F/A-18E/F

Latest in F/A-18E/F

More details have emerged about the problems the U.S. Navy is facing with its ill-starred podded Infrared Search And Track System, or IRST, an important capability planned for its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters. The latest issues to be highlighted come after TWZ previously reported on delays caused by production quality issues with the system and a Pentagon assessment of “significant reliability problems during operational testing,” which emerged earlier this year.
Air

New Details On F/A-18 Super Hornet’s Troubled IRST Pod

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 11, 2025

The U.S. Navy’s F/A-XX sixth-generation combat jet program looks to have hit another setback, with the Pentagon reportedly prioritizing the Air Force’s F-47 stealth fighter, amid concerns about how to run the two efforts simultaneously. Already, the F/A-XX was in limbo, with a U.S. official telling TWZ last month that the future of the program was being reviewed. This came after reports that a contract award for the Navy’s new combat jet could be delayed by as much as three years. Navy officials, meanwhile, continue to stress the importance of the F/A-XX to their future plans.
Air

Pentagon Wants To Shift Funds From Navy F/A-XX To USAF F-47: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jun 5, 2025

Hornet crashed aboard the USS Harry S Truman
Air

Super Hornet Crashes Landing On USS Truman, Its Second F/A-18 Loss In A Week

By Tyler Rogoway

Updated on May 7, 2025

The future of the Navy NGAD crewed aircraft program remains in limbo.
Air

Navy F/A-XX Stealth Fighter Selection This Week: Report

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 25, 2025

We may have just gotten our first evidence of the GBU-53/B StormBreaker glide bomb, also known as the Small Diameter Bomber II (SDB II), being used in combat. The first operational use of the StormBreaker by the service would be a big deal, with this weapon bringing some significant advances over its predecessor, the GBU-39/B SDB I, especially the ability to hit moving targets.
Air

F/A-18 Super Hornets Now Carrying Stormbreaker Glide Bombs On Combat Missions

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet from the "Mighty Strikes" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 94, flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility while conducing a mission in support of Operation Inherent Resolve Oct. 2, 2020. VFA-94 is assigned to Carrier Air Wing 17, deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the flagship of Nimitz Carrier Strike Group.
Air

F/A-18’s Infrared Search And Track System Has “Significant Reliability Problems”

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Feb 3, 2025

U.S. Navy officials have laid out several priorities they say are key to ensuring the service's carrier air wings will be able to succeed in future conflicts, especially a high-end fight in the Pacific.
Sea

Carrier Air Wing’s Key Priorities To Win In Future Pacific Fight Laid Out By Navy

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 30, 2025

The U.S. Navy is now officially using "Murder Hornet" to refer to F/A-18E/F fighters armed with five AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) and four AIM-9X Sidewinder.
Air

Murder Hornet Nickname For F/A-18s Equipped With Nine Air-To-Air Missiles Now Official

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jan 6, 2025

F/A-18F Was Shot Down By Friendly Fire As Jets Were About To Land On The Carrier
Air

F/A-18F Was Shot Down By Friendly Fire As Jets Were About To Land On The Carrier

By Joseph Trevithick, By Howard Altman, By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Dec 24, 2024

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet was conducting a refueling mission over the Red Sea when it was downed in a friendly fire incident this past weekend.
Sea

F/A-18F Shot Down By Friendly Cruiser Was In The Middle Of A Refueling Mission

By Joseph Trevithick, By Geoff Ziezulewicz, By Howard Altman

Posted on Dec 23, 2024

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F and F-35, both assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9, fly over the Point Mugu Sea Range in Southern California with a U.S. Air Force F-15 during Gray Flag 2024 on Sept. 24, 2024. Gray Flag is an annual large-force test event that brings the joint force together to test and evaluate multi-domain systems in a maritime environment, ensuring our nation’s warfighters are equipped with effective, interoperable systems that will help them deter aggression, protect our nation’s prosperity and security, and return home safely to their families. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Cmdr. Kory Hughs)
Air

Navy Posts Its First AIM-174 Missile-Armed F/A-18F Super Hornet ‘Glamour Shots’

By Howard Altman

Updated on Nov 6, 2024

The U.S. Navy is asking for new ideas about how to increase the unrefueled range of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.
Air

New Ways To Stretch F/A-18 Super Hornet’s Range Sought By Navy

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Oct 23, 2024

Popping China's Anti-access bubble with the AIM-174
Air

How The Navy’s New Very Long-Range AIM-174 Missile Could Pierce China’s Anti-Access Bubble

18:41

By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Oct 3, 2024

Collins Aerospace has put forward a vision for what a high-end air combat engagement between the U.S. and Chinese armed forces, with the American side employing crewed fighters and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drone wingmen, could look like in the future.
Air

What American Fighters And Their Drone Wingmen Fighting Chinese Jets Might Look Like

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 20, 2024

A series of photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet with a remarkable and hitherto unseen air-to-air load-out, including four of the very long-range AIM-174B air-to-air missiles.
Air

F/A-18 Super Hornet Appears With Unprecedented Heavy Air-To-Air Missile Load

By Thomas Newdick, By Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Sep 11, 2024

US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornets brandishing full loads of nine air-to-air missiles have touched down at a base in Jordan ahead of expected Iranian attacks against Israel.
Air

F/A-18E Super Hornets Fully Loaded With Air-To-Air Missiles Arrive In Jordan

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 9, 2024