1976 1 10 In October, the US Navy signed a contract with McDonnell Douglas to jointly develop the F/A- 18 "Bumblebee" with McDonnell Douglas (now incorporated into Boeing Company, called Mai Bo Company) as the main company. After further prototype flight test, manufacturing and flight test, the operational capability was initially formed in 1983 and 1. The US Navy and Marine Corps * * * ordered 1366, in addition, Canada ordered 138, Australia ordered 75 and Spain ordered 84, all of which have been partially delivered. There are six kinds: YF/A- 18A/B, F/A- 18A, RF- 18A, F/A- 18B, F/A- 18C, f/.
F- 18A Hornet is 1 production type, which is mainly used for fleet air defense and ship protection of carrier-based attack aircraft, and some aircraft are also used for air-to-ground attack missions.
The main fire control equipment includes AN/AVQ-28 head-up display, AN/AYK- 14 central task computer (2 sets), AN/APG-65 pulse Doppler radar, multi-function display, plug-in management device, AN/AWG-2 1 anti-radiation missile (AGM-78) controller, etc. There are some changes in the display in the cockpit of the aircraft carrying out air-to-ground attacks. It is equipped with forward-looking infrared (FLIR) and laser spot tracker (LST).
F/A- 18E/F is the latest modification. Its main feature is that the voyage is increased, and each wing is added with 1 pylon, and the maximum mounting capacity of the pylon in the wing is increased to 2400kg, which increases the bomb load and improves the combat capability. About 90% of its electronic system is common with F/A- 18C/D, and An /APG-73 (the modification of An /APG-65) is selected as the radar.
The weapon control system of F- 18A Hornet Fighter includes four main parts: attack display subsystem, data processing subsystem, parameter measurement (sensor) subsystem and external management/control subsystem.
The attack display subsystem includes an /AVQ-28 head-up display and three identical cathode ray tube heads-up displays -MFD, main monitor display -MMD and horizontal situation display -HSD. The main monitoring display displays warning information and consulting information of all aircraft systems. It is also a backup device for multi-function display, which can display forward-looking infrared information. The horizontal display is the main navigation display.
The data processing subsystem includes more than 30 computers including AN/AYK- 14 central task computer (two computers work in parallel), radar signal processor, radar data processor, external management computer, display computer, flight control computer and air data computer. The total program is about 779K K. Table 3. 1 lists the CPU and storage capacity of several major programmable and ROM computers.
Parameter measurement subsystem includes AN/APG-65 radar, AN/ASN- 130 inertial navigation device, AN/AAS-38 forward-looking infrared device, AN/ASQ- 173 laser irradiation/rangefinder and atmospheric data sensor.
The store management and control subsystem includes AN/AYQ-9 store management system and AN/AWG-2 1 missile controller.
In the Gulf War, F/A- 18 was the main battle plane of the American fleet.
F/A- 18 adopts the overall layout of single-seat double-engine swept wing and double vertical tail. The wing is a cantilever middle wing with small sweep angle. The leading edge is equipped with full-span maneuvering flaps, and the trailing edge has flaps and auxiliary wings. The deflection of the front and rear flaps is controlled by computer. When landing on the ship, the outer wing section can be folded (aileron is located at the trailing edge of the outer wing). The leading edge of the wing root is a pair of long strips, which extend all the way forward. The tail also adopts cantilever structure, and both the horizontal tail and the vertical tail have sweep angles, and the horizontal tail is lower than the wing, which makes the aircraft have good longitudinal stability when flying at high angle of attack. Slightly outward inclined double vertical tails are located on both sides of the fuselage between the full-motion horizontal tail and the wing. The landing gear is a front three-point type, and the front landing gear has a traction handle for ejection and take-off. The cockpit is airtight, air-conditioned, and Martin? Baker's ejection seat, windshield and canopy are opened forward and backward respectively. The F/A- 18 is equipped with two F404-OE-400 turbofan engines developed by General Electric Company, with a single afterburner thrust of 71.2kn.. The air inlets are located on both sides of the fuselage under the wing root. The aircraft can carry 4990 kilograms of fuel, and the upper right corner of the nose is also equipped with a retractable aerial refueling pipe.
F/A- 18 is a supersonic multi-purpose combat/attack aircraft. Its main characteristics are good reliability and maintainability, strong survivability, good flight performance at high angle of attack and high weapon projection accuracy. It is reported that the aircraft body is designed according to the service life of 6,000 flight hours, the mean time between failure of airborne electrical equipment is 30 flight hours, and the mean time between failures of radar is 100 hours. Up to now, there are 9 types of F/A- 18 * * *. No. F/A- 18A is exported to Canada, F/A- 18A to Australia and EF- 1 to Spain. If it is an attack aircraft after changing some weapons, it can perform ground attack tasks.
Airborne equipment includes Hughes' Ann /AGP-65 multifunctional digital air-to-air and air-to-ground tracking radar, which can track 10 targets and display 8 targets to pilots in air-to-air working state, ALR-67 radar warning receiver, four-redundancy flight control system and two digital computers, as well as Litton's inertial navigation system, two Caesar's multifunctional displays and Ferendi/.
The main weapons are 1 20mm artillery and 570 rounds of spare ammunition. * * * Nine external pylons, and two wingtip pylons can receive 1 respectively. AIM-9L Diamondback Air-to-Air Missile: Two outer wing pylons can carry air-to-ground or air-to-air weapons, including AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Diamondback Missile. Two inner wing pylons can be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks or air-to-ground weapons; The two pylons located under the nacelle can carry "sparrow" missiles or Martin? Marietta's An /ASQ- 173 laser tracker, attack effect camera and infrared detection system pod; The pylon located at the center line of the fuselage can be used as an auxiliary fuel tank or a weapon. F/A- 1BC and D models can also be equipped with advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and Mavericks air-to-surface missiles. The latest modification is F/A- 18e/F "Super Hornet".
F- 18 has good airborne electronic warfare capability and performance, and is the main aircraft type of the US Navy, just like F- 14.
The U.S navy and marine corps * * * ordered 1366 aircraft, including F/A- 18A, RF- 18A, F/A- 18B, F/A- 18C and f/a. At present, single-seat F/A- 18E and two-seat F/A- 18F are being produced. The design of Bumblebee was very successful. It was not only sold to Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Spain and Sweden, but also ordered 138 in Canada, 75 in Australia and 84 in Spain, all of which have been partially delivered. Moreover, the U.S. Navy redesigned F/A- 18E/F as the main force of naval fighter in 2 1 century.
F/A- 18 * * *, there are 9 kinds of single and double seats. Canada's number is F/A- 18A, Australia's number is F/A- 18A/B, Spain's number is EF- 18, and there is also a multi-purpose shore base for export. If it is an attack aircraft after changing some weapons, it can perform ground attack tasks.
Performance index
Dimension data: F/A- 18C captain 17.07m, aircraft height 4.66m, wingspan1/0.43m, wingspan 12.3 1m (including wingtip missiles).
Weight data: F/A- 18C empty weight 10455 kg, takeoff weight 1665 1 kg (air combat mission), 22,328kg (ground attack mission), maximum internal oil of 4,926kg and maximum external oil of 3,053kg.
Performance data: F/A- 18C maximum horizontal flight speed (altitude) m1.8/1910km/h, service ceiling 15240 m, and transition range (without aerial refueling) of 37000. Ultimate overload+9.0g.
The tail also adopts cantilever structure, and both the horizontal tail and the vertical tail have sweep angles, and the horizontal tail is lower than the wing, which makes the aircraft have good longitudinal stability when flying at high angle of attack. Slightly outward inclined double vertical tails are located on both sides of the fuselage between the full-motion horizontal tail and the fuselage.
The landing gear is a front three-point type, and the front landing gear is provided with a traction rod for ejection and take-off. The cockpit is airtight and air-conditioned, with Martin Baker's ejection seat inside, and the windshield and canopy are opened forward and backward respectively.
The F/A- 18 is equipped with two F404-GE-400 turbofan engines developed by General Electric Company, with a single afterburner thrust of 7 1.2 kN (7200 kg). The inlet adopts fixed inclined plates, which are located on both sides of the fuselage under the wing root. The plane can carry 4990 kilograms of fuel and can hang three auxiliary fuel tanks. The total fuel load of the aircraft can reach 7979 kg. There is also a retractable aerial refueling pipe above the right side of the nose.
Airborne equipment: Hughes An/AGP-65 multifunctional digital air-to-air and air-to-ground tracking radar, which can track 10 targets and display 8 targets to pilots in air-to-air working condition, ALR-67 radar warning receiver, redundant flight control system and two digital computers of AYK- 14, Litton inertial navigation system and two multifunctional displays of Caesar and Phelan.
Main weapons: 1 20mm artillery, 570 rounds of spare ammunition. * * * There are 9 external pylons, and two wingtip pylons can be connected to each other 1. AIM-9L Diamondback Air-to-Air Missile: Two outer wing pylons can carry air-to-ground or air-to-air weapons, including AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Diamondback Missile. Two inner wing pylons can be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks or air-to-ground weapons; The two pylons located under the nacelle can carry "sparrow" missiles or Martin? Marietta's An /ASQ- 173 laser tracker, attack effect camera and infrared detection system pod; The pylon located at the center line of the fuselage can be used as an auxiliary fuel tank or a weapon. F/A- 1BC and D models can also be equipped with advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and "Niuniu" (also called Mavericks) air-to-surface missiles.
Equipment status and model evolution
F/A- 18 was published in 1983. It includes several different models:
F/A-18A-Reliable single-seat attack aircraft.
F/A-18B-Two-seat version of "A", and the other seat is the weapon system commander.
F/A-18c-This model is specially designed for night attack.
F/A- 18d- two-seater night attack aircraft.
Super bumblebee: the ultimate fighter/bomber.
F/A- 18F- Super Hornet: Two-seater fighter/bomber.
F- 18A is 1 production type, which is mainly used for fleet air defense and ship protection of carrier-based attack aircraft, and also used for air-to-air attack missions, replacing A-4 and A-7 single-seat attack aircraft. Maiden voyage time1978165438+10/8. * * Nine F- 18A, two TF- 18A and two all-round development aircraft participated in the heavy test flight. 1979 10 from 10, three all-round development aircraft landed on the "American" aircraft carrier for qualification test. 1 production F- 18A made its first flight at 1980. 1983 F- 18A undertook combat missions and soon became the backbone of the US naval battle group. The US Navy * * * produced 37 1 F- 18A aircraft. F/A- 18B. It is the coach type of A-type aircraft, with two seats in series and can be used in combat. The official number is TF/A- 18A, and the oil load is 6% lower than that of F/A- 18A. * * * produced 39 aircraft.
The model F/A- 18C is a single-seat model purchased from 1986 fiscal year. The F/A- 18C can also be equipped with advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles and "lion cub" air-to-ground missiles. Airborne self-defense jammer, reconnaissance equipment, new "air universal life-saving system" ejection seat, new airborne computer, flight fault recorder and monitoring system are adopted. Model C made its first flight on 1986, and delivery began on 1987. The C-type equipment delivered after June 1989 can carry all-weather night attack tasks, including the navigation pod of forward-looking infrared detection system, new head-up display and night vision goggles for pilots. From 199 1 and 1, F/A- 18C started to use F404-GE-402EPE engine, with a thrust of 7,900 kg, an increase of 700kg. The original An /APG-65 radar was replaced by An /APG-73 radar. * * * 398 aircraft were produced. F/A- 18D is a C-type aircraft with two seats, and only the front cabin has the flight control capability. Not only used as a two-seat trainer, but also used as a two-seat night attack aircraft. The pilot in the back seat mainly controls the weapon system. Its weapon control system is similar to model C. The first aircraft made its first flight on May 6th 1988. 1 Production Type D was installed in June 1 989+February1Patterson River Naval Test Center. The 1 D plane carrying out the night attack mission was delivered on May 1999 12 1 attack squadron. * * * Production 1 13.
F- 18E/F "Super Hornet" carrier-based fighter is the newest combat attack aircraft of the US Navy, which is developed from F-18c/d. The E fighter has one seat and the F fighter has two seats. Stealth shape design is adopted, including changing the original circular inlet into a square inlet, and the paint contains materials that absorb radar radiation. Change to an engine with higher thrust, and the thrust afterburner reaches 9986 kg. The forebody is lengthened by 0.86m, the wingspan is widened by 1.3 1m, the wing surface is increased by 9.29m2, and the wing loading is reduced. The horizontal tail also increases and the sweep angle decreases; The leading edge area of the wing increases by 34%; The improvement of wing and fuselage has greatly improved aerodynamic performance. The maximum takeoff weight increased by 27%, reaching 30,000 kg; Therefore, the load capacity has also increased, and the internal fuel has increased by 33% to 6560kg；; If three auxiliary fuel tanks are added, the oil load will reach11000 kg; 90% of F- 18E/F electronic equipment is common with C/D type, but improved fire control radar and airborne electronic equipment are added, which can carry many more advanced attack weapons. This radar is an improved ANPG73 radar. There are 1 touch display and 1 new fuel display in the cockpit, using ultra-high speed integrated circuit computer. In the future, all three displays in the cockpit will be changed to color liquid crystal displays; Low-altitude navigation and infrared aiming system at night are added. 1 E/F made its first flight in1995+February. The navy plans to buy at least 548 aircraft, but in 2002, the US Department of Defense suggested buying only 460 aircraft.
The latest model is the most daunting: F/A- 18E/F Super Hornet. E- bumblebee can only be used by one pilot, while F- bumblebee has another seat as commander of weapon system. Like the ordinary bumblebee, this super bumblebee is also a multi-mission attack fighter, but it is also equipped with some excellent upgrade functions (and only uses half the parts of the ordinary bumblebee):
It is 1.3m longer than the early bumblebee.
The wing area is 25%
F4 14-GE-400 engine provides 35% high propulsion.
The task scope is 4 1%
The battery life is extended by 50%
Two additional weapon stations can carry more ammunition.
Increased the flexibility of mixing air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons.
A perfect complement to "smart" weapons, such as Joint Direct Attack Ammunition (JDAM) and Joint Out-of-Zone Weapons (JSOW).
Enhanced load capacity: the external load is 8,032kg.
Two wingtip stations have been added.
Four inner wing stations for carrying other fuel tanks or air-to-ground weapons.
Two engine room fuselage stations are used to transport the sensor cabin.
All-weather, air-to-air radar and control system are used to accurately launch traditional or guided weapons.
A central station for transporting extra fuel or air-to-ground weapons.
Cockpit upgrade: touch-sensitive front-end control display screen; Larger LCD multifunctional color display screen; And a new engine fuel display.
In electronic and photoelectric countermeasures, E/F is going to adopt the Integrated Defense Electronic Warfare System (IDECM), whose core component is AN/ALQ-2 14 RF jammer. At the same time, it can also integrate ALR67(V)3 radar warning, AAR-57 general missile warning, AN/ALE-47 chaff and infrared jamming bomb dispenser, and ALE-50. On F/A- 18E/F, a laser infrared countermeasure system can also be used, and the laser emits a laser with a specific wavelength to actively interfere with the infrared seeker.
F/A- 18E/F can carry a variety of tactical pods. Among them, Raytheon's newly developed ATFLIR advanced forward-looking infrared pod. The pod adopts the third generation infrared staring focal plane imaging technology, which can provide navigation and target indication functions, and is equipped with a laser target indicator. 1999, the navy also began to develop a * * * reconnaissance pod (SHARP) for the two-seat F/A- 18F, hoping to use this pod to replace the F- 14 aircraft equipped with TARPS, so as to make it have tactical reconnaissance capability. The system uses photoelectric and infrared sensors, allowing F/A- 18F to collect images at an inclined distance of 83km and transmit them to the ground through data link. The pod can also accept the synthetic aperture data of APG73 radar.
After various improvements, the combat capability of F/A- 18E/F has been greatly improved. The maneuverability of the improved aircraft remains basically unchanged, and the climbing and acceleration ability above 9000 meters decreases slightly. The maximum overload is reduced from 9G to 7G, which may reduce the instantaneous hovering ability. However, as long as enough agility is maintained, the performance of close air combat will not be affected when the helmet display and AIM9X missile are launched off-axis.
Nowadays, the importance of over-the-horizon air combat is becoming more and more obvious. As can be seen from the above introduction, F/A- 18E/F has advanced radar and electronic warfare systems, excellent ergonomics and certain stealth capabilities. With AIM 120 missile, its over-the-horizon combat capability should be relatively strong in the third generation fighter. If the active phased array radar is replaced, this capability will be further enhanced. You can also carry AIM 120 missiles when carrying out attack missions, and you can rely on over-the-horizon attacks to defend yourself when encountering air threats.
The APG73 radar equipped with F/A- 18E/F has good ground detection function. Equipped with radar altimeter, GPS navigation system and digital map, it can penetrate at low altitude and high speed; It is also possible to launch ground attack missiles from a long distance outside the defense zone to reduce the operational risk. Equipped with ATFLIR advanced forward-looking infrared pod, the aircraft can penetrate at ultra-low altitude at night.
F/A- 18G, also known as EF- 18, is mainly equipped with EA-6B electronic warfare equipment and pods on the F-type airframe to complete the frontier electronic warfare tasks. At the beginning of 2002, the US Air Force planned that the initial operational capability of the "Performance Improvement System III" electronic warfare system of its EA-6B electronic warfare aircraft should be formed in 2005, and it is planned to be installed on the EA- 18 platform. Performance improvement system III has advanced functions and strong combat capability, which will significantly improve the electronic warfare capability of the US military. It is expected that the F/A- 18G aircraft will reach its initial operational capability in 2009. The navy's current plan is to purchase 90 EA- 18G electronic warfare aircraft.
The US Navy plans to install a new APG-79 active phased array radar for F/A- 18E/F, which will provide favorable conditions for the network center to enjoy data. Raytheon is going to produce the 4 15 radar for Boeing, one of which is used to equip the newly-produced aircraft, and the other is used to modify the 123 F/A- 18e/F fighter aircraft that has already served in the navy (this aircraft was originally equipped with the mechanical scanning APG-73 radar). APG-79 active phased array radar can not only greatly improve its reliability, but also provide real-time air-to-air and air-to-ground detection capabilities at a longer distance, thus providing better environmental awareness for aircraft. On August 27th, 2004, the US Marine Corps successfully tested Northrop Grumman's advanced aiming system LITENING on the F/A- 18D fighter. The system is a target positioning and identification pod installed on the aircraft, which can provide laser reconnaissance search/tracking, laser marking and data link to the ground forces day and night. The Marine Corps will purchase 60 sets of "Blue Shield" advanced aiming pods for 72 F/A- 18D fighters.
Operation and use
F/A- 18A-D can perform air-to-air and air-to-ground attack missions. E/F can also carry out the task of attacking tanker when carrying self-defense air-to-air missiles. Its main tasks include fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defense firepower, interception, self-protection, attack and defense air combat and close air combat support. In general air defense operations to suppress the enemy, F/A- 18 carries two auxiliary fuel tanks, two AGM-88A anti-radiation missiles, two AIM-7 missiles and two AIM-9 missiles. In a typical interception mission, F/A- 18 usually carries three MK20 cluster bombs, two auxiliary fuel tanks, two AIM-7 missiles and two AIM-9 missiles. In the interception operation, F/A- 18 used AGM- 142 "squint", Slam and MK80 ordinary bombs when attacking anti-ship missile positions. F/A- 18 is generally deployed on aircraft carriers and performs deployment tasks together with aircraft carrier battle groups.
Actual combat performance
The first combat cruise of F/A- 18 was carried out from February to August in 1985. The 25th and 1 13 attack squadrons of the US Navy were deployed on the carrier constellation and went to the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean to perform deployment tasks. 1986, Libyan Gaddafi regarded Sidra Bay as Libyan territorial waters, and ships from other countries were not allowed to pass through. President Reagan of the United States ordered the aircraft carrier Coral Sea to sail to Sidra Bay for freedom of navigation. The F/A- 18 on the aircraft carrier performs combat air patrol missions to protect the aircraft carrier battle group. F/A- 18 often intercepts Libyan MIG -23, 25 and Su -22, sometimes several meters away from Libyan aircraft. F/A- 18 participated in actual combat for the first time in1March, 986, which hit Libya's shore-based equipment, including the SA-5 missile base. This action is also the first time that the AGM-88A Hamm anti-radiation missile has participated in actual combat. 1986 in the "golden canyon" operation on April 15, F/A- 18 and A-7E attacked the Sam missile position in Libya with ham missiles. 199 1 Gulf War, * * 190 F/A- 18, Navy 106, Marine Corps 84. During the operation, 1 people were killed in battle and 2 people were killed in non-combat accidents. Another three were attacked by surface-to-air missiles, but returned to the base after maintenance and resumed combat operations. 199 1 year 65438+1October 17, two F/A- 18C of the US Navy and two MIG -2 1 of Iraq had opportunities. F/A- 18C attacked Iraq after hitting the two MIG planes with AIM-9. On June 6th, 2002, F/A- 18E/F deployed on the aircraft carrier "Lincoln" took part in actual combat for the first time, and used precision-guided ammunition to attack two sets of Sam missiles and 1 command, control and communication facilities in Iraq.