![]() ![]() The first five aircraft were supplied in March 2010, with the rest delivered by October 2011. The system took first flight aboard the Super Hornet in February 2014.Īustralia requested the FMS of 24 F/A-18F Block 2 aircraft in February 2007. The US Navy awarded a $135m contract for engineering and manufacturing development of the IRST sensor system in November 2011. Boeing was awarded a $82m contract by the US Navy for the supply of 12 IRST systems in December 2016. The IRST system was approved for low-rate initial production by the US Navy in January 2015. Boeing has selected Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control to supply the system. The aircraft is fitted with new mission computers, a fibre-optic network and a Raytheon AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod.īoeing joint helmet-mounted cueing systems and Raytheon AIM-9X next generation Sidewinder air-to-air missile capabilities were also included in the design.īoeing announced in April 2007 that it had been asked by the US Navy to provide an Infrared Search and Track (IRST) system for the F/A-18E/F. The first aircraft was delivered in September 2003. Improvements for Block 2 aircraft included a redesigned forward fuselage with fewer parts, as well as changes to the aircraft’s nose to accommodate the Raytheon APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar. The aircraft was also deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. Super Hornet made its combat entry in November the same year, striking air defence sites in Southern Iraq with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). The F/A-18E/F began its maiden operational deployment on board USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in July 2002. More than 500 aircraft were delivered by April 2011. Total requirement was for at least 545 aircraft. On the Internet, you can find some videos showing civilian planes hit by lightning strikes and continue flying as nothing has happened.A second multi-year contract was signed in January 2004 for 42 aircraft to be purchased between 20. or Europe.įor instance, they must be able to withstand a lightning strike without suffering significant airframe damage, without any possibility of accidental fuel ignition in the tanks and preserving the avionics and systems failures induced by the electromagnetic field created by the electrical charges of the lightning. Wide bodies are huge flying Faraday Cages: if hit by a lightning they let the current pass through the fuselage until ground, preserving the systems’ integrity.Īll commercial and mil planes have to meet several safety lightining-related requirements to get the airwothiness certifications required in the U.S. Since lightning strikes are quite rare (1 event each year on average) these are seldom a real risk to military or civil aviation.įurthermore, planes are shielded by a so-called Faraday Cage externally made by a conducting material, that blocks out external static electrical fields: charges redistribute on the conduting material and don’t affect the cage’s interior. In one case, the lightning ignited the vapors in the empty centerline tank, which exploded causing extended damage to the aircraft’s hydraulic system. In the 1980s, some F-16 Fighting Falcon jets were lost after being hit by a lightining strike. Here’s what this Author wrote in one of those stories: The B-52 landed safely, but once on the ground the crew discovered that the sound they heard was actually a lightning strike that tore a person-sized gash completely through the tail of the aircraft! The old tail from aircraft 60-051, a B-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 307th Bomb Wing, bears a gaping hole from lightning damage incurred at the end of a routine training mission, February 1, 2018. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |