NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER: Five F/A-18F Super Hornets flew into Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley, Australia, Friday marking the delivery of the first Block II fighter and attack jets to the country.
RAAF pilots flew the Super Hornets on a journey through Hawaii, American Samoa and New Zealand before arriving at Base Amberley.
“We are excited to provide the Royal Australian Air Force with the world’s premier, combat-proven multi-mission aircraft,” said Capt. Mark Darrah, F/A-18 & EA-18G (PMA-265) program manager.
While the RAAF has been flying the F/A-18 legacy Hornet since 1984, the Block II Super Hornet will give added capabilities to the country’s warfighters.
“The on-schedule arrival of the new Australian Super Hornets marks the beginning of a new generation of air power for the RAAF,” said Group Captain Steven Roberton, officer commanding the Australian Super Hornet Wing. “The multirole Super Hornet is an advanced, networked weapons system that provides a major leap in capability for the RAAF.”
Though seven international countries, including Australia, fly the Hornet, Australia is the first foreign government to purchase the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The Super Hornet Block II improvements give the aircraft upgrades including sensors, data links, open computing architecture and an arsenal of precision weapons.
“The U.S./Australia relationship will grow and deepen around the Super Hornet, whose network centric warfare capabilities, sensor-rich avionics and lethal arsenal can now provide Australia with the next generation in air supremacy,” Darrah said.
The RAAF Super Hornets have the same features as the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18F multi-role strike fighter, performing a variety of missions, including precision day and night strike, fighter escort, close-air support, aerial refueling and suppression of enemy air defense.
Its weapon stations carry a wide and lethal array of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, increasing firepower as well as mission flexibility.
The RAAF Super Hornets will also include the APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, which features active electronic beam steering – allowing for the nearly instantaneous repositioning of the radar beam.
“The aircraft provides the RAAF with the long-term rewards of open architecture, which provides a clear advantage for integrating advanced capabilities into their aircraft rapidly as future threats evolve,” Darrah said.
On track to deliver a total 24 F/A-18F aircraft to the RAAF by fall of 2011.
Seven aircraft are expected to ship this summer. The remaining 12 RAAF aircraft will ferry in three deliveries in 2011.
Twelve of the F/A-18F aircraft on order will be wired on the production line for potential future upgrade as airborne electronic attack EA-18G aircraft, pending a positive releaseability determination for the AEA capability.
The RAAF Super Hornets were unveiled to a crowd of government and military officials earlier this month and began their transcontinental flight at NAS Lemoore, Calif., March 18.
