Boeing wins $1.5 billion contract to build 22 F/A-18E/F combat aircraft for Kuwait

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. –Combat aircraft designers at the Boeing Co. are building 28 new F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter-bombers for the government of Kuwait under terms of a $1.5 billion U.S. Navy order announced Wednesday.

Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., are asking the Boeing Defense, Space & Security segment in St. Louis to build 22 single-seat F/A-18E jets and six two-seat F/A-18F jets for Kuwait.

The twin-engine carrier-capable multirole fighter and light-attack F/A-18E/F combat jets are based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, which entered U.S. Navy squadrons in 1983, but are larger and more advanced derivatives. The F/A-18E/F has a larger wing and a longer fuselage to carry more fuel and more powerful engines.

The newest versions of the F/A-18 first flew in 1995, and entered Navy service in 1999. These aircraft replaced variants of the Navy's F-14 Tomcat jet fighters, A-6 Intruder medium-attack bombers, and S-3 Viking carrier-based maritime patrol jet.

The Super Hornet has an internal 20-millimeter M61 rotary cannon and can carry air-to-air missiles and air-to-surface weapons. The planes can carry additional fuel in as many as five external fuel tanks. These jets also can function as airborne tankers with external air refueling systems.

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The Super Hornet aircraft have improved active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, large displays, the joint helmet mounted cuing system, and several other avionics replacements.

The Super Hornet has a modern mission computer, and infrared search and track (IRST) electro-optical passive surveillance and targeting system.

The F/A-18E/F avionics suite features an up-front touchscreen control display; a large multipurpose color liquid-crystal display; and a fuel display. It has a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire system, and digital flight-control system that detects and corrects for battle damage.

The aircraft has the Raytheon AN/APG-79 AESA radar for search, track, and attack, as well as the Raytheon AN/ASQ-228 Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) electro-optical sensor and laser designator pod.

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The Super Hornet's communications equipment includes AN/ARC-210 VHF/UHF radio and a MIDS-JTRS low volume terminal for HAVE QUICK, SINCGARS, and Link 16 RF communications and tactical networking. Its defensive avionics have the AN/ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver, the AN/ALE-47 countermeasures dispenser, the AN/ALE-55 towed decoy, and the AN/ALQ-214 integrated defensive countermeasures (IDECM) system with internally mounted threat receivers and optional self-protection jammers.

The Super Hornet's Shared Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) is a high-resolution, digital tactical aerial reconnaissance system with advanced day, nighttime, and all-weather capability.

On this order Boeing will do the work in El Segundo, Torrance, Santa Ana, and Santa Clarita, Calif.; Hazelwood, Mo.; Bloomington, Minn.; Clearwater and Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Clifton, N.J.; Ontario, Canada; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Fort Worth, Texas; Mesa, Ariz.; Vandalia, Ohio; Endicott, East Aurora, and Greenlawn, N.Y., and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by January 2021.

For more information contact Boeing Defense, Space & Security online at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.

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