DEFENCE
fiightglobal.com 10-16 April 2018 | Flight International | 19Centenary milestone
propels evolution of
Royal Air Force
News Focus PB
oeing has been awarded an
initial contract worth almost
$1.17 billion linked to Kuwait’s
acquisition of 28 F/A-18E/F
Super Hornets.
Outlined by the US Depart-
ment of Defense on 30 March, the
deal is related to “long-lead non-
recurring engineering to develop
a baseline configuration for the
production and delivery” of 22
single-seat E-model examples
and six two-seat Fs by 2022.
US State Department approval
for the proposed sale was first
granted in November 2016, at
which time the Gulf nation was
seeking the procurement of 28
multirole fighters, plus options
on another 12.
The US Defense Security Co-
operation Agency (DSCA) valued
the deal at a potential $10.1 bil-
lion, and noted that it would
“allow for greater inter operability
with US forces, providing bene-
fits for training and possible fu-
ture coalition operations in sup-
port of shared regional security
objectives”.
Kuwait currently operates Boe-
ing’s legacy Hornet, with Flight
Fleets Analyzer recording it as
having 34 F/A-18C/Ds in use,
aged between 24 and 26 years.
An ongoing modernisation activ-
ity will also see it introduce 28
Eurofighter Typhoons, under a
deal co-ordinated with the Italian
government and Leonardo.
Placed via Washington’s For-
eign Military Sales mechanism,
the new contract also will fund
the procurement of long-lead
items for the Super Hornet’s radar
warning receivers and air-
launched weapons, the DoD says.Having previously been threat-
ened with a break in production
activities, Boeing’s Super Hornet
assembly line in St Louis, Mis-
souri, has recently been buoyed
by a Congressional addition of
$739 million to provide the US
Navy with a further 10 units in
fiscal year 2018, boosting its total
commitment to 24 aircraft worth
$1.8 billion.
The company will begin pro-
ducing the Super Hornet in an
enhanced Block III configuration
from around the end of this
decade.REMOTE CONTROL
Meanwhile, the USN has for the
first time demonstrated the abili-
ty to remotely take control of
an F/A-18E and land it on the
deck of the aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln.Using the aircraft terminal
approach remote inceptor
(ATARI) system, landing signal
officers demonstrated remote pi-
loting of the Super Hornet while
conducting carrier qualifications
and flight testing over a two-day
period in March. They also
performed touch-and-go ma-
noeuvres.
The ATARI technology was de-
veloped at NAS Patuxent River,
Maryland, by the US Naval Air
Systems Command. It was ini-
tially tested on a Learjet in 2016,
performing shore-based low ap-
proaches. An undisclosed num-
ber of F/A-18s were fitted with
the system last year, before it was
deemed ready for trials at sea.
“There was some nervousness
because the sea state was so bad,”
says Lt John Marino, a carrier
suitability pilot from the service’sAir Test and Evaluation Squad-
ron 23. “Back on the airfield, test-
ing was benign,” he adds.
The system provides a poten-
tial method for recovering an un-
manned air vehicle by using the
landing signal officer’s ability to
observe and fix glideslope and
line-up errors, the USN says. It is
not intended to be a primary
method for recovering manned
aircraft.
During the recent testing,
ATARI system operators con-
trolled the Super Hornet using a
joystick, while a safety pilot sat in
the cockpit as a back-up. The
technology is capable of taking
over an aircraft from up to five
miles away.
System engineers plan to ana-
lyse the data collected from the
activity and make adjustments
prior to further at-sea testing. nPROCUREMENT GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELESKuwait advances Super Hornet order
Initial part of potentially $10.1 billion acquisition focuses on long-lead engineering to develop baseline configurationGulf nation’s air force modernisation activity will include introducing 22 single-seat F/A-18Es by 2022US NavyDownload the 2018
World Air Forces Report
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