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Super Hornet Nears Completion of Flight Testing
Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland —
The U.S. Navy’s newest strike fighter, the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, neared completion of its flight test and development phases here in 1998, while the Boeing fighter factory in St. Louis delivered the first production aircraft more than one month ahead of schedule. Seven developmental Super Hornets flew more than 1,800 hours in 1998, bringing the total number of flight-test hours to 4,000 over three years. Developmental testing is intended to help identify and correct any deficiencies before production versions of the Super Hornet begin operational evaluation by Navy fleet pilots in May 1999. The first Super Hornet fleet deployment is scheduled in early 2002. The Navy plans to buy at least 548 F/A-18E/Fs through 2010.
The
Super Hornet is the first tactical aircraft designed to meet a post-Cold
War defense need for weapons that balance capability improvements
against cost limitations. Thanks to careful planning and management,
the F/A-18E/F program has remained on schedule and on budget since
its inception in 1991. Integrated teams — with members from the
Navy, Boeing and a select corps of suppliers — have applied “lean”
principles to design and manufacture an aircraft that will require
significantly reduced maintenance and support throughout its lifecycle.
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F/A-18 Upgrade in Australia
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Newcastle,
Australia — In September, the Commonwealth of Australia
awarded Boeing a contract to purchase upgrade hardware for the Royal
Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) fleet of F/A-18 Hornets. A follow-on
contract for installation is expected in the first quarter of 1999.
The upgrade will equip the fighters with improved communication and
navigation capabilities, including new mission computers, a secure
radio system, global positioning system and improved technology for
identifying friendly or enemy aircraft. This will be the first significant
upgrade to the aircraft since the A (single-seat) and B (two-seat)
models were delivered between 1985 and 1991.
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