manufacture them more cheaply is to re-engineer the design to take advantage of new structures, materials, and computer/software advances. This proposed TLAM variant is the so-called 'Tactical Tomahawk,' which would probably cost around $575,000 a copy. Tactical Tomahawk would be equipped with a two-way satellite data link, which would allow it to be re-targeted in flight. The new TLAM will also be equipped with a camera system, allowing the missiles to conduct their own damage assessments. Expect to see this new variant in the a few years.
Once upon a time, the TLAM filled naval aviators with anxieties. They feared that the Tomahawk had 'This machine wants your job!' written on the side. But their fears have faded, and today most of them view the TLAM the way a hunter sees his favorite hunting dog-good and faithful beasts that are willing to go places where human beings should not go, and do things that human beings really should not do. Still, naval aviators like to joke that in the next war no more Navy Crosses will be handed out; the cruise missiles will have hit the really difficult targets! Every bomb carries a political message. Today, TLAM is probably America's most effective bomb-carrying political messenger. The 'Gunboat Diplomacy' of the 19th century has become 'Tomahawk Diplomacy' in the 20th and 21st.
The Future: Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The shortcomings of the existing F/A-18 Hornet are well understood, and have long caused Naval aviators to wish for their resolution. Meanwhile, the 1993 retirement of the A-6E/KA-6D fleet and the failure to produce a replacement for it have meant that NAVAIR has been hard pressed to get
As planned, the F/A-18E (single seat) and — F (two-seat trainer) are more than just — C/D models with minor improvements. They are in fact brand-new airframes, with less than 30 % commonality with the older Hornets. The airframe itself has been enlarged to accommodate the internal fuel load that was lacking in the earlier F/A-18's. With a fuel fraction of around.3 (as opposed to the.23 of the earlier Hornets), much of the range/endurance problems of the earlier birds should be resolved. The twin engines are new General Electric F414 -GE-400's, which will each now deliver 22,000 lb/9,979 kg of thrust in afterburner. There is also a new wing, with enough room for an extra weapons pylon inboard of the wing fold line on each side, which should help resolve some of the complaints about the Hornet's weapons load. To ensure that the Super Hornet can land safely with a heavier fuel/weapons load than earlier F/A-18's, the airframe structure and landing gear have also been strengthened. Since most of the-E/F's weapons load is planned to be expensive PGMs, which must be brought back if not expended, this is essential.
The Super Hornet will also be the first USN aircraft to make use of radar and infrared signature-reduction technologies. Most of the work in this area can be seen in the modified engine inlets, which have been squared off to reduce their signature and coated with radar-absorbing material. This should greatly increase the survivability and penetration capabilities of the new bird.
Finally, the Super Hornet will be the first naval aircraft to carry a new generation of electronic- countermeasures gear including the ALE-50, a towed decoy system that is proving highly effective in tests against the newest threats in the arsenals of our potential enemies.
To back up the new airframe and engines, the avionics of the new Hornet will be among the best in the world. The radar will be the same APG- 73 fitted to the late-production models of the F/A-18C/D. An even newer radar, based on the same fixed-phased-array technology as the APG-77 on the USAF's F-22A Raptor, is under development as well. To replace the sometimes troublesome Nighthawk pod, Hughes has recently been selected to develop a third-generation FLIR/targeting system for the Super Hornet, which will give it the best targeting resolution of any strike aircraft in the world.
The cockpit, designed again by the incomparable Eugene Adam and his team, will have a mix of 'glass' MFDs (in full color!), and an improved user interface for the pilot. One part of this will be a helmet-mounted sighting system for use with the new AIM-9X version of the Sidewinder AAM. Other weapons will include the current array of iron ordnance and PGMs, as well as the new GBU-29/30/31/32 JDAMS, AGM-154 JSOW, and AGM-84E SLAM-ER cruise missile.
There will also be provisions for the Super Hornet to carry larger external drop tanks as well as the same 'buddy' refueling store used by the S-3/ES-3 to tank other aircraft.
All this capability comes at a cost, though. At a maximum gross weight of some 66,000 lb/29,937 kg, the Super Hornet will weigh more than any other aircraft on a flight deck, including the F-14 Tomcat.
When McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing Military Aircraft) was given the contract to develop the Super Hornet, they set out to have a high level of commonality with the existing F/A-18 fleet. Early on in the design process, though, it became apparent that only a small percentage of the parts and systems could be carried over to the new bird. Despite this lack of true commonality, the Super Hornet was the only new tactical aircraft in the Navy pipeline, and so the Navy went forward with its development.
Today, the aircraft is well into its test program, with low-rate production approved by Congress.[61] At around $58 million a copy (when full production is reached), the Super Hornet will hardly be a bargain (-C/-D-model Hornets cost about half that). On the other hand, when stacked next to the estimated $158-million-dollar-per-unit cost of the USAF's new F-22A Raptor stealth fighter, the Super Hornet looks like quite a deal! Considering the current budget problems within the Department of Defense, there is a real possibility that one program or the other might be canceled. Since the Super Hornet is already in production (the F- 22A has just begun flight tests), it may have an edge in the funding battles ahead.
If the Super Hornet survives the budget wars, current plans have the Navy buying at least five hundred of them in the next decade. This means they will begin to replace early model F-14As when the first fleet squadron stands up and goes to sea in 2001. Meanwhile, there is advanced work on several Super Hornet derivatives, including a two-seat all-weather strike version (that would restore the lost capabilities of the A-6 Intruder) and an electronic combat version of the F/A-18F (the so-called 'Electric Hornet') that would replace the EA-6B Prowler.
The Future: Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)
Airmen and other warfighters often get testy when they hear somebody trying to sell them a 'joint' project. All too often, 'joint' has meant, 'Let's pretend to cooperate, so the damned bean-counters and politicians won't slash our pet projects again.' One of the longest-running of these joint dreams has looked to find a common airframe that
