Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

[mkellytx]

Weren't they loaded with 4 Mk84 each? Not that expensive, but seriously limiting the Hornet's already limited capability to run away.

The Navy tended to like the 4 or 5 Mk83 load out, the difference being the 4-bomb load carried a jamming pod on the centerline while the 5-bomb load had the 5th on the centerline. It's one reason the Superbug was welcome as it brought an extra two and when JADM came along they could carry 6, plus two tanks, and a 7th or another tank on the centerline. Seven GBU-32's are a bad day for most sets of DMPI's, -31's only deepen the crater, throw the debris farther and leave behind smaller pieces, but are really nice when you want to leave behind a big whole.

As for running away, my gut tells me 4 slick 84's on pylons will have a lower drag index than 4 83's on BRU's. The interference drag is much higher. Anyone with a NATOP's is free to fact check me, as mine is on the HD with a fried MB.

 

[eagle]

The Navy tended to like the 4 or 5 Mk83 load out, the difference being the 4-bomb load carried a jamming pod on the centerline while the 5-bomb load had the 5th on the centerline.

According to https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/loadout/f-18.html no pods were carried on the centerline other than AN/AWW-9A datalink pods. Generally I don't recall seeing US Hornets with ECM pods except those used for aggressor training. ‍

As for running away, my gut tells me 4 slick 84's on pylons will have a lower drag index than 4 83's on BRU's. The interference drag is much higher. Anyone with a NATOP's is free to fact check me, as mine is on the HD with a fried MB.

Sure, drag of 4 slick Mk84s is lower than 4 Mk83s on BRUs. But the comparison in question is a Hornet with either 4 Mk84 retained or dropped vs a MiG-21. In that scenario, the fuel states are surely the most important factor. But if the MiG has some fuel to play, it's much, much faster than the loaded Hornet, and still much faster than the clean Hornet.

 

[mkellytx]

According to https://www.dstorm.eu/pages/loadout/f-18.html no pods were carried on the centerline other than AN/AWW-9A datalink pods. Generally I don't recall seeing US Hornets with ECM pods except those used for aggressor training. ‍

Agree that it's a load not normally carried. That said, there were threats in theater that the legacy Bugs with their 80's era couldn't jam. So, a bunch of those aggressor pods were reprogramed, rushed to theater and used where those system(s) were expected. ASPJ fixed a lot of that in the 90's on.

 

[NMaude]

ASPJ fixed a lot of that in the 90's on.

IIRC weren't there a couple of US Senators who tried to kill the AN/ALQ-165 in the 1990s?

 

[mkellytx]

IIRC weren't there a couple of US Senators who tried to kill the AN/ALQ-165 in the 1990s?

Indeed, there were, that gave USAF the excuse they needed to kill it on all Block 30 and beyond Vipers (Peace dividend, got to pay for the Raptor). Only the Navy Bugs and a very few Turkeys got the kit. They eventually got it to work.