U.S. Navy is evaluating MBDA’s Dual Mode Brimstone for its F/A-18 Super Hornet jets

Navy Recognition ^ | 18 July 2014

[Little Ray]

The USAF and USMC needs to dump the F-35 and go with Super Hornets. At least they work.
Which, of course, will screw all the people we suckered into buying into the F-35 program. I guess we need to provide F/A-18s to them as well. Though I don’t know what the UK will do with their V/STOL carriers.

[Salvavida]

That ship has already sailed. The 35s are already being integrated at Cherry Point.

[Little Ray]

Well, I feel sorry for its adopters:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/3180824/posts

[Blood of Tyrants]

Gradual modifications to the F-16, F-15 and F-18 to improve maneuverability and stealthiness would have made them better than the F-35 for a fraction of the cost.

[Vinnie]

Another UK missile we adopted..Hellfire.

[GeronL]

wasn’t Obama trying to cancel the Hellfire?

[Afterguard]

You are aware that critics said much the same thing about the Hornet, right? It wasn’t as good a fighter as the Tomcat, wasn’t as good a strike platform as the Intruder or even the A-7 Corsair. Used to call them Lawn Darts. I suspect the F-35 will turn out to be a great Strike-Fighter. It’ll just cost us a zillion bucks (more).

[afsnco]

So now we have hellfire and brimstone missiles in the inventory?

[Vinnie]

I think you’re correct. A10 Warthog...again.

[Little Ray]

I hope you are correct.
All things considered, modern aircraft are so elaborate, it is amazing that get designed and built at all!

[GeronL]

wasn’t as good a strike platform as the Intruder or even the A-7 Corsair

talk about ancient

[Afterguard]

Well, I am that old. They were contemporary platforms in my 22 year Navy career. :-)

[DugwayDuke]

Please explain. Hellfire was US developed.

[GeronL]

didn’t they still use A-6’s as electronic warfare planes recently?

[GeronL]

Oops...

some still in service according to Wiki

[Mat_Helm]

I'm 54 yrs. old and worked for Hughes at NAS Lemoore assembling, operating, and maintaining the F/A-18 Weapons trainers and flight simulators which trained the first operational flight crews for the first work up cruise on the Connie CV-64, as they transitioned from A-7's, some Marines from the last F4's, transfers from A-6's and can remember modifying the 2E7's and OFT's to match upgraded lot numbers and than going from A models to B models to C and D models, and now they call them legacy Hornet's.

The Connie is gone, VFA125 disbanded, and now I feel my age, and many of the old birds are still flying! Don't think Shifty made admiral, Wheels up Wesh beached the Enterprise, Spiker was down in Iraq, and everyone wanted to transfer to Canoe Bay.

[Timocrat]

What is a “Dual Mode” missile ?

[Mat_Helm]

Both IR and laser guided (IR/SAL) and or datalink targeting as well with some weapons.

[Mat_Helm]

IR = Infrared - heat seeking (LOS) line of sight with weapons directed seeker head and or auto lock caged or uncaged, or laser lock from a target designator and or FLIR pod or FAC blazing.