What you need to know: The US Navy recently displayed an F/A-18 Super Hornet loaded with advanced air-to-air munitions at the Gray Flag 2024 exercise, highlighting an improved strategy to counter Chinese aircraft from long ranges.

-Armed with new AIM-174B missiles, derived from the Navy’s SM-6 missile, the aircraft can engage targets more than 200 miles away, far exceeding the traditional ranges of the AIM-120 and AIM-9.

-This approach reflects the Navy’s focus on upgrading fourth-generation aircraft with next-generation munitions, as demonstrated by the addition of the AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship missile.

-This increases the F/A-18’s combat role in fifth-generation airspace, improving its effectiveness in a nearly similar Indo-Pacific conflict.

Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Now Equipped to Counter Chinese Jets at 200 Miles

A recent photo shoot revealed how the US Navy plans to shoot down Chinese planes even before they come within range of being dangerous.

The published images showed a “polishing” F/A-18 Super Hornet carrying some of the most advanced air-to-air munitions.

A sexy F/A-18 Super Hornet

As Exercise Gray Flag 2024 concludes in September, an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX), 9 “Vampires” flew alongside an F-35C Lightning II and an F-15E Strike Eagle wearing quite interesting equipment.

The aircraft was armed to the teeth with four CATM-174B, three CATM-120 and two CATM-9X missiles, as well as a targeting pod and an IRST (infrared search and track) mounted on an external fuel tank.

like him aviationist As reported, that was the second time that the F/A-18 Super Hornet carried that equipment as part of Gray Flag.

The AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) radiolocation missile and the AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile are basic elements of an air-to-air combat equipment. However, the presence of the AIM-174B shows the greatest use of a new air-to-air combat munition.

Based on the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), the AIM-174B offers much greater range than older munitions such as the AIM-120 and AIM-9.

For example, the AIM-120 has a range “more than 30 miles,” while the AIM-9 It has a maximum range of less than 20 miles.

In comparison, the AIM-174B can hit targets at more than 200 miles away. This is an incredible improvement over existing munitions and means that US fighter jets could shoot down chinese planes even before they are within range to be dangerous.

The SM-6 It is used by the Navy’s guided missile cruisers, destroyers, and frigates; has a range of 230 miles; and reaches speeds of Mach 3.5 (almost 2,700 miles per hour).

As part of the exercise, the Navy worked with the Air Force and Army to conduct more than 600 aircraft sorties and test dozens of air and ground systems.

“Grey Flag 2024 was an unparalleled opportunity to bring together diverse branches of the military, academic institutions, science and technology experts, and allied forces,” said Capt. David Halpern, commodore, Naval Test Wing, Pacific.

Pairing old aircraft with new ammunition

The US Navy has been increasingly experimenting with the capabilities of its F/A-18 Fleet in an attempt to make the fourth-generation fighter jet more effective in a fifth-generation airspace.

For example, over the summer, the Navy equipped an F/A-18 Super Hornet with the AGM-158C LRASMa new long-range stealth anti-ship missile designed to sink Chinese surface combatants in the event of a conflict in the Indo-Pacific.

Combining older platforms with next-generation munitions is a great way to get around the disadvantages that older aircraft could have in a fifth-generation airspace. To be sure, equipping an F/A-18 Super Hornet with a stealth munition does not make the fighter jet a fifth-generation aircraft capable of taking on Chinese stealth fighters.

But it does increase their capabilities and chances of survival in a close conflict between peers.

About the author

Stavros Atlamazoglou is an experienced defense journalist specializing in special operations and a veteran of the Hellenic Army (national service in the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters). He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. His work has appeared in Insider business information, Sandboxand SOFREP.

Image credit: Creative Commons.