Commander Naval Air Forces wants more F/A-18s

[spazsinbad]

[spazsinbad]

US Navy set to launch Super Hornet Block 3 upgrade with Service-Life Modification contract
27 Mar 2018 Gareth Jennings

"The US Navy (USN) is set to launch its Block 3 F/A-18E/F enhancement with a sole-source contract to Boeing to commence the Super Hornet Service-Life Modification (SLM) programme in fiscal year 2019 (FY 2019). A solicitation posted by the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 27 March states its intention to award Boeing a contract to cover SLM enhancements to up 15 aircraft in FY 2019 and to 30 aircraft in FY 2020....

...Taking elements of the previously touted International Roadmap and Advanced Super Hornet, the Block 3 will include upgrades to the Raytheon AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar; an Elbit Systems large area display (LAD) 'glass' cockpit and next-generation avionics; an infrared search and track (IRST); 'shoulder-mounted' conformal fuel tanks (CFTs); Integrated Defensive Electronic Counter Measures (IDECM); and new General Electric F-414-400 enhanced engines. A new processor that is a hundred times more powerful that today's makes this possible."

Source: http://www.janes.com/article/78885/us-n ... n-contract

[sprstdlyscottsmn]

That's the first I've heard about the uprated engines being included. Good luck getting those out by 2020.

[chucky2]

As dismaying as it is spending money on SH that could have went to F-35 procurement, it's interesting to hear about the processor. F-15 has that ADCP II effort rolling out, and now SH has an upgraded processor also with same type speed claims. As a taxpayer dare I hope that it's the same hardware at least being leveraged?

[usnvo]

That's the first I've heard about the uprated engines being included. Good luck getting those out by 2020.

The two parts of the article are unrelated and are only linked together by the good folks at Jane's adding two plus two and getting twenty five.

The first part is the air frame life extension, that is what the contract has been let for. That's it, tear down, fix, and replace components to add 3000hrs to the service life. Goes in a Block II comes out a Block II.

The second part is only related to the first part by the Jane's author and discusses what Boeing (and GE of course) would like to sell the Navy, not what the Navy has been willing to fund. So, no money yet for anything but the CFT and the IR sensor/EFT which is a Block II upgrade. The rest of the laundry list is just corporate happy talk.

[spazsinbad]

That's the first I've heard about the uprated engines being included. Good luck getting those out by 2020.

The two parts of the article are unrelated and are only linked together by the good folks at Jane's adding two plus two and getting twenty five.

The first part is the air frame life extension, that is what the contract has been let for. That's it, tear down, fix, and replace components to add 3000hrs to the service life. Goes in a Block II comes out a Block II.

The second part is only related to the first part by the Jane's author and discusses what Boeing (and GE of course) would like to sell the Navy, not what the Navy has been willing to fund. So, no money yet for anything but the CFT and the IR sensor/EFT which is a Block II upgrade. The rest of the laundry list is just corporate happy talk.

Yep - agree - Janes seems to be a less reputable aviation reporting site as time goes by - starting from a low point also.

[sprstdlyscottsmn]

Okay, that's what I thought was approved. Thanks for the clarification.

[loke]

SHs getting new jammers:

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... craft.html

How many receive and transmit antennas does this system employ on the SH?

I tried to figure out if these antennas are active phased arrays (AESA) or not, it is not clear to me?

[optimist]

It already has jammers, regardless of what some fanboys say. It's an ALQ-214 v3 being upgraded in the existing integrated IDECM system, which connects to other systems on and off the plane. The ALQ-214 3/4/5 isn't a stand alone unit.
I would guess that it will aesa in the F/A-18C/D too, because the C/D's being upgraded to aesa. The current IDECM system on the E/F also intergrates to the AESA of the apg-79, as one component.
https://www.harris.com/sites/default/fi ... -sheet.pdf
" The legacy (V)3 version is currently deployed on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18E/F aircraft to provide self-protection.
The current (V)4/5 version, which replaces the (V)3 version, provides enhanced
capability for U.S. Navy F/A-18C/D/E/F aircraft in a smaller and lighter
form factor. Additionally, the (V)4/5 Modular Open System Architecture
(MOSA) compliant design allows for technology insertion, enabling air
superiority against the ever-evolving threats. The AN/ALQ-214(V)4/5 is
the most advanced self-protection jammer system deployed in the world
today."

[loke]

Where does it say it is using AESAs? (apart from the radar of course) I still could not find it.

[optimist]

Where does it say it is using AESAs? (apart from the radar of course) I still could not find it.

?? The other transmitter receivers, towed array. I don't know if they are aesa, I don't think so. The system also uses the apg-79 aesa as a receiver transmitter.
Even thought the PR says "The AN/ALQ-214(V)4/5 is the most advanced self-protection jammer system deployed in the world today." I don't have knowledge to dispute this. It may not be to the same standard of the f-35, but the system isn't that dissimilar.

[SpudmanWP]

It may not be to the same standard of the f-35, but the system isn't that dissimilar.

The only transmitting component of the the F-35's ESM, apart from the APG-81, are the towed jammers. The internal ESM components are receive only (currently).

[optimist]

As I said, it was a big statement for the Harris ALQ-214 system to lead the world. I wouldn't put the BAE ALR-67 part of it in the same league as the ALR-94 or ASQ-239, but it isn't that it's such a dissimilar system. (I've always thought it was a waste of antennas to have only receive mode) A bit off topic, I was party to a sub guy that said the ale-55 is so much more than jamming decoy and "are a towed array with all that that entails" or something similar to "that entails", it could have been "in it's own right". It stuck at the time because of the association to sonar. Though not said, but by extension and speculation. They would also use the ale-55 to receive, which adds another level. I would think that this could apply to the ale-70 even more.

[spazsinbad]

Now for something completely different as much as the same old same old - here is how it is going with the Hornet PEs.

Naval Aviators Underway Keep a Wary Eye for Physiological Episodes
28 Mar 2018 Megan Eckstein

"ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, IN THE PERSIAN GULF – Nearly one year after naval flight student training ground to a halt due to soaring rates of physiological episodes among jet aircrew, deployed aviators are vigilant in self-monitoring for PE symptoms and are armed with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to treat any potential cases while at sea....

...Though the service “never found a smoking gun” in its search for a root cause, the Navy has taken several steps such as replacing parts on the aircraft and implementing new maintenance procedures. PEs are down overall, naval aviation leadership previously told USNI News, but in the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, aircrew and the medical staff on the carrier have a heightened awareness of the danger they still face.

“In the air wing, all the pilots are super sensitive – through their community they know they’ve had issues with their airframes and they know that people that have had issues were not necessarily treated in a timely manner. So they’re super sensitive to it, and in fact I would say because of that we probably get a lot of false negatives. But that’s okay, it’s better for them,” Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group senior medical officer Cmdr. George Newton told USNI News during a visit to the CSG at the end of its time in U.S. 5th Fleet. The strike group has since chopped into U.S. 7th Fleet for its transit home to the West Coast.

Newton said Carrier Air Wing 17 aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) has not had any confirmed PEs that required treatment in the hyperbaric chamber yet; “however, we’ve had some folks with some pretty significant symptoms that took some repeat evaluations. But the pilots are super sensitive – we tell them, having the slightest symptom, let us evaluate you, let us track it that way if we determine it’s something that can be treated then we’ll treat.”

As of March 23, the air wing had 11 potential PE events that were reported, with some being potential decompression sickness events and some being potential hypoxia events. All aircrew were placed on oxygen during the medical evaluation and fully recovered without the use of the hyperbaric oxygen chamber or other significant medical intervention, Newton told USNI News. For comparison, USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) and Carrier Air Wing 8 experienced 13 physiological episodes during its seven-month deployment last year, USNI News previously reported.

The last five carrier strike group deployments, including TR’s, have included the hyperbaric chamber and an accompanying team of Navy divers to operate the chamber if needed. Bush and USS Nimitz (CVN-68) were outfitted with the capability in their deployments last year, and USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) deployed with the chamber and dive team both last year and in its ongoing surge deployment.

Navy Diver 1st Class Wayne Shearer, the chamber supervisor and head of the three-man team from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit 1, said his team is “a tool that’s in the back pocket of every aviator onboard, and whether they decide to use it or not is up to them. All we can tell them is they’re not going to get any better taking aspirin or flying again. This is the only way to get better,” particularly in the case of decompression sickness, since the pain the aviators would experience is due to an air bubble in their bloodstream that won’t easily resolve itself.

In a nod to the seriousness with which the team approaches all potential PE diagnoses, Shearer said he assumes every reported symptom will require hyperbaric chamber treatment, and his team is ready to act every single time, until he, Newton or a flight surgeon rule out the chamber as a needed course of treatment.

Though medical research into the aviators’ PE problems is ongoing, Shearer said that among divers a key challenge is that “every person’s body is different. [One diver] may have held his breath for one second longer than [his dive partner] did on ascent. So depending on what happens in the aircraft, the pilots are not going to be the same 100-percent of the time, their bodies aren’t going to be the same. The tell-tale sign, especially in those dual-seat aircraft, is, hey, is this how your partner normally acts, or does he seem off to you? That’s a huge PE red flag for the divers for us to press.”..."

[LOTS MORE AT THE URL - BEST READ IT ALL THERE]

Source: https://news.usni.org/2018/03/28/deploy ... e-symptoms

[SpudmanWP]

As I said, it was a big statement for the Harris ALQ-214 system to lead the world. I wouldn't put the BAE ALR-67 part of it in the same league as the ALR-94 or ASQ-239, but it isn't that it's such a dissimilar system.

The Harris claim is valid since it's a "self-protection jammer" and the ASQ-239, & ALR-94 are not.