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Boeing Super Hornet faces emerging anti-access challenges  The US Navy is upgrading its fleet of Boeing F/A-18E/F fighters with new capabilities, but analysts question the Super Hornet's utility against emerging anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) threats. "Upgrading the F/A-18 family is a good idea, and it could extend their service lives," says analyst Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA). "That being said, F/A-18-based platforms are short-range, lack unrefueled persistence, and are best suited for operations in relatively uncontested airspace." ©Peter Collins/Flightglobal But in the future, uncontested airspace is unlikely to remain the norm as potential adversaries...

Speaking of F/A-XX, the Navy’s planned 6th generation fighter that will replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, below you’ll find the Navy’s brand new Request for Information on the aircraft. By Brand new, I mean it just dropped on Friday. Whatever jet is selected will hopefully replace the Super Hornets around 2030, said Rear Adm. Donald Gaddis this afternoon at the Navy League’s annual Sea, Air, Space conference in National Harbor, Md. Before the Navy can settle on the final capabilities such a plane will have, it needs to know what types of technology the defense industry can bring to the...

(CNN) -- A Navy jet crashed Friday into some apartments near Virginia Beach, Virginia, sending flames and thick black smoke into the air, a military spokesman and a witness said. Two apartment buildings were on fire, CNN affiliate WTKR reporting, citing witnesses. The jet was from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The crew of the two-seater F/A-18 safely ejected, but their condition wasn't known, a Navy spokesman said. The plane is from a training squadron, the Navy said. George Pilkington, an eye witness to the crash, said he was the plane flying low,...

Boeing's Super Hornet competes for sales in Congress and abroad By Robert Koenig, Beacon Washington correspondent Posted 5:45 pm Fri., 10.28.11 WASHINGTON - Like a strike fighter aircraft that averts danger from all directions as it heads toward its mission, the political agility of the Boeing Corp.'s F/A-18 Super Hornet program is being tested as it maneuvers through congressional budget-cutters, dodges errant flak from the Missouri legislature and hones in on foreign sales. The mission: selling enough Super Hornet strike fighters to maintain profitability and keep open the production line. And the stakes are high in the St. Louis region,...

San Diego – A search off the coast of San Diego is underway after the US Navy lost communication with a fighter jet, according to a U.S. Coast Guard statement to Fox News early Thursday. The navy informed the Coast Guard at about 10:30pm local time Wednesday that they had lost contact with the F-18 jet about 58 miles (93km) off the coast of San Diego.

U.S. Navy celebrates 500th Super Hornet, Growler program delivery 14:04 GMT, April 21, 2011 ST. LOUIS, Mo. | The U.S. Navy and its industry partners marked the 500th delivery of the F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft during a celebration at the Boeing facility here yesterday. “Today is another significant milestone for a program that has by any measure exceeded expectations for cost, schedule and performance. The PMA-265/Hornet Industry Team has consistently delivered capable and reliable aircraft to our fleet customer,” said Capt. Mark Darrah, F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager (PMA-265). Industry partners Northrop Grumman, General Electric Aircraft Engines...

The United States has begun to exert pressure on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in what coould be called open lobbying for F-16 fighter planes. TIMES NOW is in possession of copy of the letter sent by US President Barack Obama to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exerting pressure for a fighter deal. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dated February 4, 2011 Obama stated that buying Amercan Boeing F/A-18 IN and Lockheed Martin F-6IN will improve strategic ties between India and US. In his letter to Manmohan Singh, US President Barack Obama wrote, "In the spirit of this...

US Defence major Boeing will unveil an advanced version of its F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft here at the biennial Aero India show starting Thursday. "We are going to display a mock up of the Super Hornet international roadmap aircraft at the air show," Boeing Defence, Space and Security India head Vivek Lall told PTI here. The International Super Hornet Roadmap features futuristic enhancements made in the aircraft for international customers and would also allow them to specify their requirements to be equipped in their fighters. The Super Hornet is in the race for supplying 126 Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA)...

A mocked up version of Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet will be among the many metal birds to debut at the upcoming Aero India 2011 Boeing, which is one of the contenders for the $10 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract, will unveil a stealthier version of the F/A-18 at the air show to be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka between February 9 and 13. Boeing’s vice-president for defence, space and security, Vivek Lall, said that one of the two F/A-18s which will be performing at the bi-annual show will be configured with conformal fuel tanks, enhanced performance...

A mocked up version of Boeing ’s F/A-18 Super Hornet will be among the many metal birds to debut at the upcoming Aero India 2011. Boeing, which is one of the contenders for the $10 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract, will unveil a stealthier version of the F/A-18 at the air show to be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka between February 9 and 13. Boeing’s vice president and country head for defence, space and security,Vivek Lal, said that one of the two F/A-18s which will be performing at the bi-annual show will be configured with conformal...

Boeing to unveil stealthier F/A-18 aircraft Published: Wednesday, Feb 2, 2011, 19:02 IST By Hemanth CS | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA A mocked up version of Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet will be among the many metal birds to debut at the upcoming Aero India 2011. Boeing, which is one of the contenders for the $10 billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contract, will unveil a stealthier version of the F/A-18 at the air show to be held at the Air Force Station Yelahanka between February 9 and 13. Boeing’s vice president and country head for defence, space and security,...

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday suggested Japan should consider buying US fighter jets, during talks in Tokyo, as the country plans for new warplanes, a US official said. In a meeting with Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Gates "suggested Japan consider three US planes to upgrade their fleet," the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-15 Eagle, the senior defence official told AFP. Gates offered that the Pentagon could provide Japan with an analysis of the merits of each aircraft, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Japan is taking stock of its defence hardware...

(Reuters) - The Pentagon overhauled the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter program for the second time in a year and said it would buy 41 Boeing Co F/A-18 warplanes over the next three years to offset slower production of the Lockheed plane. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Thursday a further restructuring of the radar-evading F-35 as part of a broad cost-reduction plan, saving it would result in net savings of about $4 billion over the next five years. The Pentagon's biggest arms program, the new fighter is being developed with eight international partner countries at total cost of $382...

Beyond Myths Super Hornets’ classic design compliments its advanced strike capability By Vidhi Upadhyay New Delhi: Boeing Defence and Security wants to do away with the biggest myth that exists regarding the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, its contender for the MRCA contract for the IAF — that it is a 40-year old aircraft, which if you go by the systems and sensors on the aircraft — it is not. The reason the misconception exists primarily is due to the fact that this fourth generation aircraft takes its general shape from its predecessor aircraft — the Classic Hornet and it is this...

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) completed catapult commissioning testing for its system functional demonstration at NAVAIR Lakehurst, N.J., last week. “The team has successfully completed no-load and dead-load launches in all areas of the required performance envelope,” said Capt. James Donnelly, Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment program manager. “The program’s test performance and data supports moving from SFD commissioning to full SFD testing.” Among the test points accomplished, the team recently completed a 154-knot dead-load launch equivalent to the weight of an F/A-18E Super Hornet, the first platform to be launched...

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are running out of fighters. Heavy wear and tear over nearly a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan has depleted the two services’ combined fighter force. Purchases of new planes have been delayed by controversial planning decisions. As a result, U.S. maritime forces operate at elevated risk. Robotic systems could help mitigate this risk, but the Navy has resisted adopting pilot-less aircraft.The U.S. Navy also has shortage of fighters, primarily F/A-18C/Ds. Together, both services are currently short by around 50 aircraft, but this so-called “fighter gap” could deepen to an estimated 125 aircraft...

The Australian think-tank, Air Power Australia (APA), has released another in their series of techno-strategy papers, this time analysing the advancements in Russian-built Integrated Air Defense Systems (IADS) (http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2009-02.html), and what it means in global strategic terms for the Americans. The APA report is direct and unequivocal – Russian radar and missiles have improved to the point where the US fleet of F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s, as well as the planned Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), are not capable of surviving against these systems and unless the Americans build another four hundred-plus F-22s, they will lose the strategic advantage they have...

Breaking

LEMOORE NAVAL AIR STATION (CALIFORNIA): The race for a $10 billion Indian order for 126 fighters just got hotter with the US Navy enthusiastically batting for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, saying it was best suited for an Indian Air Force (IAF) requirement for a multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA). Such was the spirit with which UN Navy pilots put the jet through its paces at this sprawling air base in central California that it left no doubt it was making a strong pitch for the fighter that it assisted Boeing in developing. "The F/A-18 has delivered on all that it...

A Naval facility in San Diego, Calif., has wrongly assembled the part that supplies electricity to fighter jets being used by the U.S. Navy and sold to ally-countries since 2001 - and possibly since as early as 1981. But government officials found no urgency to recall the planes. Meanwhile, a government mechanic who exposed the maintenance problem - a complaint substantiated by investigations from both the Navy last year and by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel in April of this year - was retaliated against by his supervisors, according to a whistleblower complaint. Richard Conrad, the mechanic, reported to...