Posted on 10/31/2009 11:59:34 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Super Hornet favourite in Indian and Brazilian tenders
By Reuben F Johnson
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is well placed to fulfil both the Indian and Brazilian fighter requirements, the company and its industry partners said on 28 October.
Boeing and its Team Super Hornet partners – Raytheon and General Electric (GE) – presented a broad-ranging review of the F/A-18E/F's position in both the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) programme for 163 aircraft plus 63 options and the Brazilian Air Force's F-X2 tender for the first 36 of what is projected to be a total of 120 fighters.
Boeing stated that two major factors make the Super Hornet competitive in both markets: the first one being that the economies of scale that result from both the aircraft and its major subsystems are still hot (active) production lines and hence have steadily reduced the unit cost of the aircraft; the other is that the modular nature of the aircraft's sensors and propulsion system permit technology insertion that dramatically increases performance at minimal expense.
"The history of the F/A-18E/F's development has now seen a negative slope in terms of cost and a positive slope in terms of capability. For this reason we feel for the first time we are competing on even terms with the [Lockheed Martin] F-16 in terms of price," stated Boeing Military Aircraft IDS President Chris Chadwick.
Raytheon representatives, who also briefed during the New Delhi conference, emphasised that "Raytheon provided the first AESA [active electronically scanned array] radar sets to both the USAF [US Air Force] and USN [US Navy]", and that the company continues to leverage technological improvements across its product lines in improving the Super Hornet's AN/APG-79 radar.
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ping
Are they considering the Eurofighter?
The Mega-Lawn Dart lives!
I thought the Rafale had already won the Brazilian tender?
Yes, the Eurofighter is being considered for the Indian competition. About carrier capability, well the French Rafale also has a naval variant and the Indian navy has decided to buy up to 45 Russian Mig-29Ks, so don’t see how the Super Hornet has an added advantage there.
It's a better, and proven, mutlirole carrier platform than either the Mig-29K or the Rafale. Just conjecture on my part.
The SuperBug would have to be able to get off the deck of a skijump carrier. IOWs, not catapault. Not sure that's even possible. If it isn't that would consign the F/A-18 to landbases where it's dual engines might handicap it's readiness compared to a single-engine aircraft.
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The Brazilian deal will probably go to whoever provides the best reciprocal deal on Embraer 390 production
Balance 10-15% cheaper deal on 36 fighters against the catbird seat on manufacture of the C-130 Hercules successor?
Sure it is,but it’s also considerably heavier and bigger than the other two. And that matters on the ski-jump carriers the IN has planned.
Boeing has a better chance in India as far as industrial partnerships and offsets go. The French will probably sign on for a few KC-390s particularly given the constant slippages in the A-400M project.
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