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The U.S. Air Force might buy 72 upgraded F-15, F-16 or even F-18 fighter aircraft due to low F-35 production rates and the high cost of the F-35. The U.S. Air Force “is struggling to afford 48 F-35s a year” for the first years of full-rate production a senior Air Force officer told Aerospace Daily & Defense Report. Full rate-production is slated to begin in 2019 and the U.S. Air Force wants to buy 60 planes in 2020, and 80 F-35 per year after that. This year, the Air Force is to receive 28 F-35s, whereas in 2016 the number...

The two-person crew of a Marine Corps jet is safe after a crash Sunday near Statenville, Ga. The F/A-18 Hornet was with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 224 based out of Beaufort, S.C., and was part of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing at Cherry Point, according to Michael Barton, deputy director of the public affairs office at Cherry Point. The pilot, Maj. Rick Nicka and the weapons officer, 1st Lt. Robert Reynolds, ejected from the jet and were treated for minor injuries at South Georgia Medical Center 19 miles away in Valdosta, Ga., according to a release. Barton said the plane...

Spectacular footage of F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets as they takeoff and land aboard an aircraft carrier. Impressive footage of the aircraft as they fly at low levels above the water, conduct banking and rolling maneuvers at high speed, and make high speed passes over the carrier in tandem formation and Bombing in Syria. Filmed from the cockpit and pilot point-of-view. Film Credits: Lt. Ian Schmidt, Lt. J.G. Michael Hatfield, Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jared King

Canadian taxpayers will likely be on the hook for millions of dollars to keep the country’s aged CF18 fighter jets flying into the next decade because of delays in finding a replacement aircraft, secret documents show. The revelation represents the latest wrinkle in what has become one of the most troubled military procurement projects in Canadian history, which continues to sit in limbo as the countdown to next year’s election begins. The backbone of Canada’s air force, the CF18s were purchased in the early 1980s with the idea they would be retired in 2003. Instead, $2.6 billion was spent on...

VFA-87 Slot Check on board the USS George H. W. Bush.

Russia has cut a deal with Sudan to deliver a dozen advanced MiG-29 Fulcrum jet fighters to the war-torn country. The deal, announced Christmas Day in Moscow, also includes 14 MiG-29 jets for Yemen. The transfer of fourth-generation MiG-29 Fulcrums to Sudan has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and is certain to alter any possible U.S. plans for air strikes at known terrorist bases inside the African nation. Sudan was cited as one of a limited number of nations with direct links to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. The U.S. State Department also listed Sudan as one of a few hostile ...

A high-definition video of U.S. Navy fighter pilots swooping between snowy mountains and skimming the western Pacific Ocean has gained more than 135,000 hits since being posted four days ago. The VFA-27 Royal Maces, based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan, shot the footage from their cockpits while flying F/A18-E aircraft at various locations in the Pacific theater. Much of the footage comes from recent patrols while deployed with the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, pilot Lt. Kyle Matson said. Footage includes trips along the Australian coast and various parts of Japan. Some of the most dramatic footage shows...

The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower was finally in sight. The pilot of the F/A-18 Super Hornet hurriedly flipped switches and pushed levers. The aviator in the backseat leaned forward, straining to see the flight deck floating in the distance. The jet’s right engine had locked up, its landing gear jammed, the main fuel tank almost empty.(snip) The pilot made some quick calculations. He had 15,500 pounds of fuel in his tanks, enough to return to the Eisenhower and make six passes at the ship. Landing in nearby Kandahar was a more prudent option, but that would likely have meant...

I was skiing today in the middle of nowhere in WV, the area is close to a VR training route, so it is not uncommon to see tactical fixed wing. Mid morning I heard what sounded like distant rumblings of a jet, around an hour later a F-18 flew over the ski area from the NW in a hard right turn at low altitude. This is very unusual, I can not recall anytime when there have been aircraft operating on the route on a weekend let alone a holiday weekend on a Sunday. In addition, I never saw -2. Comments...

Low altitude high g turns. Very unusual.

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Boeing aims to keep building F/A-18 jets through 2020 By Andrea Shalal-Esa Published May 10, 2013 Reuters WASHINGTON – Boeing Co could keep building its Super Hornet fighter jet and a modified electronic attack version through 2020, the company said, given prospects for over 200 foreign sales and what it sees as up to 150 more sales to the U.S. Navy. Michael Gibbons, Boeing vice president for F/A-18 and EA-18 programs, spent part of this week pitching additional sales of Boeing's last fighter jet to congressional staffers in a triple-wide trailer packed with simulators, displays and souvenirs. His mission? To...

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products said it will produce additional 20mm gun systems for use on U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. The order for the weapons came under a contract modification from the Naval Air Systems Command worth $7.8 million, the company said. "General Dynamics has successfully produced the weapon system for the F/A-18 for more than 25 years," said Steve Elgin, vice president and general manager of armament systems for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. "The M61A2 F/A-18 gun system continues to be relevant, affordable and extremely effective." The M61A2 gun system is a six-barrel Gatling...

No other details as yet. Just reported as an emergency blurb on local radio. Prayers requested for all affected! A Navy F-18 out of NAS Oceana has crashed into an apartment comp0lex in Virginia Beach VA at the intersection of Birdneck Rd and I 264.

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed a flight test of the prototype Distributed Targeting System-Networked (DTS-N) on a Super Hornet. The system is designed to enhance the F/A-18E/F fighter jet’s targeting capabilities. The test took place in late 2011 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Advanced Weapons Lab in China Lake, Calif., and was conducted by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-31. DTS-N is based on the Boeing Adaptive Architecture developed by the company’s Phantom Works division. It expands the capabilities of the soon-to-be-operational F/A-18E/F Distributed Targeting System by providing a dramatic...

The Australian Government is moving ahead with the conversion of the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF) 12 Boeing-built F-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft to the EA-18G model, dubbed Growlers, under a refit programme. Australia's Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare said in a joint statement that more than $19m will be spent for the purchase of lead item electronic equipment. The long lead item electronic equipment for the conversion include electronic systems, antennas and high frequency modulation receivers that will be procured through the US Foreign Military Sales route. The Government has already formally delivered a...

The Air Force and the Navy have combined research into a perplexing problem that may have vexed both services in the skies. The U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine and the Naval Medical Research Unit, next door to each other at Wright-Patterson, have linked research for hypoxia — incidents that may have caused a lack of oxygen to reach pilots during some flights in the Air Force’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and the Navy’s F-18, military leaders said. “We had what we believe was a common issue,” said Capt. Rita Simmons, executive officer of the Naval Medical Research Unit....

The U.S. Navy has received from Boeing the first aircraft under a multi-year procurement contract meant to cut purchase costs. The aircraft delivered was an EA-18G Growler, which is based at U.S. Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state. The Boeing EA-18G Growler delivers full-spectrum airborne electronic attack capability with the targeting and self-defense capabilities derived from the F/A-18E/F Block II Super Hornet. The United States was purchasing 58 of the aircraft under the multi-year contract as well as 66 F/A-18E/Fs. It modified the 2010 contract, however, to acquire 24 more F/A-18s. Through the Multiple-year Procurement III contract, the...

The Australian Parliament’s Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has just released a transcript of a Feb. 7, 2012 hearing during which it took evidence on the F-35 program by noted opponents of the program, representing the Air Power Australia think-tank and a private computer simulation firm, RepSim Pty Ltd. Part of the hearing describes the outcome of a famous – but disputed – simulation of F-18E and F-35 fighters engaging in combat against Chinese air force fighters carried out by the Rand Corporation. The outcome is even more disastrous for the Western fighters than previously reported. http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/verbatim/4/133273/f_35-fares-worse-in-rand-wargame.html

Kuwait wants to enhance the air defence capabilities of its Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters via a $105 million acquisition of Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. Detailed by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) on 27 February, the proposed deal includes the delivery of 80 AIM-9X-2 weapons, plus captive training rounds and associated equipment and training. "The Kuwait air force is modernising its fighter aircraft to better support its own air defence needs," the DSCA said. "The proposed sale of AIM-9X-2 missiles will enhance Kuwait's interoperability with the US and among other Central Command nations, making it a more valuable...