F/A-18

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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)

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.

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

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

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.

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

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 20, 2024
Future offensive electronic warfare

How EA-18G Growler’s Next Generation Jammer Actually Works And The Future Of Offensive Electronic Warfare

By Howard Altman
Updated on Sep 20, 2024
The U.S. Marine Corps legacy F/A-18C/D Hornets are getting a major boost in stand-off strike capability in the form of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles

Marine Legacy F/A-18 Hornets Getting Major Firepower Boost With JASSM Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Sep 12, 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.

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

By Thomas Newdick, 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.

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

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 9, 2024
The U.S. Navy supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln is heading toward the Middle East with an air wing that includes EA-18G Growlers equipped with new AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer-Mid Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare pods.

EA-18G Growlers With New Jamming Pods Onboard Carrier Heading To Middle East

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Aug 6, 2024
A look at an AIM-174 air-launched version of the SM-6 missile with previously unseen markings under the wing of a Super Hornet aboard the USS Carl Vinson has emerged.

AIM-174 Missile Seen On Super Hornet About To Launch From A Carrier For First Time

By Tyler Rogoway, Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jul 23, 2024
240416-N-HE057-1516 RED SEA (April 16, 2024) An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to the "Fighting Swordsmen" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 32, participates in an airborne change of command ceremony above the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) in the Red Sea, April 16. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

F/A-18F Super Hornet Pilot Is First U.S. Female Aviator To Shoot Down An Enemy Aerial Threat

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jul 17, 2024
An EA-18G Growler scored the types first ever air-to-air kill during a recently concluded deployment.

EA-18G Growler Scored Its First Air-To-Air Kill

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jul 16, 2024
The air-launched version of the hugely versatile SM-6 missile, also known as the RIM-174, has appeared on U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters at the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, the world’s largest international maritime exercise. We now also know the missiles are designated AIM-74B, indicating an air-to-air missile, although, as we have discussed in the past, the weapon also has the potential to strike high-priority ground targets, such as air defense sites, and warships, acting as a quasi-ballistic missile.

AIM-174 Super Hornet-Launched Variant Of SM-6 Missile Breaks Cover In Hawaii (Updated)

By Thomas Newdick, Tyler Rogoway
Updated on Jul 3, 2024
Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornets will be used to launch prototypes of the US Air Force's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile.

Australian F/A-18F Super Hornets To Test Launch U.S. Air Force’s Hypersonic Cruise Missiles

By Joseph Trevithick
Posted on Jun 18, 2024
A USN EA-18G took out an Mi-24 with an AARGM.

EA-18G Growler Killed A Houthi Mi-24 Hind With An AGM-88E Anti-Radiation Missile

By Howard Altman, Tyler Rogoway
Posted on Jun 6, 2024
Photos have emerged showing a U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrying what appears to be an air-launched version of the RIM-174 SM-6 missile, a weapon that can counter aerial threats at long ranges, as well as ground and surface targets.

Super Hornet Armed With SM-6 Missile Spotted Over California

By Thomas Newdick
Posted on Jun 4, 2024