Cory W. Watts. A Critical Design Review is scheduled for next year, and once it’s completed, flight testing will start. Boeing has its eye on still more sales. We may train that everything’s going to be 100 miles away. Better yet, Boeing has been marketing the current Super Hornet model to other countries for the rather bargain cost of between $55-90 million a piece (accurate … Give a Gift, © 2020 Air & Space Magazine. California Do Not Sell My Info One of the F/A-18C pilots checked in with the Joint Terminal Air Controller, an airman on the ground who directs air attacks, and as they waited for his call, the Fitter showed up. Compared with the legacy Hornet models, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet came in 20 percent larger, with 25 percent more wing area, upgraded F414 engines, and a 41-percent increase in mission range. The conversation on our bike ride that day was, ‘What’s our leadership thinking? But at a mooted price of $79 million, the Advanced Super Hornet is also a heckuvalot cheaper than the $122 million price tag that Lockheed hangs on an F-35C. Advertising Notice It also has the increased ability to receive targeting information from platforms like the EA-18G and the E-2D Hawkeye. Privacy Statement Kanaglekar said the F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet will offer the Indian Navy value in the form of advanced war fighter technologies at a low acquisition cost and affordable cost-per-flight-hour because of its ease-of-maintainability design and durability. Another way to look at it is that stealth will get you only so far. Continue Boeing's committed partnership with Canadian and U.S. Industry enhances its overall proposal to exceed ITB requirements. But, as the National Post reported in 2012, the Aussie Super Hornets are hardly a bargain. The next-generation Block III Super Hornet design integrates the latest displays, processing and data link technology to provide an open architecture mission system with advanced networking infrastructure both on and off board that can continue to evolve at a pace that far exceeds current competitor upgrade plans. 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