Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Operational evaluation (Opeval) of the US Navy's Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has found the upgraded fighter to be "operationally effective and operationally suitable", and ready for fleet introduction.
The USN says the Opeval report concludes that the 25% larger F/A-18E/F has greater flexibility, lethality and survivability than the F/A-18C/D. The service says the independent operational testers found "no new deficiencies" and validated that the E/F meets its key performance parameters, including 40% greater interdiction range than the C/D. The highest-possible Opeval grade paves the way for approval of full-rate production at the end of next month and signature of a multiyear contract for 222 E/Fs.
Although the report is classified, the latest annual study by the US Department of Defense's Director of Operational Test & Evaluation provides some insights. The report highlights the operational flexibility provided by the increased fuel capacity, additional weapon stations and capability to act as an aerial-refuelling tanker.
According to the report, the E/F "has a slow top speed that encourages stand-off tactics". Because of this, operational testers faulted the performance of the radar and forward-looking infrared (FLIR) - carried over from the C/D - and endorsed development, already under way, of an advanced targeting FLIR and active electronically scanned array radar.
In air combat, the E/F has better slow-speed fighting capabilities than the C/D, says Capt Robert Rutherford, commanding officer of VX-9, the squadron which performed the Opeval. The E/F's enhanced directional stability and high angle-of-attack capability "puts it in a league of its own".
To help carrier crews distinguish the heavier E/F from the C/D on approach, a strobe light is added to the nose gear for daylight identification. At night, the acquisition lights blink at a different rate.
Deficiencies still being tackled include the "hostile" underwing environment for stores. F/A-18 programme manager Capt James Godwin says life limits placed on weapons carried by the E/F now look "conservative".
Source: Flight International
