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Product Type: |
Multi-Role Tactical Fighter and Attack Aircraft |
Using Service (US): |
Navy |
Program Status: |
In Production |
Prime Contractors: |
Airframe: The Boeing Company
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The Boeing
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a carrier-based multi-role tactical fighter and attack aircraft.
The Super Hornet is powered by two General Electric
F414-GE-400
afterburning turbofan engines with 22,000 pounds of thrust each.
Two versions of the F/A-18 Super Hornet are being produced, the single-seat E model and the two-seat F model.
Customers include the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. As of June 2012, Boeing has delivered 491 Super Hornets
of which 258 are U.S. Navy F-models, 209 are U.S. Navy E-models, and another 24 are Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18Fs.
The U.S. Navy will end procurement of the Super Hornet in fiscal year 2014 with the purchase of the 565th and final aircraft.
The Super Hornet has an estimated life of 9,170 flight hours or approximately 20 years.
With its selected external equipment, the Super Hornet can be optimized to accomplish both fighter and attack missions.
The F/A-18E/F provides a 40% increase in combat radius, 50% increase in endurance, 25% greater weapons payload,
three times more ordnance, and is five times more survivable than the F/A-18 Hornet models.
These major performance improvements are mainly due to the superior F414-GE-400 engine,
which is more powerful than the F404 used on the F/A-18 Hornet.
As part of carrier air wings, the F/A-18E/F operates from the Navy's fleet of Nimitz Class
aircraft carriers. The typical carrier air wing has a squadron of 12 F/A-18E models and a squadron of 12 F/A-18F models.
The Super Hornet is equipped with a Raytheon
AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar, which is integrated with the aircraft's AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting
Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) system from Raytheon; Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS) from VSI;
Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS); advanced high capacity computer system; and state-of-the-art cockpit.
Other systems onboard are the Raytheon
AN/ALR-67(V)3 digital radar warning receiver, the BAE Systems AN/ALQ-214 Integrated Defensive Countermeasures (IDECM),
the BAE Systems AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser, Raytheon AN/ALE-50 towed decoy,
and the Rockwell Collins
AN/ARC-210 VHF/UHF Airborne Communications System.
As a principal subcontractor, Northrop Grumman
produces the aft/center fuselage section and vertical tails and integrates all associated subsystems at its facilities in El Segundo, California.
The F/A-18E/F has eleven weapons stations (hardpoints) - 2 on wingtips, 6 under-wing, and 3 under-fuselage - and carries a wide range of ordnance. It features an M61-A1/A2 Vulcan 20mm gatling gun and can be equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles (AIM-9X projected), AIM-120 AMRAAM, AGM-88 HARM/AARGM, AGM-154 JSOW, AGM-158 JASSM, GBU-31/38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) as well as several other types of ordnance. For more detail, see specifications below.
In 2012, the unit cost of an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is $66.9 million (flyaway cost) or $80.1 million incl. support costs. The airframe costs $39.04 million, the two F414-GE-400 engines cost $9.03 million ($4.52 million each), and the avionics cost $6.12 million.
The total procurement cost of the F/A-18E/F program is estimated at $45.44 billion + $5.56 billion in research and development (RDT&E) funds, which means the total estimated program cost is $51.00 billion (numbers are aggregated annual funds spent over the life of the program and no price/inflation adjustment was made).
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter performs traditional missions of fighter escort and fleet air defense, interdiction, and close air support, while still retaining excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities. The F/A-18E/F was designed to replace the F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft. Also, the Super Hornet has a secondary mission as carrier-based aerial tanking aircraft - this capability used to be provided by the now retired S-3B Viking.
Funds the continued multiyear procurement of 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft, associated spares, and provides advance procurement funding for 28 FY 2013 aircraft. Continues the research, development, and testing of the planned spiral developments of the F/A-18E/F related systems. Common shared cost between the EA-18G and F/A-18 E/F programs are funded out of the Super Hornet program.
Supports the multiyear procurement of 26 F/A-18E/F aircraft, associated spares, and provides the advance procurement for 13 aircraft in FY 2014. Continues the research, development, and testing of planned upgrades to the F/A-18E/F aircraft and related systems. Continues to fund the common shared costs between the EA-18G and the F/A-18E/F programs. For more information, click to see the FY 2013 DoD budget for the F/A-18E/F (purchases)
.Source: U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), The Boeing Company,
Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Co., and General Electric Co.
Last Update: January 25, 2013.
By Joakim Kasper Oestergaard /// (jkasper@bga-aeroweb.com)
Boeing's F/A-18 Site: Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet
GE Aviation: F414-GE-400 Turbofan Engine
Raytheon: AN/APG-79 AESA radar
Raytheon: AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR
VSI: Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS)
YouTube: F/A-18 Super Hornet | YouTube Videos
Fact Sheet: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet | Fact Sheet
Total F/A-18E/F Program Cost: |
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$51.00 billion ($45.44B procurement + $5.56B RDT&E) |
F/A-18E/F U.S. Defense Budget Charts: |
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Primary Function: Multi-role tactical fighter and attack aircraft |
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