Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

rooster said:
Oh yeah, I remember seeing you in the news as a member of the administration... How's it going now that you're not in the White House any longer?
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well I was born after the invention of the printing press so I read these guys' memoirs and interviews. Funny how the modern days work huh? you don't have to physically be present in a place to know what's goin on.
 
That seems to be fit for April first rather than any other day.
 
Aren't these the squadrons that the USN loans out to the other services? Perhaps it is a bluff to get money from another department?
 
CT_20210731_EAA-13346-Edit-ct-thrasher-770x963.jpg


This photography is discussed by aviation photographer Camden Thrasher, here:

www.thephoblographer.com

Camden Thrasher Snaps Amazing Photos Of Supersonic Aircraft

An amazing image of his went viral on the internet. Camden Thrasher clarifies what he photographed and tells us about his passion for jets.
www.thephoblographer.com www.thephoblographer.com
 
GTX said:
Someone's career just took a setback. Hopefully he has learnt and been given a chance to move on.

www.abc.net.au

RAAF pilot suffered 'impaired cognitive performance' before ejecting during aborted Super Hornet take-off, investigation finds

Human error has been officially blamed for a dramatic incident in which a RAAF Super Hornet pilot and a weapons officer ejected from their aircraft during an aborted take-off.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
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I hope that the pilots were not injured during the course of the ejection.
 
There was also a SH crash last week in Southern California:

A U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed in the Mojave Desert last week, killing the pilot.

The F/A-18E Super Hornet involved in the crash was based out of Naval Air Station Lemoore. It crashed around 2:30 p.m. Friday near Trona, in San Bernardino County.
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eu.desertsun.com

U.S. Marine Osprey aircraft with 5 aboard crashes in Southern California just north of Mexico border

The crash was reported by the Naval Air Facility El Centro, which trains pilots from the Navy and other branches of the military.
eu.desertsun.com
 

F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to USS Harry S. Truman blown overboard due to unexpected heav

On July 8, 2022, an F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, embarked aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), blew overboard due to unexpected heavy weather in the Mediterranean Sea. The
www.c6f.navy.mil
www.stripes.com

Super Hornet on USS Truman blown off deck in Mediterranean Sea

One sailor received minor injures while conducting operations on the aircraft carrier during the unexpected heavy weather.
www.stripes.com www.stripes.com

NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. Navy Super Hornet assigned to an aircraft carrier sailing in the Mediterranean Sea blew off the ship’s deck last week during heavy weather, the Navy said Sunday.

One sailor received minor injures while conducting operations on the USS Harry S. Truman during the unexpected weather on Friday but was in stable condition and anticipated to make a full recovery, U.S. 6th Fleet said in a statement. All other personnel were accounted for, the Navy said.

The service didn’t say if anyone was on board the F/A-18 Super Hornet when it blew off the ship’s deck. It also didn’t say if the plane, assigned to Carrier Air Wing 1, had been recovered or if recovery efforts were underway.

It wasn’t clear where in the Mediterranean the Truman was when the incident occurred, but USNI News reported on July 7 that the ship was in the Ionian Sea.

A replenishment at sea happening during the heavy weather was safely ended, according to the statement. The Navy did identify the other ship involved in the replenishment.

“USS Harry S. Truman and embarked aircraft remain full mission capable,” U.S. 6th Fleet said in the statement. Details and cause of the incident are under investigation, according to the statement.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1547989374222098432
View: https://twitter.com/NAVAIRNews/status/1547989374222098432

U.S. Navy Super Hornet teams with unmanned aerial vehicles in flight demos | NAVAIR

The F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) has conducted a successful series of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) flight tests in which a Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet demonstrated command and control of three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The event took place at Naval Air Warfare Center...
www.navair.navy.mil www.navair.navy.mil

Published:
Jul 15, 2022
NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md.
--
The F/A-18 and EA-18G Program Office (PMA-265) has conducted a successful series of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) flight tests in which a Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet demonstrated command and control of three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The event took place at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Pt. Mugu, California, and included four flight tests supported by Air Test and Evaluation Squadrons (VX) 23 and 31 and industry partners, Boeing and BAE Systems.

“The MUM-T concept explores interoperability between manned aircraft and unmanned autonomous systems to conduct missions,” said Capt. Jason Denney, program manager for PMA-265. “Such collaborative endeavors are imperative for resource and requirements planning to ensure the warfighter is equipped with best-in-class capabilities.”

During the flight tests, F/A-18 pilots entered commands into a third-party tablet instructing the UAVs to perform various maneuvers used in combat missions. The tablet was connected to the Block III’s adjunct processor, known as the Distributed Targeting Processor – Networked (DTP-N), which transmitted these commands to the UAVs. The UAVs successfully carried out all commands given by the pilots.

“The Navy conducts exercises of this nature with industry partners to evaluate current and future capabilities,” said Dr. Michael Yu, PMA-265 science and technology, and experimentation/demo lead. “The comprehensive analysis of data captured during these events further informs development and refinement of technologies that could potentially be incorporated into Navy platforms.”

Yu said MUM-T could allow the Navy to extend the reach of its aircrew, while keeping them farther away from enemy fire. This capability could also enable pilots to delegate tasks or incorporate UAVs into missions such as patrolling airspace, fueling aircraft or serving as a communication relay node.

“MUM-T has the potential to transform tomorrow’s fleet into a more lethal, better-connected force,” said Denney. “MUM-T will help us maintain the technological advantage and competitive edge against our adversaries.”
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There is also a picture showing that some tests involved carrying a significant weapon load (bring back load) :

1659488731360.png


eurasiantimes.com

Boeing Launches 'Twin Attack' On Dassault Rafales With F-15EX & Super Hornets; Aims To Seize IAF, Navy Deals

Some of the world’s best fighter jets are competing neck-to-neck to seize Indian Air Force and Navy deals. Two firms, American Boeing and French Dassault Aviation are headed in direct competition as Super Hornets are challenging Rafale-M for the Indian Navy deal, and F-15EX (Eagles-II) are being...
eurasiantimes.com eurasiantimes.com
 
Upgrades for Australian Growlers on the way!

www.themandarin.com.au

RAAF Growlers get $2bn for jammer upgrades to run better interference

Albanese government hits afterburners on Australia’s airborne electronic warfare capability.
www.themandarin.com.au www.themandarin.com.au

According to Defence, the list of upgrades coming to Australia’s Growlers includes a “Next-Generation Jammer weapon system” to replace the ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming System; sensor upgrades; anti-radiation missile war stock; and new longer-range and more advanced anti-radiation missiles.
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CBO Report on Super Hornet Availability​

news.usni.org

CBO Report on Super Hornet Availability - USNI News

The following is the Feb. 9, 2023, Congressional Budget Office report, Availability and Use of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Fighter Aircraft. From the report Availability Rates by Fiscal Year Are Lower and Declined Faster for Both Types of Hornets Than for the Rest of the Department of the Navy’s...
news.usni.org news.usni.org

"Super Hornets Have Aged More Adversely Than Their Predecessors"

b2 - "No surprise to me and I even know why...predicted and talked about it 15 and even 20 years ago now in here and a lot of other places...
Fatigue life (service life) is a direct correlation to flight hours/cycles and the "loads" (weight/g-forces) applied.
The SuperHornet has been the sole overhead and organic mission tanker for the CVN fleet since Dec of 2009. In the 3,4 or 5 wet tanker configuration the aircraft decrements its decrements its fatigue life expended at a much higher rate. Since at any one time during daily carrier operation at least 1/3 of all SuperHornets "on the roof" are configured as flight/mission essential overhead (launch/recovery) tankers, the Fatigue life expended would obviously be much greater than what ocoored with the F-18 A-D legacy Strike Fighters... Even "Karnac" could have predicted this.....
Of course we've known that all along yet we divested the S-3B 10 years early and now are in a rush to get the savior out there...The StingRay. You know the drone aircraft supposed to be out in 2019 (as per AirBoss in 2016) that the requirement says will have 15K give at 500nm from "mother"? Hope StingRay works in this all-Boeing scheme to keep the F-35 from being the next Navy airwing tanker....LOL,
Not to be cynical but dont bet on it..."
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b2 comment, have previously seen commentated that the Navy badly conceived decision to scrap its dedicated tankers on the alter of the savings to be gained by fleet commonality, with the SH forced to take on the tanker role which it was not designed for, did see one a claim that ~30% of all SH flight ops were as a tanker and as said the heavy lifting degraded SH fatigue life quickly, costing the Navy in $billions in necessary re-work and Congress criticism in shortage of numbers.
 
Well the Super Hornet was originally envisioned as (and should have been) an interim aircraft. At the moment though I have zero faith in the Navy pursing a realistic F/A-XX versus some pie-in-the-sky concept.
 
Josh_TN said:
FighterJock said:
aonestudio said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1621905185713917953
View: https://twitter.com/space_osint/status/1621905185713917953
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Surprised that the US Navy let the photographer take the picture of the AN/ALQ-99 pod after all it is one of THE most classified parts of the Growler systems. :confused:
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It might have something to do with the fact that the ALQ-99 pods are about to be replaced.
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And what do those photos actually show?

Nothing of importance, really.
 
aonestudio said:
www.military.com

Military Daily News

Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.
www.military.com www.military.com
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Well, looks like it's the end of a naval aviation legend. But it's necessary because they have to make way for the F/A-XX and other upcoming future fighter aircraft, manned and unmanned

Reuters also reports on the subject:
www.reuters.com

Boeing to stop production of F/A-18 Super Hornet jets in 2025

Boeing Co said on Thursday it plans to stop production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet in late 2025 after delivering the last of the fighter jets, as the aerospace giant shifts focus to winning the race for the sixth-generation of combat aircraft. The company said it expects to hire more workers and...
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
 
La-Fuente Technologies said:
aonestudio said:
www.military.com

Military Daily News

Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.
www.military.com www.military.com
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Well, looks like it's the end of a naval aviation legend. But it's necessary because they have to make way for the F/A-XX and other upcoming future fighter aircraft, manned and unmanned

Reuters also reports on the subject:
www.reuters.com

Boeing to stop production of F/A-18 Super Hornet jets in 2025

Boeing Co said on Thursday it plans to stop production of the F/A-18 Super Hornet in late 2025 after delivering the last of the fighter jets, as the aerospace giant shifts focus to winning the race for the sixth-generation of combat aircraft. The company said it expects to hire more workers and...
www.reuters.com www.reuters.com
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It will be sad when the Hornet production line closes, but there will still be plenty of Super Hornets on carrier decks for now.
 
FighterJock said:
It will be sad when the Hornet production line closes, but there will still be plenty of Super Hornets on carrier decks for now.
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Hopefully enough to last until the 2070s at the most. Perhaps they, alongside the F-15EXs and F-16 Block-72s will be the last remaining Fourth-Generation Fighters that the US will ever field, as they slowly gain more Fifth-Generation and Sixth-Generation fighters, and maybe even start fielding a few Seventh-Generation Fighters soon enough.
 
La-Fuente Technologies said:
FighterJock said:
It will be sad when the Hornet production line closes, but there will still be plenty of Super Hornets on carrier decks for now.
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Hopefully enough to last until the 2070s at the most. Perhaps they, alongside the F-15EXs and F-16 Block-72s will be the last remaining Fourth-Generation Fighters that the US will ever field, as they slowly gain more Fifth-Generation and Sixth-Generation fighters, and maybe even start fielding a few Seventh-Generation Fighters soon enough.
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Let’s get the sixth generation fighters into service first before talking about seventh generation, but you are probably right about the fourth generation lasting as long as the 2070s after all the US Navy and the USAF will want to get the most of the last Falcons Eagles and Hornets before they eventually retire.
 
FighterJock said:
La-Fuente Technologies said:
FighterJock said:
It will be sad when the Hornet production line closes, but there will still be plenty of Super Hornets on carrier decks for now.
Click to expand...
Hopefully enough to last until the 2070s at the most. Perhaps they, alongside the F-15EXs and F-16 Block-72s will be the last remaining Fourth-Generation Fighters that the US will ever field, as they slowly gain more Fifth-Generation and Sixth-Generation fighters, and maybe even start fielding a few Seventh-Generation Fighters soon enough.
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Let’s get the sixth generation fighters into service first before talking about seventh generation, but you are probably right about the fourth generation lasting as long as the 2070s after all the US Navy and the USAF will want to get the most of the last Falcons Eagles and Hornets before they eventually retire.
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For that, you would be right. We gotta ensure that all the parts for these aircraft see the light of day before they are eventually retired, and the more parts that are available, the much longer they will remain up in the air and in service. I just hope that their replacements will just be as venerable and capable as the Hornets were when they come to service.
 

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