호주 공군의 F/A-18F Super Hornet 운용 소식...

 

호주 일간 The Australian 紙가 지난 주말 특집으로 보도한 [DEFENCE: SPECIAL REPORT] 내용 중, F/A-18F Super Hornet

관련 기사를 소개 합니다.

 

그동안 여러 번에 걸쳐 호주 공군 (RAAF) 의 Super Hornet 도입 및 관련 소식을 전한 바 있습니다. 아래 소개하는 기사는 호주

공군이 Super Hornet 을 도입, 운용함으로써 얻게 되는 실질적인 전력 증강 부분과 향후 운용 방향을 설명해주는 기사로 판단

됩니다.

 

당초 호주 공군은 노후화로 인해 퇴역하는 F-111 과 F/A-18A Hornet 전투기들을 대체할 목적 및 향후 도입할 예정인 F-35 JSF

의 도입, 전력화 완료시점까지 "Bridging Fighter" 로써 F/A-18F Super Hornet 24대를 도입하기로 결정한 바 있습니다. 그러나

F-35 JSF 의 개발 일정의 차질로 인해, F/A-18F Super Hornet 의 운용을 2023년 까지는 운용해야 할 것으로 전망하고 있다는

내용입니다.

 

또한 모두 24대를 도입하기로 한 Super Hornet 중, 초기 도입 분 12대를 제외한 나머지 12대에 대해서 언제든 호주 공군이 결정

하면 전자전기 Growler 로의 전환이 가능하다고 합니다. 이들 후기 분 12대는 일단 Super Hornet 사양으로 도입된 후, Growler

로의 전환 기간은 2개월이면 충분하다고 합니다.

 

아래 태그를 이용하면 호주 공군이 도입하는 Super Hornet 관련 소식들을 참고하실 수 있습니다.

 

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'Bridging fighter' packs quite a punch

Gregor Ferguson, The Australian, October 23, 2010 12:00AM

SPECIAL REPORT

 

WHEN the venerable F-111 retires from RAAF service on December 3, after nearly 40 years in harness, the RAAF will declare initial operational capability (IOC) for its replacement, Boeing's two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet.

 

There will be a seamless transition from one aircraft to the next, but the combat capability provided by the 24 new Super Hornets − or "Rhinos" as their crews call them − is a generation ahead of the older aircraft, according to Group Captain Steve "Zed" Roberton, who commands the RAAF's 82 Wing at Amberley.

 

He told reporters earlier this year the Rhino was a critical part of the RAAF's longer-term Air Combat Transition plan. It's not a permanent replacement for the F-111, but is designed to prepare the service for the challenges of operating the stealthy, fifth-generation F-35A Joint Strike Fighter. This will eventually be the RAAF's sole combat aircraft.

 

The F-35A should be operational in Australia around 2018, which is four years later than originally envisaged. To ensure the RAAF maintains air superiority within its region pending its arrival, the Super Hornet was ordered as a so-called "bridging fighter" at an estimated whole-of-life cost of about $6 billion. It was expected to serve from 2010 to 2020, but it's now expected to serve until 2023.

 

The Super Hornet already has a fifth-generation radar, Roberton pointed out − Raytheon's newly introduced APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Antenna (AESA) sensor, which has exceeded the RAAF's expectations since the first aircraft arrived earlier this year. The Rhino also has a semi-stealthy airframe, the ability to fuse data from its battery of sensors and create a detailed tactical picture of what's going on around it and on the ground, and datalinks to share this and other data with friendly aircraft.

 

Despite lacking all-round stealth and the ability to carry weapons concealed inside the fuselage, it can perform all of the roles the F-35A is designed for so it will help the RAAF develop some of the necessary tactics and procedures in advance, Roberton says. The Super Hornet will also teach the RAAF how to deal with the low-observability stealth coatings applied to the outside of the aircraft to reduce its radar signature.

 

The problem here isn't just re-touching the paint, it's also about managing a secure maintenance hangar, so the stealth secrets don't leak out. This will be an even bigger challenge for the F-35A, as will protecting the secrets of its integrated avionics and electronic self-protection systems and creating a new technology culture among the engineers and ground crews.

 

The Super Hornet represents a fusion of F-111 and "classic" Hornet capabilities. It's a formidable fighter in its own right, but its radar and ATFLIR laser/infrared targeting system, along with the Paveway laser-guided bomb and JDAM GPS-guided munition, make it a devastatingly accurate strike aircraft as well. It can also launch Harpoon anti-ship missiles and the US Navy's JSOW stand-off missile.

 

Last month the RAAF's No 1 squadron conducted a three-week "bomb camp" at Woomera to prove the Super Hornet's strike capabilities. The squadron launched, dropped or fired examples of all of its primary weapons as an essential precursor to declaring IoC.

 

The RAAF has 11 Super Hornets at Amberley with three more due to arrive by December. The Rhino will go operational with a 14-strong fleet and the remaining 10 aircraft will arrive in 2011.

 

The first dozen aircraft are standard US Navy F-model Super Hornets; the second dozen have had wiring installed so they can be converted quickly into the EA-18G, or Growler, which carries a battery of powerful electronic warfare jammers to blind the radars of enemy aircraft and surface-air gun and missile batteries. They'll be delivered as Rhinos, but if Defence decides to exercise the Growler option it would take about two months work to convert them.

 

Even without the Growler option, the RAAF still will be exploring for the first time air combat's cyberspace dimensions.

 

 

  RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornet (A44-208) ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD

 

  ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD

 

  RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornet (A44-212) ⓒ Australian Gov. DoD