Advanced Super Hornet -A Gap Filler for the JSF

Written by admin on Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

With an ever-growing delay to the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, all potential customers are looking at proposals that might fill the gap between when the JSF was scheduled to be delivered and the actual date of delivery. For example, the U.S. Navy is looking to stretch the life of the legacy FA-18C/D aircraft a few more years to fill the gap by conducting life extension modifications to the aircraft. The Navy is also considering buying additional Super Hornets from Boeing as a gap filler and are considering purchasing the Advanced Super Hornet.

The Advanced Super Hornet looks very similar to the existing Super Hornet but has some distinct differences that make it very competitive to JSF capabilities and undoubtedly improves upon the current capabilities of the Super Hornet. The Advanced Super Hornet includes conformal fuel tanks, an enclosed weapons pod, a next generation cockpit, an enhanced engine and an internal Infrared Search and Track (IRST) capability. The Advanced Super Hornet was designed to reduce the radar buy antibiotics spain cross section of the already stealthy design of the Block II Super Hornet which includes Raytheon’s Advanced Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. By developing the conformal fuel tanks and the enclosed weapons pod, the Advanced Super Hornet will take advantage of the increased stealth that they will bring and with the next generation cockpit, aircrew will increase their situational awareness due to the large area display that allows aircrew to customize the size and shape of every display in the cockpit. The enhanced engine is intended to increase thrust by almost 20 percent and the IRST sensor will bring tremendous passive capability onto the battlefield.

Every day that the JSF slides its schedule, the more likely the U.S. Navy becomes more likely to purchase the Advanced Super Hornet as a gap filler. The delay bodes well for Boeing and with its aggressive marketing strategy and proven technology, it’s time for the U.S. Navy to seriously consider the significant improvements that come with the Advanced Super Hornet.

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