August 30, 1999

Reliable. Maintainable. Affordable. These are words that describe tactical aircraft like the Navy’s F/A-18E/F. But in the midst of a conflict, the word that pilots and their families are most concerned with is survivability. Will the Super Hornet bring them safely home? The answer is yes.

"The largest vulnerable area on the aircraft is the fuel tanks," explains Mike Meyers, Boeing vulnerability team leader. "The Super Hornet’s dry bay fire suppression system, wing foam explosion suppression, and fuel tank leakage reduction measures makes it more survivable than other Navy aircraft.

For the past 16 years, the F/A-18 Hornet has set the standard for reliability, maintainability and safety. The Super Hornet builds on that legacy. Survivability improvements in the Super Hornet over existing carrier-based aircraft make it harder to find, and if found, harder to hit, and if hit, harder to disable. Some of the F/A-18E/F’s enhancements include signature reduction, improved countermeasures and improved situational awareness.

Throughout engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the Super Hornet, integrated industry and U.S. Navy teams have completed a barrage of tests designed to verify the integrity of the aircraft. One static test vehicle, the third of the EMD aircraft, has been drop tested repeatedly to demonstrate the carrier landing capability, catapulted into a barricade, shot at and set on fire. The result? Proof that the Super Hornet has the edge to survive.

Live Fire Testing

Live fire testing is a critical part of assessing any new aircraft’s vulnerability and survivability. In May 1998, a static test F/A-18E (single-seat model) arrived at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWPNS) China Lake, CA. That same airframe had already survived drop testing and barricade-engagement tests.

"It’s just an incredibly robust design," says Hardy Tyson, Navy live fire and vulnerability reduction engineer for the F/A-18E/F in China Lake, CA. "The flight control system is phenomenal. We’ve shot it, we’ve done everything you can think of to try and kill the aircraft, but we haven’t yet."

The airframe, designated SV52, has completed five live fire tests with three remaining. Most recently, the inlet duct damage-control subsystem was tested. For this test a large armor-piercing incendiary projectile was fired through the starboard inlet duct into the aft fuel tank.

According to Meyers, the hole that resulted showed virtually no evidence of leakage during the five minutes that the engine was operated at military power with 400 knots of airflow generated by a high-velocity airflow system to simulate flight. The successful test demonstrates that the damage-control system incorporated into the Super Hornet provides an acceptable level of protection from fuel ingestion into the engine that could otherwise have resulted in catastrophic loss of the aircraft.

In all, SV52 will undergo eight different live fire tests sequenced from least damaging to most damaging. In previous tests the engineers have tested the General Electric F414 engines for ballistic tolerance and successfully demonstrated the engine bay fire extinguishing system. Tests have also been completed that showed the aircraft was survivable to damage to the horizontal stabilator actuator and surface.

Tests remaining are of the dry-bay fire suppression system, engine-related ballistic tests in which the engine will be shot, and an ullage (space in the gas tank above the fuel level where fumes collect) explosion in fuel tank 1.

"We are working hard to complete the necessary testing in time for the milestone three decision," says Tyson. The milestone three decision expected in the spring of 2000 will authorize the start of full-rate production.

Drop Testing

For slightly more than one and a half years, Boeing engineers subjected SV52, then designated DT50, to a series of tests to demonstrate that the Super Hornet will do what it needs to do to land safely on an aircraft carrier.

Drop testing began Oct. 20, 1995 and concluded May 1, 1997 after the airframe was dropped 184 times at higher-than-design landing gross weights. The extensive program dropped the airframe in various configurations – with and without stores.

During the final drop test, DT50 was dropped from a height of 13 ft., 7.5 in. and hit the deck at 28.3 feet per second with a weight of 56,000 pounds. Despite the pounding, no catastrophic failures were encountered.

Barricade Engagement Testing

During 1997, the test vehicle was designated ST56 for a series of tests designed to duplicate an emergency landing on a carrier deck where a nylon net barricade would be used to stop the aircraft. Barricade engagement tests were conducted at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, NJ.

Using a jet car powered by four J-57 engines, the unmanned F/A-18E was hurled down a mile-and-one-half long track at speeds comparable to those of an aircraft landing on an aircraft carrier. ST56 successfully engaged the barricade and was brought to a rest about 200 yards later during the first two tests.

During the third of six planned engagement, a cable attaching the barricade to an underground engine failed causing the barricade to give way. The airframe went through the barricade and flipped over. Based on the success of the first two test, ST56 was refurbished and readied for live fire testing.

For more information contact:
Denise Deon
U.S. Navy F/A-18 Public Affairs
301-757-4600