June 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

Boeing Completes Resurrection Of F/A-18E/F With First Block III Delivery

Boeing on June 17 delivered the first F/A-18E/F Block III to the U.S. Navy to launch a yearlong testing campaign on a new configuration with around a $60 million flyaway cost that is currently being offered to five foreign air forces.

“The Navy is going to go through their test program with these two test assets over the next year, and then about this time next year is when we'll start delivering the fully operational Block IIIs,” said Jennifer Tebo, Boeing's director of development for F-18 programs.

The delivery milestone completes an unexpected resurrection of the twin-engine, carrier-based fighter. Until the fiscal 2019 budget was released, the Navy planned to order no additional F/A-18E/Fs after the last of 608 Block II jets ordered in fiscal 2018, which Boeing delivered to the Navy on April 17.

But the newly-inaugurated Trump administration had different plans for the 25-year-old design. Although the Navy previously showed no interest in a 2013 Boeing proposal to reduce the radar cross section by half, the Navy in 2017 started showing interest in a more modest improvement. Rather than attempt to remake the F/A-18E/F to operate alongside the more stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35C, Boeing made tweaks to allow the Super Hornet to shoulder the predominantly air-to-air fleet defense mission, while staying on-station longer, carrying more weapons and more tightly integrating into the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air system.

The result is an F/A-18E/F Block III configuration anchored by the addition of the Distributed Targeting Processor Network (DTP-N), a mission computer 17 times more powerful than the previous system and capable of fusing data from onboard and off-board sensors. Boeing also integrated the high-bandwidth Tactical Targeting Network Technology datalink for the aircraft to receive the off-board data. To complete the new capability, Boeing also installed the Advanced Cockpit System, with large format displays to present the fused situational awareness data to the pilot.

The new upgrade also comes with a pair of dorsal-mounted conformal fuel tanks to extend the aircraft's range. Meanwhile, the belly-mounted, centerline fuel tank is upgraded with an improved infrared search-and-track sensor, which is needed to help the F/A-18E/F acquire aerial targets without giving away its location by turning on its radar. Finally, Boeing also modified the structure to accommodate a 9,000-hr.-plus service life.

The aircraft is also set to receive new kinetic capabilities, likely starting with the H18 Operational Flight Program scheduled for release in fiscal 2023. The H16 release planned next year adds most of the Block III enhancements. The H18 release adds a powerful new weapon with the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range. The U.S. Air Force has also said that the F/A-18E/F will receive the Lockheed Martin AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile after fiscal 2022, which aligns with the H18 release.

Finally, the Navy has not defined the service's vision for manned/unmanned teaming, but the scheduled arrival of the Miniature Air-Launched Decoy-Navy (MALD-N) in fiscal 2023 adds an intriguing new capability, with a single-use decoy or munition capable of operating in swarms with other unmanned or manned assets. The Boeing MQ-25 unmanned tanker is also scheduled to enter service in fiscal 2024.

“We're obviously exploring that area, trying to determine what are the best use cases,” Tebo said. “So I see that start to become more and more a reality as you start to see things like MQ-25 on the carrier deck and then other unmanned vehicles such as MALD-N.”

The Navy decided this year to truncate new F/A-18E/F Block III production after fiscal 2021 and divert the funding to the Next Generation Air Dominance program. Boeing now plans to deliver 72 new F/A-18E/F Block IIIs over the next two years, then start delivering 364 Block II jets modified to the new standard. Canada, Finland, Germany, India and Switzerland are also considering additional orders, which could extend new production well beyond fiscal 2021.

https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/boeing-completes-resurrection-fa-18ef-first-block-iii-delivery

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April 8, 2020 | International, Naval

Huntington Ingalls Industries Awarded $1.50 Billion Contract for the Construction of LPD 31
Pascagoula, Miss., April 3, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) announced today that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division has received a $1.50 billion fixed-price-incentive modification to a previously awarded contract for the procurement of the detail design and construction of amphibious transport dock LPD 31. The ship will be the 15th in the San Antonio class and the second Flight II LPD. “In building this 15th LPD, Ingalls experienced shipbuilders will continue this hot production line of great amphibious warships for our Navy/Marine Corps team,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. “We are all proud to be building these great ships, and will continue to deliver the most survivable and affordable ships possible for our customers and our nation.” Ingalls' LPD Flight II program vendor base consists of more than 600 manufacturers and suppliers in 39 states, including 387 small businesses. More than 1,500 shipbuilders work on each LPD. Ingalls has delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships to the Navy, and it has three more under construction. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century. About Huntington Ingalls Industries Huntington Ingalls Industries is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII's Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hiindustries CONTACT INFORMATION Teckie Hinkebein Manager of Media Relations (228) 935-1323 teckie.hinkebein@hii-co.com View source version on Huntington Ingalls Industries : https://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/releases/photo-release-huntington-ingalls-industries-awarded-1-50-billion-contract-for-the-construction-of-lpd-31
October 7, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

AeroVironment unveils Switchblade 600 loitering missile system
Robin Hughes AeroVironment Inc. has disclosed development of a new category of medium-sized, man-portable loitering missile system designed to deliver tactical reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) and enhanced precision multi-purpose/anti-armour effects at extended ranges. Developed in close co-operation with “a number of US Department of Defense [DoD] customers”, the Switchblade 600 builds on, and combines with, the in-service, combat-proven Switchblade 300 loitering weapon system and the Blackwing loitering reconnaissance system to form the core of an emerging family of scalable multi-mission loitering missile systems. “Switchblade 600 is a result of working closely with our DoD customers. They wanted the same features of the 300 but with greater effects, greater stand-off range, and extended endurance,” said Todd Hanning, Product Line Manager, Tactical Missile Systems at AeroVironment. Based on the same self-contained, tube-launched, collapsible wing, electric propulsion architecture as the backpackable Switchblade 300, the larger Switchblade 600 weighs 54.5kg (including the all-up round in the tube, and the fire control system – FCS), and is furnished with a 2-axis, 4-sensor gimballed (dual electro-optic and infrared) integrated sensor suite, and a multipurpose/anti-armour warhead, derived from the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile, equipped with a height of burst sensor. A modular payload bay provides for the future integration of an array of different lethality options, including, potentially, an anti-radiation Switchblade 600 variant. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/aerovironment-unveils-switchblade-600-loitering-missile-system
March 8, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

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