McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C (Upgrade 25) - The Knife of the Swiss Air Force: Part 2

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McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C (Upgrade 25) - The Knife of the Swiss Air Force: Part 2

grafik
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Hi and welcome to my 51th, which is about the Swiss F/A-18C with the “Upgrade 25” package, hope you like it. :popcorn:

First of all:

  • This is a suggestion for an aircraft we could see in game at some point in the Future , that doesn´t mean next Patch or somewhere in the near Future
  • Feel free to share more Information and / or correct me if something is wrong
  • Discuss respectfully, any aggressive kind or verbal abuse will be reported, the Forum rules also apply here

grafik

Background History

The F/A-18 has its roots in a 1966 study by Northrop that was intended to be a successor to the F-5. Originally designed as a light, agile and fast air superiority fighter, the project was continued through the US Air Force’s initiative in the Lightweight Fighter Program. Although the YF-17 lost in competition with the YF-16, the US Navy, seeing greater air-to-ground potential and preferring a twin-engine aircraft for flight safety reasons, decided to further develop the YF-17.
Northrop partnered with McDonnell Douglas to develop the F/A-18, with the Navy requesting specific adjustments such as a more resilient airframe and strengthened landing gear for carrier landings. Despite criticism and problems, including rising costs and weight gain, the first production models were delivered in May 1980. The designation was changed to F/A-18 to emphasize its versatility as a fighter/attack aircraft. The United States Marine Corps’ VMFA-314 “Black Knights” was the first unit to receive the F/A-18A and declared it as fully operational on 7th January 1983.
The Swiss Air Force (SAF) put its F/A-18C/D into service in 1997-1998. These are kept running through ongoing “Upgrade” packages and are expected to remain in service until the 2030s.

The F/A-18C (Upgrade 25) Overall

The F/A-18C includes extensive upgrades compared to the F/A-18A, primarily in the area of internal systems; now equipped with the powerful AN/APG-73 radar and modernized avionics, with newer EloKa systems and four AN/ALE-47 decoy launchers, compared to the F/A-18A’s previous two AN/ALE-39.
The F/A-18C Hornet, in service with the Swiss Air Force since 1997, has so far seen a few small MLUs (Mid-Life Upgrades). As part of Upgrade 21, the AIM-9X was partially implemented as well as a flight trip to the USA, where SAF pilots were able to test the new missile. In phase 2 of Upgrade 21, JHMCS was integrated and the requirements and new rails for the use of AIM-9X were purchased.
The Upgrade 25 was the largest to date for the Swiss F/A-18Cs. The airframes were overhauled to allow additional flight hours, the RWR was modernized to the ALR-67v3, the cockpit received new displays with titanium frames, GPS, digital recorder, armament computer memory and other avionics were modernized.

Armament of the F/A-18C

After the AIM-9X and JHMCS were added as part of the U21, the AIM-120C-7 and the ASQ-228 ATFLIR were added with U25.
The onboard armament of the F/A-18C is an M61A1 with 578 rounds. It is not known whether it is possible to carry air-to-ground weapons.

Air-to-Air Missiles

  • 2-6x AIM-9P-5
  • 2-6x AIM-9X

  • 10x AIM-120B
  • 10x AIM-120C-7

Pods / Other

  • ASQ-228 ATFLIR

grafik

Specifications, Electronics and Internal

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 17,07 m
  • Wingspan: 11,43 m
  • Height: 4,66 m
  • Max. takeoff weight: 25.401 kg
  • Powerplant: 2x General-Electric F404-GE-402
    • Dry thrust: 2 × 53,3 kN
    • Afterburner thrust: 2 × 79,0 kN
  • Maximum speed: Mach 1,8
  • Service ceiling: 15.240 m
  • Rate of climb: 254 m/s
  • Maximum g-load: +9g / -3g

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Thanks for your time, hope you liked it :salute:
[Will add more if there are some (more) important / declassified things]
[PM or comment if a Link or Picture isn´t working]

Sources:

Links

Lieferung von Luft-Luft-Lenkwaffen AIM-120 C-7
Switzerland's Hornet Upgrade 25 Program - Defense Industry Daily
Professional life-cycle management for fighter jets and guided missiles | RUAG
https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/government_information/intelligence_and_espionage/homebrew.military.and.espionage.electronics/servv89pn0aj.sn.sourcedns.com/_gbpprorg/mil/radar/Radar_Fundamentals.pdf
Test-Schiessen mit Fliegerwaffen in Vidsel (Schweden) 2. Teil – Gazette-Online

Books / Other:
The AirForces Monthly Book of the F/A-18 Hornet - Tim Senior (2003)
Alpine Hornets - F/A-18C in the Swiss Air Force - Gary Parsons (2021)

7 Likes
2

+1 For Alpine TT!

M61A1 → Flz Kan 92 (Flugzeug Kanone 92)
AIM-9P-4 → Flz Lwf LL 63/90 (Flugzeug Lenkwaffe Luft-Luft 63/90)
AIM-9P-5 → Flz Lwf LL 63/91
AIM-9X → Flz Lwf LL AIM-9X
AIM-120B → Flz Lwf LL 97
AIM-120C-7 → Flz Lwf LL AMRAAM 120 C-7

8 Likes
3

+1 I would like too see it ingame ASAP!!!

4 Likes
4

There has now been a tentative confirmation of this coming to Germany as their new top tier plane by Gszabi

2 Likes
5

OH YEAH! lol

6

if it had air to ground weapon it would be much better, but this is very nice jet for germany

7

thank you WreckingAres283, you did a great job for these three topics swiss f18

thanks

8

Uhhh what is the source for Flz Lwf LL AMRAAM 120 C-7? I know Flz Lwf LL 97 is, but I’ve never seen Flz Lwf LL ARMAAM 120 C-7.

9

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/oc/2022/811/de

10

Outstanding! That list is very useful, and not only for the Hornets!

1 Like
11

“Do you know what the parts like STABIFL, STEKO, or AZ 63/93 at the end of designations like FLZ LWF LL 63 STABIFL or FLZ LWF LL 63/91 STEKO actually mean? I’m assuming they’re abbreviations, but I’m not exactly sure what they stand for.”

12

Yes, of course!

STABFIL = Stabilizer Fins
STEKO = STEuer KOpf = Seeker Head
SPRK = SPReng Kopf = Explosive Head
AZ = Annäherungs Zünder = Proximity Fuse
FLZ LWF LL of course means FLugZeug LenkWaFfe Luft-Luft, i.e. aircraft guided weapon air-air…

I have an old storage box of the Stabfils at home, from the time where we restored AIM-9P’s for the Mirage Verein Buochs, and my dad has a box that stored AZ. He stored his fishing gear in that practical, watertight steel container, haha!

Interesting in this list is the first column with the numbers: 590 iirc is dummy/inert ammo, 591 wartime ammo, 592 training ammo / blank ammo, 593 special ammo, e.g. illumination rounds, signal flares, smoke rounds etc, if my memory serves me right.

What’s also interesting to see in the list is that the AIM-9P5 still is in the inventory (as per November 2022 when this federal decree became active), again proving the use of that missile by Swiss F-5E. The missile comes as full missile (591-3240, gebrauchsbereit, meaning ready to use - those are the complete wartime missiles), but also in parts (fins, seeker, warhead, fuse separately).

1 Like
13

I read through that document and it makes sense, but I’m curious if Flz Lwf LL AMRAAM 120C-7 and Flz Lwf LL AIM-9X are just a transport distinction v official names because, going by the existing naming scheme, wouldn’t the AIM-9X and AIM-120C-7 become the Flz Lwf LL 63/07 and Flz Lwf LL 97/17 respectively?

14

Well, they’re just inconsistent, as always. Also in the Mirage manual for example they in one paragraph write AIM-9P-5, and on the same page at a different place Flz Lwf LL 63/91. They also sometimes write 9P-5, 9P5, 9P/5, whatever pops to mind, haha!

15

Yeah it’s weird. Regardless, the difference is that I’ve never seen Flz Lwf 63/XX and Flz Lwf 97/XX for the AIM-9X and AIM-120C respectively.

16

I also see the F/A-18 called the FA-18 and simply F-18 on occasion, in official documents.

1 Like
17

And that same document is inconsistent with those and itself too. It writes F/A18 C and F/A18 D, but F-5 E and F-5 F.

1 Like