Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet completes operational demonstration

Rafale fighter also passed testing in Jan, but does not have twin-seat variant, which Indian Navy requires

After successfully demonstrating its ability to land on, and take off from, the ski-jump that equips India’s two aircraft carriers, The Boeing Company (Boeing) is confident that the aircraft it is offering — the F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III — is in pole position to win the Indian Navy’s tender for initially 26, increasing to 57, multi-role carrier-based fighters (MRCBF).

“Even though the Super Hornet was initially designed to operate from a catapult-launch environment, the jet is so powerful that it is able to easily achieve ski-jump launches again under its own power with heavy payloads,” said Alain Garcia, Boeing’s defence head in India.

Challenging Boeing’s Super Hornet in the MRCBF race is the naval version of the French Rafale fighter — called the Rafale Marine. However, the Rafale Marine has only a single-seat version, while the Indian Navy requires both single-seat and twin-seat variants.

A two-seat fighter offers several unique advantages, such as mission flexibility, higher fleet utilisation and the ability to carry out high workload missions that require a second crew member. Furthermore, a twin-seat fighter can also be used as a trainer.

“The competitor (the Rafale Marine) does not offer a two-seat, carrier-capable platform. So the fact that we can offer a two-seat platform that is carrier capable gives a lot of flexibility from a training perspective and a mission perspective to the Indian Navy,” said Garcia.

In January, the Rafale Marine had undergone tests at the “shore-based test facility” (SBTF) in Goa to demonstrate its ability to operate off India’s two aircraft carriers — INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. Now it was the turn of the Super Hornet.

During the testing in Goa, two US Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets completed multiple ski-jumps, roll-in and fly-in arrested landings, as well as performance flights, in a variety of weights in the air-to-air, air-to-ground, and air-to-surface configurations, meeting the Indian Navy’s test requirements, Boeing announced on Wednesday.

“With the Super Hornet Block III, the Indian Navy would not only get the most advanced platform but also benefit from tactics, upgrades and knowledge related to the naval aviation ecosystem that the US Navy offers,” Garcia said.

Boeing announced on Wednesday that the Super Hornet tests in Goa had been preceded by internal testing in 2020 at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland. That had included eight ski-jump take-offs, in various weights and configurations, and had demonstrated the Super Hornet’s ability to operate from a “short take-off but arrested recovery” (STOBAR) aircraft carrier.

The Super Hornet Block III is the US Navy’s premier fighter, with over 800 aircraft delivered around the world and over 2.5 million flight hours logged. The US Navy intends to retain the Super Hornet in service till beyond 2035.

Towards this end, multi-billion-dollar investments have been made to increase the Super Hornet Block III’s airframe life to 10,000 hours, from 6,000 hours in the Block II, reduce the radar cross-section, and incorporate an advanced cockpit with a large area display.

Published figures reveal that the Super Hornet Block III has the lowest cost per flight hour of all the US military’s fighter aircraft. It has been designed, ground up, for carrier operations and requires no modifications for operating on the deck, hangar and lifts of Indian carriers.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III uses the General Electric F-414 engine, which is from the same family that powers the Tejas Mark I fighter and could go on to power its Mark 1A and Mark 2 versions. This commonality will result in efficiencies of scale, reducing the cost of engines, which amount to one-third the cost of a fighter aircraft.