Chinese planes don’t stand a chance against the polished F/A-18 Super Hornet

What you need to know: The U.S. Navy recently demonstrated an F/A-18 Super Hornet equipped with advanced air-to-air munitions at Exercise Gray Flag 2024, highlighting an improved strategy for countering Chinese aircraft at long ranges.

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

“This approach reflects the Navy’s commitment to modernizing fourth-generation aircraft with the latest munitions, as evidenced by the addition of the AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship missile.”

– This enhances the F/A-18’s combat role in fifth-generation airspace, increasing its effectiveness in a near-similar Indo-Pacific conflict.

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

A recent photo shoot showed how the US Navy plans to shoot down Chinese aircraft before they even approach dangerous areas.

Publicly released photos showed ‘polished’ F/A-18 Super Hornet carrying some of the most modern air-to-air ammunition.

Sexy Super Hornet F/A-18

Upon completion of Exercise Gray Flag 2024 in September F/A-18 Super Hornet From the Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX), nine Vampires flew alongside the F-35C Lightning II and F-15E Strike Eagle, which had a rather interesting configuration.

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

How Avialist This was reportedly the second time the F/A-18 Super Hornet carried such weapons as part of Gray Flag.

120 AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) with radio guidance and the AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missile are the main elements of the air-to-air combat equipment. However, the presence of the AIM-174B indicates an increased use of the 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 AIM-120 And AIM-9.

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

By comparison, the AIM-174B can hit targets in more than 200 miles from here. This is an incredible upgrade to existing munitions and means American fighters will be able to shoot them down. Chinese plane before they even get within range to be dangerous.

SM-6 used by Navy guided missile cruisers, destroyers and frigates; has a range of 230 miles; and reaches speeds of Mach 3.5 (almost 2,700 mph).

As part of the exercise, the Navy, together with the Air Force and Army, flew more than 600 sorties and tested dozens of air and ground systems.

“Grey Flag 2024 was an unprecedented 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.

Combination of old aircraft with new ammunition

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

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

Combining older platforms with the latest munitions is a great way to circumvent the disadvantages that older aircraft may have in fifth-generation airspace. Of course, equipping the F/A-18 Super Hornet with stealth munitions does not make the fighter a fifth-generation aircraft capable of countering Chinese stealth fighters.

But it does increase his capabilities and chances of survival in an almost equal conflict.

About the author

Stavros Atlamazoglu an experienced military journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army Veteran (National Service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters). He received a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His works have been presented in Business Insider, SandboxxAnd SOFREP.

Image credit: Creative Commons.