Introducing an improved product while sustaining demand for its predecessor is a difficult task for any manufacturer. It is particularly so for fighter producers, dealing with protracted procurement processes, long production lead times and intense international competition.
Introduction of the E/F has led inevitably to questions about Boeing's approach to exporting the F/A-18, particularly as the aircraft is more than a simple update of the current C/D.
"The only viable customers for the C/D are international," says Sears. "The E/F's major improvement is in carrier suitability, and for international customers that is not an issue. The land-based C/D is still a terrific weapon system." Range is not a problem with land-based F/A-18s, he says, because they can carry larger external fuel tanks. "The aircraft we have now is a good aircraft," Sears stresses.
Boeing plans to produce the C/D for as long as there are buyers, but a shutdown of the line now looks inevitable, with the last aircraft ordered due for delivery in October 2000. "In all likelihood there will be a gap in the C/D line," says Sears. There are opportunities for additional sales in Asia and Latin America, but these have been pushed back by the economic downturns in those regions
A positive side of these delays is that Boeing has more time to reduce the cost of the larger E/F, so that it can be competitive with fighters such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 60.
UPGRADE POTENTIAL
While it pursues the possibility of further C/D sales, Boeing is also promoting the potential for substantial upgrades to existing F/A-18s. "It will be 2010 before half the navy's fleet is E/Fs," says Sears. "We have to continue to upgrade the basic aircraft, and we want to." The US Navy and Marine Corps Reserves, in particular, want to maintain the "combat relevance" of their older aircraft, and work is under way to align these upgrades with those for international F/A-18 operators.
"Navy A/Bs will stay in service until 2015, and C/Ds until 2019. Conservatively, international A/Bs will remain in service beyond 2020, and C/Ds beyond 2030," says Mike Tkach, vice president F/A-18 international programmes. "The navy created a robust life requirement of 6,000h crack free. Using the [US] air force's failure-free criteria, the F/A-18 will fly well beyond 6,000h."
Starting with USN/USMC requirements, a common set of near-term upgrades has been identified. This includes updating the mission computer, radar, radios and other avionics. "International customers have some subset of these requirements," Tkach says. Australia and Spain, for example, want to upgrade their A/Bs to full C/D capability, while Canada has more modest plans. "All the operators need some level of capability to play in the peacekeeping arena," Tkach says. A common upgrade plan offers cost benefits and maintains the interoperability between F/A-18 owners. "We will try to package the upgrades into bite-sized chunks to fit customers' budgets."
Australia's upgrade plan is the most ambitious. "They want to keep the aircraft's warfighting relevance to 2015," Tkach says. The first phase of the two-stage Hornet Upgrade (HUG) programme will introduce a new mission computer, secure radio, global positioning/inertial navigation system and combined IFF interrogator/transponder. The second phase will add the APG-73 radar, MIDS datalink and a new electronic warfare system. Parallel programmes will integrate the ASRAAM and AMRAAM advanced short-range and medium-range air-to-air missiles.
Boeing is prime contractor for Phase 1 of the HUG programme, with the aircraft to bemodified between 2000 and 2002. Phase 2 is set for 2004, says Tkach. Two APG-73 radars were delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force in mid-1997 for evaluation.
Finland, Kuwait and Switzerland, meanwhile, are "actively exploring" C/D updates, particularly existing navy programmes. Boeing has proposed additional upgrades that could be incorporated into new production C/Ds. These include a 9g airframe, increased internal fuel capacity, larger external tanks, towed decoy and increased chaff/flare capacity.
The 9g airframe has been tested, Tkach says, but work was halted when Thailand cancelled its F/A-18 order. The structural upgrade, which increases turn rate, has been offered to Chile, but economic problems have forced the South American country to delay buying a new fighter.
COMPETITIVE CHALLENGE
Looking ahead, the challenge facing Boeing is to make the E/F at least as competitive on the export market as the C/D is today. The company's internal goal is to secure an international sale by fiscal year 2005. "That gives us around five years to work on cost reductions, and on an exportable configuration that is competitive with other aircraft in the light/medium fighter market," says Pat Finneran, Boeing vice-president, F/A-18 programmes. "We are in the early stages of that plan."
The block upgrade scheduled for 2005 is part of that plan, and Finneran believes that an active array radar is essential. The E/F avionics must be upgraded, "...or we will be the only kid on the block without an ASEA", he says. "We must look at other 21st century aircraft and what they will have. Helmet-mounted display, high off-boresight missile, reduced radar cross-section - we will have those.
"To be competitive...we must have an ASEA on the aircraft," he says. In the absence of navy funding before 2001 at the earliest, Boeing and its chosen radar supplier plan to fund initial development of an active array upgrade for the E/F's APG-73 radar. At best, says Finneran, an ASEA could become available between 2004 and 2006. The other competitive issue is cost. The E/F is more expensive than the C/D, but it is also larger and more capable. Boeing's goal is to get the E/F's price down into the "low $40 million range", where it will be competitive with the Typhoon and Block 60 F-16.
The Hornet industry team is investing in producibility improvements to reduce cost. "The challenge is to come down the learning curve as fast as we can," says Sears. Tkach adds: "The goal is to get the E/F price to be very competitive on the world market, so that it is not out of reach of smaller nations."
Source: Flight International
