Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC
The US Government anticipates releasing a fully equipped Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for foreign military sale (FMS) within the next two months. It will come complete with Raytheon's new APAG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and Advanced Tactical Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) pod as well as a combat-configured rear crew station.
Release of the new fighter for export - ahead of the Paris air show - has been planned since the US Navy's operational evaluation was concluded in February last year. The process has been paced by the development of the aircraft's sensor suite upgrade, which has trailed that of the airframe.
"We're two months away from a releasable aircraft. This is a very complicated and lengthy process and we didn't want to have to keep going back to release different systems," says a programme official. The first FMS aircraft would be available for delivery in 2005, or within three years if infrastructure and trained crews were available.
FMS aircraft ordered for delivery in 2005 will be equipped with the AESA radar in place of the current Raytheon APG-73, the ATFLIR targeting and navigation pod and the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System. Other options will include in-flight refuelling capability and digital communications
From 2002, two-seat F/A-18Fs will be available with a combat-configured rear cockpit equipped with dual weapon controllers, a centrally-mounted 200mm x 255mm colour liquid crystal display and three smaller displays. The initial F/A-18E/F configuration will not include the Raytheon Shared Reconnaissance Pod, which is still in development.
The Boeing GBU-31/32 Joint Direct Attack Munition and Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand-off Weapon are not yet integrated on the fighter, but GPS satellite-guided systems will be an option by the time the first FMS fighter is delivered, says the navy.
The USN's Super Hornets are expected to achieve initial operation capability by the third quarter of this year and be deployed on a aircraft carrier in June 2002.
Boeing says it is working to reduce the price of the F/A-18E/F from today's $48 million to the low $40 millions.
Source: Flight International
