Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornetrepresents the future of America'scarrier aviation and will, by 2010,form the backbone of all US Navycarrier air wings (CVWs). By thatdate at least 38 Super Hornets (24Es and 1 4 Fs) will provide eachCVW with a full-range of strike,fighter, reconnaissance and sup-port missions. The number maybe higher, however, depending onupcoming budget decisionsaffecting the Joint Strike Fighter(JSF) program and whether anF/A-18F derivative is selected asthe EA-6B follow-on. During theOPEVAL report ceremony on 15February 2000, Rear Admiral JohnNathman, then-Director, Naval AirWarfare Division, summed upwhat the Super Hornet brings tothe fleet's table:

"We believe the Super Hornet,the E/F, to be a decisive strike fight-er for the Navy. It brings a funda-mental revolution in striking capa-bility to our air wing. When you putthis aircraft on our flight decks innumbers and combine it with thejoint stand-off munition [JSOW]and the joint direct attack munition[JDAM] and laser-guided weapons,you are going to see an order-of-magnitude change in the numberof targets that we can strike versusthe type of wings that we had inDesert Storm."

The F/A-18E/F completesoperational evaluation.

The Super Hornet program haslong been a model of successShortly after its first flight on 29November 1995, the type began

preparing for its Engineering andManufacturing Development (EMD) test-ing which began at MAS Patuxent River,Maryland, in February 1996 and con-cluded on 28 April 1999 After 3,172flights and 4,673 flight hours, the E/Fwas ready for the final leg of its journeyto the fleet, the Operational Test andEvaluation (OPEVAL) As the F/A-18 E/Fnow prepares to enter fleet service withthe Eagles of Strike Fighter SquadronOne Hundred Fifteen (VFA-115), CombatAircraft takes a look back at the SuperHornet OPEVAL and how the new air-craft compares to its predecessor TheSuper Hornets rating of 'operationallyeffective' and 'operationally suitable,'and VX-9's recommendation for intro-duction to fleet service marked a signifi-cant milestone for the aircrafts futureand helped secure its initial procurementof 222 aircraft, with as many as 548 to bepurchased in the long term

The OPEVAL ProcessConceptually an OPEVAL has a differentfocus than the EMD flights According toCdr Dave Dunaway (current F/A-18Radar IPT Lead AESA Program Managerand former EMD & VX-9 OPEVAL pilot)the EMD period is to test and confirmthe aircraft's performance, as well as testnew parameters The OPEVAL on theother hand looks to test an aircraftsability to perform operationally and tacti-cally in a realistic wartime environmentFormer VX-9 OPEVAL Lead OperationalTest Director Cdr Jeff Penfield explains

'[We] evaluate the aircraft [in OPE-VAL] to determine how it will fit into realworld operations Operational pilots lookat things differently than flight test pilotsIf I take a Super Hornet into battle tomor-row, how would the aircraft perform'''

The goal of any program headingthrough an OPEVAL is to receive thehighest rating of 'operationally effectiveand operationally suitable' In laymansterms operationally effective' meansthat the aircraft is able to perform its pre-scribed mission in a fleet environment,

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opposite page From an aerodynamic point of view,the most obvious new feature of the Super Hornetis its dramatically enlarged leading-edge rootextensions (LERXes). With the larger and repro-filed wing of the E/F, the LERX enlargements werenecessary to restore the type's instantaneousturn rate (to C/D levels). The four-sided intakesslightly reduce the type's frontal radar crosssection but more significant is the use of radar-absorbent material in the intake, and an unusualradar baffle within the intake trunk.above F1 above the deck of the USS Harry STruman during sea trials in March 1999. Bothtwo-seater prototypes were deployed for theintensive trials period, during which the F demon-strated significantly lower approach speeds thanearlier Hornets, and healthier safety margins.right In tests, the Super Hornet has proved to behighly departure-resistant and has demonstratedexcellent low-speed, high angle-of-attack char-acteristics, allowing the introduction of severalnew maneuvers. In the transonic regime, howev-er, high drag and energy bleed have hampered itsair combat capability compared with the C/D.This is tactically insignificant because most aircombat occurs in subsonic regimes. Moreover,given that "unloaded" subsonic accelerationperformance is excellent, the higher bleed ratemay be an advantage, as it allows pilots to reachcorner speed faster.below The commanding officer's aircraft is in theforeground as a quartet of VFA-122 Super Hornetspractice formation flying near their NAS Lemoore,California base.

/photos Boeing)

and in the face of unexpected threats"Operationally suitable" means that theaircraft when operated and maintainedby typical fleet personnel in the expect-ed numbers and of the expected experi-ence level, is supportable whendeployed, specifically looking at howreliable the aircraft is and the adequacyof the Navy's supporting infrastructure

The OPEVAL officially began on 27May 1999 and concluded on 1 9November that same year Guidelines forthe OPEVAL were based on the 1991Navy Operation Requirement Document(ORD) for the F/A-18E/F Upgrade The1991 ORD outlined several improve-ments over the existing F/A-18C/D,including ( 1 ) increased mission radius,(2) increased payload flexibility, (3)increased carrier recovery or "bring-back,' (4) increased survivabihty,and (5) decreased vulnerabilityImprovements in combat performanceover the Lot XII F/A-18 C/D (turn rate,climb rate and acceleration) and growthcapability for general avionics (electri-cal, environmental control, flight controland hydromechanical systems) wereconsidered a must

As alluded to, the OPEVAL was con-ducted by Air Test and EvaluationSquadron Nine (VX-9) based at NAWCChina Lake, California, using three

F/A-18Es and four F/A-18Fs These air-craft represented the first deliveredunder the Low-Rate Initial Production(LRIP) Lot 1 contract, and all incorporat-ed the modifications resulting from EMDThe OPEVAL tests were flown by a team

Combat Aircraft 205

above Although taken during the EMD flight-test, this photograph demonstrates the significant air-to-airload that can be carried by the E/F. Shown here are eight AIM-120s (stations 3,4,8,9), two AIM-9s (sta-tions 1 , 1 1 ) and two AIM-7s (stations 2,10). Fuselage stations 5 and 7 are also available for air-to-airweapons. fBoemgl

below One of the many successes of the Super Hornet program has been the significant number ofweapon configurations cleared for OPEVAL Twenty-nine were available for VX-9 evaluators and 59 areexpected to be cleared before the Super Hornet's maiden operational deployment. Some in the mediahave criticized configuration "limitations" during OPEVAL, yet the 29 cleared far surpass the two avail-able during the F/A-18A/B OPEVAL in the early 1980s. (Boeing)

its weapons for combat All primary mis-sions of the E/F interdiction, war-at-sea,fighter escort, Combat Air Patrol (CAP),alert interceptor Suppression of EnemyAir Defenses (SEAD), Close Air Support(CAS), tanker, air combat maneuvering(ACM) and Forward Air Control-Airborne (FAC(A)) were evaluated withthe exception of reconnaissance whichwill be evaluated in a subsequent follow-on OPEVAL Following an initial periodwhere the OPEVAL aircrews familiarizedthemselves with the aircraft at ChinaLake the evaluators were ready to go

Air-to-ground PhaseThe initial flights began on 27 May atChina Lake and involved evaluations ofvarious air-to-air weapons and sensorsVX-9 air crews also evaluated the SuperHornet's defense suppression capabili-ties and began the aircraft s survivabih-

of 14 pilots and 9 Weapons SystemsOfficers (WSOs) who came from diversebackgrounds, including the F/A-18A/B/C/D, F-14 A-6E, A-7E, and S-3B com-munities All had a significant amount offlight time and were regarded as out-standing crews Approximately 50 Navymaintenance personnel were assignedto evaluate the aircraft's maintainabilityduring this phase

F/A-18E/F Evaluated "As Is"One aspect of the OPEVAL that manyoutside the military may not appreciateis that the F/A-18E/F OPEVAL was per-formed without reference to any of thenew capabilities slated for the SuperHornet such as the Active ElectronicallyScanned Phased Array (AESA) radar,the AIM-9X off-boresight, air-to-airSidewinder missile, or the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS)

Moreover no consideration was given toprospective systems like the AdvancedTactical FLIP (ATFLIR) or SharedReconnaissance Pod (SHARP),designed to replace aging legacy sys-tems carried over from the current C/Dmodels Dunaway one of the lead VX-9OPEVAL test pilots and a liaison to theEMD Integrated Test Team (ITT)described the OPEVAL as like taking animmature aircraft one in its infancy, andpitting it against established threat sys-tems Thus, the aircraft as tested did notrepresent the full range of the SuperHornets tactical capability

Five-Phase Test ProgramThe OPEVAL consisted of a five-phaseprogram designed to test the SuperHornet under realistic operating condi-tions to determine the effectiveness andsuitability of the aircraft its systems and

ty testing Twenty-nine weapons configu-rations for the E/F were cleared for OPE-VAL These configurations, however,were representative of those to be field-ed when the aircraft joins the fleetAlthough criticized by some commenta-tors as a shortfall the availability of 29configurations at this stage in the pro-gram highlights the progress that theSuper Hornet has made The originalHornet had just two configurations atOPEVAL and it appears that the newF-22 Raptor will have just the AIM-9Sidewinder and the AIM-120 AMRAAM

During this phase, the Super Hornetsdelivered Mk 82 (500-lb) Mk 83 (1,000-Ib) and Mk 84 (2,000-lb) iron bombs, aswell as cluster bombs (CBUs) Variousrange profiles were also flown to verifythe flight performance data base TheSuper Hornets ability to serve as atanker was also explored as the E/F is

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above An F/A-18F prepares foran AGM-88 weapons separationtest during EMD. /Boemg)

intended to become the fleet's nextorganic tanker and replace the S-3BViking, which now performs that roleBoth day and night tanking missionswere undertaken, with the Super Hornetperforming as expected

Air Combat PhaseThe Air Combat Phase was conductedduring a two-week detachment at MASKey West, Florida from 14-25 JuneVX-9 evaluated the Super Hornet in avariety of fighter escort and CAP profilesand ACM regimes, and further assessedtactics and survivabihty Alja Musarro,F/A-18 Systems DevelopmentOperations Officer states

'The OPEVAL test period wasdesigned to test specific CriticalOperational Issues (COIs) during thedetachments to Key West, the carrierand Nellis AFB For the Key West

detachment, the evaluators focusedmainly on air-to-air COIs fighter escortand air combat patrols Some scenariospitted up to four Super Hornets againstan equal or larger number of threatadversaries Additionally, mixed sec-tions of Hornet and Super Hornets wereflown to compare the performance of thetwo aircraft under similar conditions '

Musarro added "[The] Tactics COIsspecifically tasked the evaluators todetermine if the F/A- 18E/F could executecurrent tactics

Adversary services were provided byF-16Cs from the ANG's 185th FighterSquadron from Sioux City, Iowa, whichflew a series of realistic threat tacticsemulating the latest-generation MiG-29

Carrier OperationsThe next phase evaluated the aircraft'sflight characteristics around the boatand assessed how it integrated with aCVW during routine operations Adetachment from VX-9 took its SuperHornets to the USS John C Stennis(CVN-74) from 12-28 July The first sev-eral days were spent qualifying the air-crews During the remaining period, the

Super Hornets operated as a smallsquadron with other CVW-9 aircraft,allowing evaluators to assess the SuperHornets performance and ability to inte-grate with other assets A variety of mis-sions were flown by VX-9 crews, includ-ing simulated deck-launched intercepts,tanking, mining and war-at-sea strikesMusarro noted that the anti-carrier andmining operations were conducted offthe southern California ops area, whilethe long-range offensive strikes wereflown against the Fallon and China Lakeranges Aircrews stated the SuperHornet integrated well and fulfilled alltasked missions Moreover, its greaterrange and flight time resulted inincreased flexibility in the carrier envi-ronment during cyclic operations

Combined/Joint OperationsThe final detachment took place at NellisAFB Nevada, from 16-27 AugustDuring that period, the Super Hornetsparticipated in a Combined/Joint RedFlag Exercise with some 60 aircraft fromthe Air Force, Marine Corps Navy andseveral foreign countries (GermanyBritain, Canada) These multinational

Combat Aircraft 207

exercises created a highly realisticscenario repiesentative of the NATOmissions flown today in operations likethose over Kosovo Most missionsincluded the expenditure of large quantitles of live and inert ordnance TheSuper Hornets performance in thestrike SEAD fighter escort and mterdiction roles was evaluated VX-9 aircrewsexecuted weapons deliveries using avariety of realistic profiles involving varying altitudes and dive angles

Survivability, Air-to-air Missile &Smart WeaponsThe final stage of the OPEVAL conducted at China Lake from Septemberthrough November 1999 focused onaircraft survivabihty flights Operationallyrepresentative flights were flown against

actual and surrogate threat surface-toair missile (SAM) systems followed byair to ground gunnery and air to groundsensor flights Air to ground weaponstested included Mk 80 series ironbombs the Rockeye SLAM Harpoonand Maverick The F/A 18E/Fs new systerns including the ALE-50 and ALR67(V)3 when combined with more abundant expendables assisted in reducingoverall susceptibility The additional fuelalso proved significant as it allowed useof routing alternatives and lower altitudes Interestingly it was only duringthis segment of the OPEVAL that a directside by-side comparison as delineatedin the ORD was made between the E/Fand the Lot XII and later F/A 18C Othersegments were either quantitative (witha specific number in mind) or qualitative

(where the issue was whether the E/Fcan execute in the particular missionarea) Test data confirmed the E/F wasmore survivable than the F/A 18C/D

The OPEVAL officially came to a closeon 19 November when Cdr Jeff Penfieldmade the final flight Over the course ofthe six month test program some 850sorties were flown and 1 233 total flighthours were amassed and approximately 400 000 Ib of ordnance was expended

VX-9 Reports its FindingsAs indicated the OPEVAL results wereannounced during the ceremony at thePentagon in February 2000 and theVX 9 report found the Super Hornet bothoperationally effective and operationally

suitable and recommended its mtro

above An F/A-18E displays regular VFA-122markings The unit took over five of VX-9'sOPEVAL aircraft to begin training operationsin June 2000, and is expected to build to astrength of 40 aircraft

right In recognition of the F/A-18F's use as acarrier-based tactical jet, the two-seat variantwas used for carrier qualifications The F/A-18Bdid not participate in carrier qualifications, inpart due to fears that such a move would beviewed as a threat by the A-6 Intruder and F-14Tomcat communities

/photos Boemgl

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duction into fleet service Moreover, RearAdmiral James Godwin III noted

'There were no surprises with what wesaw out of the OPEVAL report What wepredicted we would see during thedevelopmental testing we had ongoingprior to OPEVAL is precisely what wesaw during the OPEVAL Testing oftenreveals new problems but we did notexperience anything that was unexpect-ed "

Areas of Significant EnhancementThe OPEVAL found several areas of'significant enhancement" versus theF/A-18C/D These ranged fromincreased tactical and payload flexibility

above The first prototype F/A-18F cavorts with anF/A-18C from the Naval Air Warfare CenterAlthough outwardly similar to Its predecessor,the Super Hornet is noticeably larger and intro-duces several important advances. In such cost-conscious times, arguably its most importantadvantage is a high "bring-back" capability,allowing it to launch with a full load of expen-sive weapons and return safely to the carrierwithout having to jettison any./Boeing!

right An F/A-18F from VX-9 awaits launch aboardthe USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) during May2000, shortly before the official start of OPEVAL.VX-9 air crews took a short refresher beforecommencing full operational evaluation flights.(ion Nordeen)

to carrier performance and survivabihtyTactically speaking the ability of theSuper Hornet to credibly perform a widevariety of missions creates more optionsfor planning and executing overallmissions This tactical flexibility extendsto not only the mission planning andexecution phases but also to supportmissions When flying as a tanker theSuper Hornet can match the altitude andspeed of the strike package therebypermitting optimization of flight profilesand resultant fuel efficiency

Payload flexibility addresses the

Super Hornets ability to carry awider variety and greater numberof weapons than the currentHornet The E/F's two additionalweapons stations increase mis-sion effectiveness in two waysFirst more offensive weaponsmean an F/A-18E/F can achievethe desired probability of destruc-tion with fewer sorties flownSecond, the added weapons sta-tions can be used to carry moreself-defense weapons such asAGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARMs) oradditional air-to-air weapons Bothoptions increase survivabihty andreduce the number of sortiesneeded to reach a desired result

The improved performance inthe carrier environment can betraced to two features the SuperHornet's slower approach speedwhich enhances safety and theaircraft's increased 'bring-back'capability The F/A-18E can recov-er with an additional 3,400 Ib ofordnance as compared to a LotXIXF/A-18C and the F/A-18F canrecover with an additional 2 400Ib Such increases are significantfor air operations over Iraq andBosnia where US pilots fly dozensof 'no-fly' zone patrols and rou-tinely return to the carrier with

unexpended ordnanceManeuvering and handling qualities

were rated high and the aircraft wasnoted to resist departure even underaggressive high-AoA maneuveringAnother enhanced quality is known as'positive nose pointing," which refers tohow fast a pilot can put his aircraft noseon a 'bogie' to take the first shot duringmost engagements This quality hasbeen described as 'outstanding' byOPEVAL pilots Weapons deliveringaccuracy was also reported to be'excellent', exceeding the ORD accura-

above OPEVAL confirmed the Super Hornet's pay-load advantages and range. Shown here areexamples of various air-to-air and air-to-groundprecision-strike configurations. (Boeing!

below A VX-9 Super Hornet arrives is about to"trap" aboard the USS John Stennis in July 1999.IUS Navy!

on public statements made before aCongressional subcommittee, one areaof concern voiced by NAVAIR relates tothe restrictions placed on the carriageand release of certain weapons configu-rations In his statement on 22 March2000 to the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee, Airland Forces Subcom-mittee, Philhp E Coyle III DirectorOperational Test & Evaluation, noted

"Air-to-air missiles could not be

which is significant considering the cur-rent E/F is, in essence, a baseline modelthat will be grown Additional stores con-figurations will be cleared and availablefor the Es first deployment in scheduledfollow-on tests and evaluations Indeedone of the mantras of the Super Hornetprogram has been that the E/F "turnsback the growth clock', somethingclearly demonstrated during OPEVAL

Performance-wise the E/F is compa-rable or superior to the C/D in turns,climbs and acceleration at subsonicspeeds However transonic/supersonicperformance is not as favorable as theC/D and, in common with the C/D theE/F experiences large decelerations (air-speed bleed-off rates) during maneuver-ing Interestingly despite the mediapublicity generated during EMD flight-testing concerning the so-called "wingdrop" phenomenon, the problem hasbeen rectified (and was prior toOPEVAL) The residual lateral activityreported by the press was of minimalconcern to VX-9

Evaluators also noted, at least from anoperational suitability perspective, thatthe 'dirty" underwmg environmentrequired extra weapons inspections andreduced the life span of the weaponscarried by the Super Hornet Theseobservations, however do not detractfrom the Super Hornets operational

cy requirements, and achieving equal toor better than those experienced fromthe F/A-18C using current (OFP 1 1 C andOFP 13C) operational flight programs

Areas of ConcernSeveral areas of concern were identifiedduring the OPEVAL although accordingto Navy sources most are already beingaddressed or have been remediedMany of the findings are confidential andunavailable for public review due to theirsecurity implications However, based

employed if they were carried on a storestation adjacent to air-to-ground ord-nance Numerous munitions could becarried and/or employed only fromselected stores stations, although theplan is to bear these munitions fromother stations as well Consequently,many of the load advantages plannedfor the F/A-18 E/F were not demonstrat-ed during OPEVAL '

Nevertheless, many of the configura-tions presented to OPEVAL were beyondthe capabilities of the current F/A-18C,

effectiveness nor it's ability to performany mission Rather, it means more timehas to be spent by maintamers inspect-ing the aircraft

OPEVAL Validates KeyPerformance Parameters (KPPs)

One of the Congressional mandates forthe F/A-18E/F program required the E/Fto exceed the limited range and payloadrestrictions associated with theF/A-18A/B/C/D As a result the ORestablished three Key Performance

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right Carrying HARMs, Sidewinders and inertMk 82 free-fall weapons, an F/A-18E undertakesa weapons test sortie. The view highlights the 4°outward canting of the weapons pylons, a featureadopted by Boeing to solve separation problemsThe original straight-aligned pylons caused someweapons to collide during release The fiximposed some drag penalties and the pylons hadto be strengthened to handle the increased aero-dynamic loads.

below Representing the future of naval aviationduring the early 21st Century, this F/A-18F cata-pults from the deck of the USS John Stennis(CVN-74).

Iphotos Boeing)

Parameters (KPPs) that addressed theE/Fs range capabilities each with itsassociated specific flight profiles Theseincluded evaluating the E/Fs combatradius in the Fighter Escort mission andInterdiction mission roles the latter withtwo and three 480-gallon external tanksThe Super Hornet exceeded all thresh-old range requirements, posting a 425-nm (787 km) radius in the fighter escortmission and 400 nm (741 km) and 450nm (833 km) in the interdiction missionwith two and three external tanksrespectively

Although the Super Hornet had beenprojected to surpass these thresholdrequirements by Boeing and Navy offi-cials these numbers which had beenbased on a flight performance database constructed from theoretical calcu-lations wind tunnel and engine-runtests and developmental flight test data,were verified by the operational testersVX-9 air crews undertook a calibration ofthe performance data base by using a'flight segment' approach Under this

methodology, fuel consumption datawas collected in small dedicated por-tions of many flights using a variety ofaircraft configurations gross weights,and flight loads As testament to themethodology employed by Boeing andthe Navy deviations between the actualand projected fuel consumption wereinsignificant and the OPEVAL crewswere able to verify the data base num-bers as accurate Based on this verifica-tion, OPEVAL crews were able to com-pute the range performance of theF/A-18E/F for the three profiles defined

by the ORD and the nine profiles definedby the CNO The nine CNO-defmedoperational missions were computedusing a 4 000-lb fuel reserve while theORD-defmed operational missions werecomputed using a 2,000-lb reserve

OPEVAL RecommendationsSeveral recommendations stemmedfrom the OPEVAL the most significant ofwhich seems to be correcting concernsvoiced about the under-wmg noise andvibration Addressing such problems iscritical as Coyle noted in his statement

to the Senate, because if left uncorrect-ed it can impede the attainment of fullweapons life. OPEVAL further recom-mended the immediate introduction ofnew systems such as the all-aspecthigh-off-boresight AIM-9X missile andthe Joint Helmet-Mounted CueingSystem (JHMCS), the AdvancedTargeting-FLIR (AT-FLIR), a positiveidentification (PID) capability such asthe Combined Interrogator Transmitter(CIT), and further enhancements to theplanned Integrated Defensive ElectronicCountermeasures (IDECM) system. TheNavy further plans incorporation of theelectronically scanned array radar(AESA), now designated the APG-79;

below This chart illustrates the increasedpayload options of the E/F compared withthe C/D. (Boeing)

VFA-115 will make the first Super Hornetcruise aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln(CVN 72) in 2002. The second suchSuper Hornet cruise, which will includethe F/A-18F, is scheduled for 2003aboard the USS A//m/te(CVN 68). WSOswill begin training in April, with theremainder of their squadron startingtransition in November. The preciseorder oftransition to the F/A-18E/F is still beingdetermined but priority is being given tosquadrons operating older F-14As,F/A-18AS and, finally, F-14Bs andF-14Ds. VF-41 and VF-14 crews will bethe first Tomcat squadrons to transition.

Future GrowthAs noted in the discussion of OPEVAL'srecommendations, the Super Hornet hasyet to realize its great potential forgrowth. The OPEVAL report identifiednumerous legacy systems that must be

decoupled cockpits for enhanced flexi-bility; and the Multifunction InformationDistribution System (MIDS). Each ofthese systems plays a key role in theoverall Super Hornet "road map." Untilsuch systems are fielded, however, theSuper Hornet, while certainly a signifi-cant improvement over the C/D, will notfully realize its potential nor the opera-tional capabilities for which it wasenvisioned.

Super Hornet Readiesfor the Fleet

With the OPEVAL behind it, the SuperHornet is now on the verge of fleetsquadron introduction with V F A - 1 1 5 .Since June of this past year, four newlywinged pilots headed for VFA-115 havebeen training with VFA-122, theF/A-18E/F Fleet Readiness Squadron(FRS) at NAS Lemoore, California. Theremainder of the squadron will begintransition training following return fromtheir current cruise in February 2001.

replaced and new systems which mustcome to fruition in order for the E/F torealize its full combat capability. Thesesystems include development andacquisition of the aforementionedAIM-9X/JHMCS system, A P X - 1 1 1 CITand ATFLIR.

Paul Summers, Boeing's F/A-18 NewProducts Development Manager, hasdescribed the baseline E/F avionics asthe equivalent of the C/D Block 19 stan-dard. This version includes the APG-73radar, as well as the ability to incorporateMIDS, ATFLIR and the JHMCS. The E/F'savionics and electronics essentially pro-vide a new infrastructure for continueddevelopment of the Super Hornet plat-form. Summers indicated that a Blockupgrade is currently planned to begin in2005, which will incorporate several newavionics features and serve as thebaseline for all future Super Hornetderivatives, including the proposedF/A-18G.

Plans call for the Block I upgrade to

include new mission computers toreplace the current AYK-14 computers,which have basically run out of memory.These new computers will incorporatecommercially-based processors and willbring greater processing power andmore memory, and will feature open-architecture, thereby allowing easyupgrade as new technology evolves.The two MFDs carried over from the C/Dwill be replaced by an advanced dis-play. The added processing power ofthe new computers will allow engineersto eliminate the so-called "smart" dis-plays and replace them with "dumb" dis-plays that receive their data from themission computers via a broadband,high-speed data bus. Another importantchange provided by the planned Block IIupgrade is a new larger 200 x 250 mmcolor LCD for the rear cockpit. The aftcockpit hand controllers will also bemodified to allow the WSO to releaseweapons.

Integration of the IDECM and decou-pled cockpits is also essential, as isplacing priority on clearing all of theplanned stores configurations. Thedecoupled cockpits, also called inde-pendent crew stations, will allow F/A-18Fcrews to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions simultaneously. This isscheduled for introduction in 2004.Crews using the decoupled system willbe able to independently guide andcontrol various weapons and on-boardsensors. Also part of the upgrade, MIDSallows integration of secure, jam-resistant Link 16 , thereby providingSuper Hornet crews with off-board sen-sor data from land-based and air-basedplatforms like the E-2C Hawkeye.Modifications to the APG-73 will also fol-low (until AESA is delivered) incorporat-ing RUG II SAP modes for generatinghighly accurate ground maps. Thesemodes are now available only on theF/A-18D used by the US Marine Corps.

a

Combat Aircraft wishes to thankEllen Lemond-Holman (Boeing);Denise Deon (Navy F/A-18 PublicAffairs Officer); Capt. Jeff Wieringa(F/A-18 Program Manager); RearAdmiral James Godwin III, USN(Program Executive Officer, TacticalAircraft Programs); Cdr. DaveDunaway, USN (F/A-18E/F AESATeam Leader); Cdr Jeffrey Penfield,USN (VFA-122 FIT); Ned Conger,(Meridian Engineering Division); andLon Nordeen (Boeing).

The author's new book on the F/A-18E/FSuper Hornet will be published in mid-2001 by Specialty Press.

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