Aviation Specials - July 2018

Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is on a roll.

Having notched up its fi rst aerial kill, the US Navy

is also standing behind the strike fi ghter and

buying more jets with enhanced capabilities.

REPORT Brad Elward and Jamie Hunter

NAVY

BACKS THE

SUPER

HORNET

Y

OU’LL STRUGGLE TO  nd

many naval aviators who

aren’t huge fans of the Super

Hornet — a ectionately

known in squadron ready

rooms as the ‘Rhino’. Over

the past year the type has gained

signi cant praise, with its  rst aerial kill,

new orders from the Navy plus the go-

ahead for a slug of new capabilities.

LCDR Michael ‘Mob’ Tremel of VFA-87

‘Golden Warriors’ made history on June

18, 2017, when he downed a Syrian Su-

22M-4 ‘Fitter’ with an AIM-120 AMRAAM

(Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air

Missile). The shootdown marked the

Navy’s  rst air-to-air victory since the

opening day of Operation ‘Desert Storm’,

January 17, 1991, when LCDR Mark

Fox and LT Nick Mongillo of VFA-81

‘Sunliners’ each shot down an Iraqi

MiG-21. The latest shootdown helped

to draw attention to the activities of

Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) aboard

the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77),

which included signi cant support of

Operation ‘Inherent Resolve’ over Syria.

Indeed, CVW-8’s F/A-18F unit VFA-213

‘Blacklions’ also received attention for

Above: An

F/A-18E Super

Hornet of VX-9

‘Vampires’ tests

a new software

load in 2017.

Jamie Hunter

Inset right:

An F/A-18F

of VFA-213

‘Blacklions’ seen

in June 2017

loaded with 10

GBU-32 bombs

aboard the

aircraft carrier

USS George H.

W. Bush (CVN

77). US Navy/

MCS3C Matt

Matlage

US NAVY & MARINE CORPS AIR POWER YEARBOOK 2018

(^40) TYPE REPORT
40-43 Super Hornet block 3 C.indd 40 31/05/2018 18:16