F/A-18E,F,G, Advanced Super Hornet - Block III+ - F/A-18XT

[SkateZilla]

Whitehouse/Trump is now Labeling it as:

 

F/A-18XT

 

And Plans to Buy "A Large Order"

 

 

https://www.dodbuzz.com/2017/02/17/trump-order-fa-18xt-super-hornets/?ESRC=dodbuzz.sm

Edited February 21, 2017 by SkateZilla

[Gladman]

Good, it'll keep the line open long enough for Canada to buy a full fleet of them.

[RAZBAM_ELMO]

It's going to be huge....sorry. canuck couldn't help it.

 

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[Sweep]

It's going to be huge....sorry. canuck couldn't help it.

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

 

No no no, it's YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE, folks.

 

But seriously, President Trump is just playing chess again. Yuge chess, at that. It's gonna be great.

[RyboPops]

F-18XT is what they're calling it, not XL. Although XL invokes this mental image of a Super Hornet the size of a 737 which could be cool, I guess.

Edited February 18, 2017 by RyboPops

[Sweep]

F-18XT is what they're calling it, not XL. Although XL invokes this mental image of a super Hornet the size of a 737 which could be cool, I guess.

 

F/A-18XL "It's gonna be YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE!"

[RAZBAM_ELMO]

It's already driven the price down for the 35. I can see the price dropping even more.

 

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[Tirak]

[Phantom88]

:doh:Not Good News for The F-35 and Lockheed Martin.

[Sweep]

Something something "Take Trump seriously but not literally" something something.

 

Tis only a Yuge 4d Chess game. Worry not.

[Jhuss96]

The article outlines the Advanced Super Hornet best complimenting the E-2D, E/A-18G & F-35, so I'm hoping we could get a low enough price on the advanced supers to possibly invest in both.

[javelina1]

Just watch the stock... :-)

[Solty]

Poor F-35. I remember when, ironically, F/A-18 Hornet was going through the same. When people called it a bad airplane design and that F/A-14 is just better at everything and Tomcat pilots protesting etc.

 

It is funny to see it inverted on its head because I've not seen any pilot complain about the F-35 but all the politicians and civies seem to be quite mad saying the plane is a poor fighter and bomber

[Majinbot]

I've not seen any pilot complain about the F-35 but all the politicians and civies seem to be quite mad saying the plane is a poor fighter and bomber

 

You don't bite the hand that feeds you...

[aaron886]

Plenty of pilots that don't fly it complain. They see it as money that could be spent on maintaining/upgrading their platform. Besides, the military is full of people with different political opinions, just like everywhere else. Hornet drivers in the 80s didn't hate the Hornet, they loved it. It was the Tomcat guys who were doing all the trash talking. Think about it:

 

- No NFO in the back

- FCS that will give you 50 degrees of alpha... utterly impossible in the Tomcat

- Gucci avionics (especially for the time)

- Varied mission set

[SkateZilla]

I dont think the Plan is to replace F-35s w/ F/A-18XTs,

 

more Along the lines of Bring in Competitive Competition to bring costs down, as Right now Lockheed assumes they are the only fighter the US Will pay for, so costs are high, and they have no incentive to reach goals on time.

 

The Same Reason AMD competing w/ Intel is good, otherwise, you're gonna keep paying $1000 Plus for a $400 CPU

 

Some things to note:

-F/A-18XT is likely just a code name, IIRC It was Mentioned Single and 2 Seater Block III's would be F/A-18J/K's if Approved, not sure what Block Canada is ordering.

 

-EA-18Gs already have some of the Block III items that the I/II Fleet Birds do not have yet, Upgrading the EA-18Gs to Block III would be cheap.

 

-F-35Cs would not replace any of the EA-18Gs, they are supposed to fly together, there will be no EW Variant of the F-35's

 

-F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III's would have all new systems integrated to make it on the level of the F-35 in terms of cockpit functionality, weapons, sensors and networking, allowing vastly improved data links and comms, capabilities etc.

Edited February 21, 2017 by SkateZilla

[Rangi]

Where are you getting xl from SkateZilla? All the articles (including the one you linked) call it the xt.

[SkateZilla]

Oops, XT, lol.. Typing half asleep, fixed

[Cik]

36 dimensional underground parcheesi, as usual

[Phantom88]

Anything is better then trying to keep the Old Legacy Hornets flying way past there limits.

[Tirak]

Anything is better then trying to keep the Old Legacy Hornets flying way past there limits.

 

This won't change that. F-35s are being produced and already more or less paid for. This will mean ramming another huge procurement through congress, at a time when politically they are trying to claim fiscal responsibility. That's gonna take a lot of time and haggling. Where does that money come from? The F-35 program? So you'd be subbing F-35s for SHornets, ones that have never been built before, and on a relatively short run. By the time they ramp up to production, it'll be years down the line and billions over budget.

 

Or you can do the sensible thing. Work out a deal for a cheaper block buy and let the F-35C and B ramp up on schedule and get the replacements sooner and closer to a reasonable budget.

[RyboPops]

let the F-35C and B ramp up on schedule and get the replacements sooner and closer to a reasonable budget.

 

That isn't so simple with the new F-35C nose gear issue, especially if it requires a redesign or some sort of mechanical adjustment. A redesign is pretty unlikely but if that was the road traveled, it would be lots of time, lots of testing, and inherently lots more money. Mechanical adjustments (your guess is as good as mine as to what that even means) would take much less time, require less testing, and more money, but not nearly as much as a redesign. What's a few extra million anyway? :music_whistling:

[SkateZilla]

I dont see how the nose gear issue even exists this late in the stage, as they were trapping and launching from a land based system for over a year w/ the testing teams.

 

the EMALS used on the land based launch testing is from what I'm told a smoother launch compared to steam. They Did Carrier quals on CVN-73, which doesnt run the EMALS system.

 

The Problem isnt a Structural one, it's a gripe, that every plane has, but the media has decided to front row and center it, because, hey, it's the F-35, everything is a 5 Star Major fault.

 

The Issue is, During Launch, there is Vibrations and a Pretty Beefy Kick at the End of the catapult run.

 

 

EVERY NAVY PILOT I KNOW, says this happens on EVERY NAVY PLANE, F/A-18s, E-2s, C-2s, EVERYTHING.

 

 

The News is amping it up into a story they can sell.

Edited February 22, 2017 by SkateZilla

[RyboPops]

I read an article that said the issue was at the beginning of the cat stroke, not the end. It also said that two pilots have been injured by it. So while the media may be sensationalizing it, it is a real issue. That said, it only occurs with a very lightly loaded airplane, and the they don't shoot light airplanes very often outside of CQs.

[aaron886]

It's bad, not just like a Rhino. I spoke to a VFA-101 guy who said they bounce around so much while taxiing that its hard to keep paper on the dash from falling to the floor. Even worse on the boat. He implied that the exceptionally high tire pressures may be the problem, and although the nose gear is working exactly as designed, engineers took the precedence of optimal flight deck operation over pilot comfort a little too far.

 

This isn't a case of media distortion, although it's not some kind of show-stopper. Exactly the kind of problem the developmental testing seeks to find.