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F/A-18E/F
The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet entered fleet service in 1999, as the replacement for the F-14 Tomcat. The Super Hornet is the second major model upgrade since the inception of the F/A-18 aircraft program highly capable across the full mission spectrum: air superiority, fighter escort, reconnaissance, aerial refueling, close air support, air defense suppression and day/night precision strike.
The single-seat F/A-18E and the two-seat F/A-18F are high performance, twin-engine, mid-wing, and multi-mission tactical aircraft designed to meet current Navy fighter escort and interdiction mission requirements, to maintain F/A-18 fleet air defense and close air support roles, as well as an increasing range of missions, including Forward Air Controller (Airborne) and Aerial Tanking, as they have proven capability to replace the S-3 as an aerial tanker.
F/A-18E/F enhancements include increased range and improved carrier suitability required for the F/A-18 to continue its key strike fighter role against the advanced threats of the 21st century.
The US Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron has proudly flown the F/A-18 Hornet since 1986, but began transition to the F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2020.
Blue Angels prefer Super Hornet over Legacy Hornet
Adam Daymude, former US Navy EA-18G Growler pilot, explains on Quora;
‘Here is my pedigree: Growler pilot, Top Gun (for Growlers), and at one point in time knew half of the Blues pilots quite well, either through having flown with them or having been stationed with them. Basically, those were my buddies and I’m pretty familiar with the Blue Angels.
‘The attentive around you, or those intimately familiar with the Hornet, will immediately recognize the inlets: squarish is an instant identifier as a Super Hornet vs a legacy Hornet. The Blue Angels did stop flying the Hornet. They now fly the Super Hornet, and probably will for the next 20 years or so. You know why?
‘Most of my Super Hornet buddies started off in the C model, aka legacy Hornet. I’ll tell you what they told me: SO much better in the Super. First off, range anxiety pretty much went away, and for the Blues, it meant they could do more in a show because internal fuel was that much better in the Super. Slow speed, already the strength of the Hornet, was improved even more in the Super due mainly to the redesign on the leading edge extensions. Check it out sometime and you can see just how gargantuan they made them in the Super vs legacy.
‘When the Blues do the slow speed demo going down the runway, you can’t believe your eyes that something that big can go that slow. Then they bunt the nose down and takeoff like a bat out of hell. God, I loved flying that plane (in case you couldn’t tell)!
Near derelict aircraft
‘They’re cheaper than a stealth plane to fly per flight hour. I’ll grant you that not all of the stealth features on the F-35 will be maintained at the same level as an operational aircraft but they’re still expensive to maintain. The latest, greatest of Block 3 Supers are pretty freaking awesome and pretty pricey to maintain. But the Blues are flying damn near derelict aircraft.
‘Wait?! What?!! Yeah, it’s true. The planes the Blue Angels fly are basically write offs; they usually can’t be returned to operational status for some reason or another or it would be too expensive to make sense. Those planes you see striped up with the hallmark blue and gold have spent a long time in Naval service. I’ve always fantasized that the planes, as sentient beings, compete for that spot in the Blues like the pilots do.’
Daymude concludes;
‘The fleet gets the best airplanes because, duh! Those are war-fighting aircraft. We slick the Blue Angels (nothing hanging off their wings) and paint them real pretty but they are next to useless for an operational squadron, really only a source of spare parts.
‘And there are going to be a lot of cheap(er) Super Hornets to keep the Blues going for quite a while. Again, probably 20 years or more you’re gonna keep seeing the most beautiful aircraft ever designed gracing the skies with the most skilled pilots in the world. No bias on my end since these were my friends and the plane I flew.’
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
