Dassault Aviation and Boeing are competing for a contract in the multirole carrier-borne fighters (MRCBF) program, the Indian Navy's program to supply fighter jets for deployment on the carrier INS Vikrant.
After the Rafale-M which first demonstrated the ability to take off in a 'full' payload with a ski-jump, there is the latest news, that the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has also successfully carried out a test takeoff with a full payload (too) with ski-jumps.
Quoted from Janes.com (14/7/2022), Boeing has completed a demonstration of the ability of the F/A-18 Super Hornet to be launched from an Indian aircraft carrier carrying two AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which it claims exceeds the Indian Navy's requirements for the program. MRCBF.
Ski-jump test launches were carried out by the Super Hornet at the Indian Navy's Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) at INS Hansa Base in Goa, India, between late May and early June 2022. In these trials, the fighter aircraft was launched for take-off from 283 meters long runway.
Under the MRCBF program, the Indian Navy plans to acquire 57 units of fighter jets to be deployed on the carrier INS Vikrant, which is planned to be officially operated by the Indian Navy on August 15, 2022 – coinciding with the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence.
Long before trials in India, the F/A-18 Super Hornet actually had short take-off but arrested recovery configured (STOBAR) trials in the US. Of the 150 tests on the STOBAR technique, it is said that Boeing has succeeded quite well.
India currently operates two aircraft carriers, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, both of which adopt the ski jump model at the end of the runway, as the two Indian carriers are not equipped with the catapult model as is the case with the US carriers.
As of January 2022, the Rafale-M (Maritime) – the naval variant of the Dassault Rafale, is already at the Indian Navy's largest naval airbase – INS Hansa in Goa, India. The presence of the Rafale-M in Goa is none other than undergoing trials in various operating scenarios on the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier. And one of the highlights is how capable the Rafale-M, which is usually launched via catapult on the carrier Charles de Gaulle, is now capable of ski-jumping.
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| F/A-18 Super Hornet |
From photos circulating on Indian social media, the Rafale-M can at least take off with a payload of 5.5 tons. The Rafale-M's payload configuration includes two external fuel tanks (each containing 2,000 liters of avtur), two Mica EM medium-range air-to-air missiles, two Mica IR short-range air-to-air missiles and an AM-39 anti-ship missile. Exocet under the central fuselage.
Considering that 15 August 2022 will soon be around the corner, there is an option if the Indian Navy later leases four to five Rafale-M or Super Hornet units, so that INS Vikrant will operate its own fleet of fighter jets.
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