Posted on 02/17/2017 7:20:18 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The F/A-18XT is the designation for the Advanced Super Hornet, which is the Block III fighter jet concept for the Navy. (Photo courtesy Boeing)
President Donald Trump on Friday announced he’s considering a “big order” of advanced Super Hornet fighter jets designated F/A-18XT and made by Boeing Co.
“We are looking seriously at a big order,” he told the audience at Boeing’s South Carolina facility during the unveiling of the company’s 787 Dreamliner. “Do you care if we use the F-18 Super Hornets?”
The comments came less than a month after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis ordered a review of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a fourth-generation fighter, as a potential lower-cost alternative to the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter, the carrier version of a fifth-generation fighter made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
The remarks also came a day after Robert Harward, a retired vice admiral and former Navy SEAL who went on to become an executive at Lockheed, declined an offer to succeed Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
According to White House pool reports from the Trump event, Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff, was spotted holding a brochure for the “F/A-18 XT.” The XT is the Advanced Super Hornet, or the Block III fighter jet concept for the Navy, a Boeing spokesman confirmed to Military.com.
“While Boeing demonstrated advanced Super Hornet capabilities in flight in 2013, the package of upgrades has evolved to best complement F-35, EA-18G and E-2D as they will be operating together in the air wing well into the 2040s,” Boeing said in a description of the XT/Block III aircraft.
Boeing developed the Block III jet concept to “address the strike fighter shortfall as well as to ensure the air wing has the capabilities needed to win in the 2020s and beyond,” the description said.
The new variant will feature an enhanced network capability to allow large amounts of data on and off the airplane, which would increase the ability to receive targeting information from aircraft like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, EA-18G Growler and the E-2D Hawkeye, according to Boeing.
The F/A-18 XT/Block III concept. Photos courtesy Boeing.
The twin-engine plane is also designed to come equipped with longer-range, low-drag, stealthy conformal fuel tanks; long-range sensors that can detect and target threats without having to depend on radar; a new advanced cockpit system to enhance situational awareness, providing the pilot with the capability to see, track and target multiple long range targets; and improved low-observable next-generation radar cross section for increased survivability, according to the company.
Weeks before being sworn in as president, Trump was vocal about an alternative to the Joint Strike Fighter, saying the “F-35 program and cost is out of control.”
“Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!” he tweeted Dec. 22.
The F-35 is the Pentagon’s biggest acquisition program estimated at nearly $400 billion for almost 2,500 aircraft.
After the speech Friday, Trump told reporters, “If the price doesn’t come down, we would” buy some F/A-18XTs to replace some F-35 orders. “The F-18’s a great plane and now put a stealth component onto it,” he said, according to a pool report from TIME’s White House correspondent Zeke Miller.
The military’s top brass have pointed out that older fighter jets such as the F-16 and F/A-18 will never match the F-35, an Air Force general told Military.com last month.
Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, a former F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot who directs the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program’s integration office for the Air Force, said even upgraded versions of the fourth-generation fighters simply can’t compete against the newer aircraft’s stealth superiority.
“The airplane is the shape of the airplane, the size is the size of the airplane,” Pleus said.
“The radar cross-section of an F-18 is the radar cross-section of an F-18 — you can’t change that,” he added. “Low observable technology, the ability to evade radar if you will, is something that has to be designed into the airplane from the very beginning.”
Nice looking jet.
We need new airframes and avionics in the in the sky next week.
While I would lean toward the F-15C-2040, this will do. Smaller and cheaper.
But this cannot effect F-35 procurement. We need those birds in the long run.
The USMC needs jump-jets. I’m sure that The Marines would be happy to get new Hornets to replace old Hornets, but that doesn’t solve the Harrier problem.
Maybe the STOVL F-35 could still be built; perhaps with less-expensive magic; for the Marines and other friendly nations that use jump-jets.
More F-22’s (including a USN/USMC version) would be good, too.
Conform those weapons to the airframe, or place those missiles inside a redesigned F-18 weapon’s bay. Quite Super Hornets?
While they’re at it, look into getting the Air Force some F-15 Silent Eagles and restarting the F-22 Production Line.
Oh yeah, redesign the A-10 and give it to the Marines.
All for the SE and have been for a long long time.
The Marines would know how to love the A-10.
So why is the F-35 so expensive?
And why was the F-22 abandoned?
Triple the pay of our servicemen.
So why is the F-35 so expensive?
And why was the F-22 abandoned?
Because something multi-purpose/role/service never works as intended as advertised. Like the camel being a horse designed by committee.
The F-22 was abandoned because at $100 million per it was deemed too expensive because the F-35 which was supposed to be $40-50 million per is now $100 million per.
So now we’re faced with buying an inferior plane at the same price of the superior plane because years ago it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
A 10s for everybody!
Improve the A-10 air frame so it can do carrier landings and the Marine Corps can use them.
my wishlist
F-22 for Airforce, instead of F-35A
F-35B for Marine
Advanced Super Hornet for Navy instead of F-35C
I rather favor the “1040” as even the EZ version scares the poop out of most people.
Obama hates America. He hates our greatness. The F-22 represents our greatness. It had to go. And it was right when the jet was coming off the assembly line like popcorn.
While it would be good to have more F-22s in our quiver, any restart of the production should be accompanied by a revisit of Northrop’s YF-23 design and the GE engines.
instead... how about a few hundred F-22s ??
Cool stats.
Have seen both at different air shows. Both spectacular.
The F-22 performed a vertical climb and then hung stationary pointing upwards for a bit, then it fell like a leaf to a short distance above the water. It was absolutely amazing.
Israeli IAF wanted the F22 instead of the f35 but Obama would not grant them the right to buy the planes in service or keep the assembly line going for new sales.
I trust that the Israelis who put their own coms and avionics in our planes know which plane is best for their missions.
IAF likes to dogfight and the Raptor is one mean dogfighter. Nobody has anything to compare with it mano a mano. Topgun Top dog.
I was under the impression F-22 production might be revived.
The US may restart production of the world’s most lethal combat plane
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