- Yes
- No
Hello! and Welcome to a rather unusual suggestion from me, today I would like to suggest something that was very close to reality, the F/A-18B, not for the US, but for the UK! Now this may seem far fetched, but as it was evaluated and flown by the British, and therefore I feel it would be a good addition to diversify the Top tier of the UK air tree.
History
Spoiler
Now, as most of you all know, the F/A-18 Hornet is a carrier-based, multirole aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas in the late 70s. it was developed from the earlier YF-17 Cobra, which was designed as a Light multirole fighter to compete against the YF-16 for the USAF(you can guess which aircraft won…). Now whilst they were designed for the US, both aircraft were marketed heavily on the export market, with many nations considering either the YF-17 or F/A-18, However, one nation that came extremely close to this was the United Kingdom.
Now, in 1977 the Air Staff issued AST403, a requirement looking for an aircraft to replace the Harrier and Jaguar fleets, and almost immediately a large quantity of designs were submitted, with some domestic (and Highly unorthodox) designs such as the BAe P.1205 or P.103B, however, very quickly foreign designs began to be offered as well, and the brand new YF-17 was the one of the first offers to be taken seriously, in fact, in the 1979, a team was dispatched to Edwards AFB in which several pilots, including Sqn Leader R.I Morris and Sqn Leader Colin Cruickshanks were tasked with testing the YF-17 for a period of 4 days from the 19th to 23rd of March 1979, with the whole team being tasked with assessing 9 main aspects of the aircraft, including Supersonic turning performance, weapons stores potential and its ability to land on rough ground. However, during this time bad weather limited the number of test flights available, in which only two days were clear enough for a test flight; however, despite this, 6 sorties were managed with each pilot flying 3 times. Overall, the pilots found that the aircraft performed well and was an ideal candidate despite some minor flaws.
The evaluation of the Cobra continued, and soon McDonnell Douglas offered its far more successful brother, the F/A-18, which was also offered, with a test flight being conducted on the 1st of September 1980 by Cruickshanks at the Farnborough air show, in which he test-flew one of the F/A-18B prototypes, Build No. 160784. The aircraft was flown in its “air defence” configuration, with two dummy Sidewinders and Sparrows fitted to the aircraft. Despite the promising nature of the aircraft, Cruickshanks reported many complaints about the test flight, complaining that he was limited to flying the aircraft from the back seat, which, as there was no HUD fitted, greatly limited his assessment of the aircraft, especially in the air-to-ground aspects. He also reported several issues with the specific aircraft, complaining about the lack of functionality of the aircraft’s autopilot and that due to a lack of tires, the aircraft could not perform maximum performance landings for fear of wearing them out. However, despite these complaints, the F/A-18 was judged to have solved many of the issues found on the YF-17, and the twin-seater F/A-18 seemed ideal for the role (the RAF opting to prefer the B variant due to the twin crew members reducing strain on a single pilot) and considered it to be “one of the most advanced in production in the western world.”.
Despite these promising statements, it would not bode well for the aircraft. Following the test flights at Farnborough, the F/A-18 was set to fly to Spain to allow the Spanish Air Force to evaluate the aircraft; however, the aircraft crashed near Middle Wallop Airfield, Stockbridge, shortly after departure from Farnborough, with both pilots ejecting safely. Things didn’t go much smoother for the deal either; with the turn of the decade came a fresh range of budget cuts for the armed forces. Leading the AST403 requirement to suffer the same fate as many other British projects of the 20th century, the government culling the requirement in favour of pursuing the AV-8B concept being developed as a successor to the US Harrier, which at the time was thought to be a cheaper option, and thus, despite the RAF’s protests, the Hornet procurement was abandoned.
Images
Spoiler
The F/A-18B Flown at farnborough beside a French Mirage 4000
Some Fictional Camouflages, depicting the Hornet in UK service
A Later F/A-18E, flown by a british Pilot making a flyby of HMS Queen Elizabeth
The YF-17, also tested by the UK, at Farnborough 1976
F/A-18B No.160784 during a test flight at Farnborough, on the 5th of September 1980
Specs/Armaments
Spoiler
General Characteristics/Performance
Crew: 2
Length: 56 ft (17.07 m)
Wingspan: 40.4 ft (12.31 m)
Height: 15.3 ft (4.66 m)
Wing area: 400 sq ft (37.17 m²)
Aspect ratio: 3.52
Weights: 21,830 lbs (9,900 kg) empty, 51,900 lbs (23,540 kg) maximum takeoff
Fuel: 10,860 lb (4,925 kg)
Powerplant: 2× F404-GE-400 (16,000 lbf (71.2 kN) max)
Never exceed speed: Mach 1.8
Altitude: 50,000 ft (15,250 m)
Climb rate: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
Acceleration time: less than 120 seconds from Mach 0.8 to 1.6
Lift-off speed: 115 knot (213 km/h)
Approaching speed: 140 knot (260 km/h)
Armaments
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Hardpoints: 11 (2 wing-tip, 6 under-wing, 3 under-fuselage), 17,000 lb capacity.
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Gun
- 1 x 20mm M61A1 cannon (512 Rounds)
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External Fuel tanks
- 3 x FPU-8/A fuel tanks
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Air to Air Missiles
- AIM-9 Sidewinders (wingtip and under wings)
- AIM-7 Sparrows (Under wing and fuselage)
- ASRAAM (carried by Australian F/A-18s, possibility for a British one)
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Air to Ground Missiles
- 6x AGM-65 Mavericks
- 4 x AGM-88, AGM-158 or AGM-154
- 2x AGM-84 or 4x AGM-119
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Bombs
- Mk-80 series GP bombs
- GBU-10/12/24/27/39 LGBs
- JDAMs
- B61/B83 Nuclear bombs
Avionics:
- Radar: Hughes AN/APG-65
- RWR: AN/ALR-45(V)
- EO Sensors:
- AN/AAS-38/38A/38B NITE Hawk
- AN/ASQ-173 LST/SCAM
- Countermeasures: 2× AN/ALE-39 (total of 60 cartridges)
Place in game
Spoiler
Personally I feel this has a potential to help diversify the current top tier lineups of the UK, currently the UK lacks a viable fighter at between the BRs of 12.0 and 13.0, at which an Early Hornet could fill the gap at around 12.7, being a viable option for this BR range. Whilst I would still suggest the Americans get their Hornet First as they are the nations that built and actually used the aircraft, there is also the possibility of a Canadian or Australian Hornet going to the UK as well, however they are not guaranteed.
This could also sit well as a high ranking event aircraft, with it freeing up space for other domestic designs to be added to the Tech tree.
Sources
