Hornet fighter, known as the world's most durable carrier-based fighter , also known as the first dual-purpose fighter , attack air combat duo
F-18 is the world's best-selling carrier-based aircraft, from F18ABCD to EF models, It has received constant praise. We may be able to look at the shortcomings of our country's J-15 fighter jet from some of the characteristics of the F18. The
F18 was originally an advanced model of the US Navy that replaced the A- attack aircraft and F4 fighters in the 1970s. From a functional perspective, what needs to be replaced is an attack aircraft and a fighter. In fact, the French used it in the 1980s They considered purchasing the F18 to support their own aircraft carrier. Their requirement for the carrier-based aircraft was the performance of the F18, but in the end they were replaced by the sky-high-priced domestic Rafale fighter jet (the empty weight and engine thrust are very similar to the F-18).
The final empty weight of the Rafale Navy is almost exactly the same as that of the F-18AC. Each engine has about 400 kilograms more thrust, and the thrust ratio has been upgraded from 7 to 9. However, the price has increased by 2.
The Hornet is easy to repair and durable, and its maneuverability and avionics are also powerful. Therefore, it has received thousands of large orders.
In fact, the design characteristics of the carrier-based fighter can be seen from the Hornet.
Although the F-18 does not sell as well as the F-16, it was still a very powerful family of carrier-based fighter jets in the US Navy in the 1980s.
is more maneuverable than all fighter jets in the Navy. There are no restrictions on engine operation. The all-inclusive line will not stall when the throttle is used casually (F14: cough cough, hitting people without hitting people in the face). The maximum angle of attack of the aircraft is 90 degrees, and the sideslip angle is 45 degrees. The engine didn't stall either. (Good maneuverability, large angle of attack, large sideslip angle, and solid engine) The
aircraft passed the 2x fatigue test, and the landing gear drop test exceeded 7.8 meters per second without any problems. (Strong structure)
Cost of carrier-based aircraft: Super thick thighs
Carrier-based aircraft need to hit the deck at a vertical speed of more than 7 meters, which causes a huge increase in weight. It is imperative to use advanced materials to reduce weight.
F18 uses a lot of titanium alloy and carbon fiber to reduce weight, yellow and orange colors
This is one of the reasons why carrier-based aircraft are obviously more expensive than land-based fighters.
A good carrier-based aircraft must be equipped with an advanced engine.
The big reason for the success of the F-18 family is that the engine is advanced and solid, and the pilot can play with it casually without any problems. Compared with the previous generation of the main American engine J79, Both engines have a thrust of 7 tons, but there are 7,700 fewer parts and the weight is reduced by half.
As a fighter jet that takes off and lands on the aircraft carrier deck, the aircraft needs to be maneuverable flexibly. The F-18 uses a redundant fly-by-wire control system. This is also the second fighter jet in the United States to use fly-by-wire control. The first one is the F-16.
For a dual-purpose fighter jet, it is essential to have advanced ground attack capabilities. It not only requires radar , but also requires the assistance of advanced photoelectric pods.
Launching attacks at night is a common routine for aircraft carrier-based aircraft. It is crucial to see clearly at night.
my country's J-15 fighter jets have not yet been equipped with advanced optoelectronic pods, which is still a big combat flaw.
As an advanced fighter, the pursuit of display control is endless. The F18 cockpit was rated as the best design in the 1980s.
F-18 uses the APG65 advanced radar, which can target multiple targets in the air and image the ground. Far beyond the F16 radar
multi-target display and high-resolution ground imaging, which is far beyond what is necessary for attack
The space of the aircraft carrier is limited, so the aircraft maintainability becomes extremely important. The aircraft performance can be slightly lower, but it must be super easy to maintain
F18 has powerful attack power. It can carry medium and short range air-to-air missiles , anti-ship missiles , and anti-radar missiles at the same time.
Compared with the standards of the F18, when the F-18 just came out, it had almost all the most advanced weapons in the United States. The avionics display controls the weapons. During the use of the F18ABCD, the only complaint of the US Navy was that the range was a bit short and the aircraft load was a bit small. In the end, it chose to make small changes and increase the size. This is the Super Hornet F18EF. Of course, it is still a big seller. The flight performance has not improved much, but the leather is still solid and reliable, and the combat radius has increased by 30-40%.
From the Hornet to the Super Hornet, what has changed is the name, but what remains unchanged is the durability.
Simply put, a carrier-based fighter must be slightly more maneuverable. It does not need to be as high as a land-based fighter. The engine must be solid and reliable. It pursues ultimate performance, has a solid structure, advanced avionics radar, is easy to maintain, and can carry a variety of air and ground attack missiles.
The domestic J-15 fighter jet has good maneuverability, but the engine is not reliable enough and the maintainability gap is not small. The aircraft radar is the last pulse Doppler radar of domestic fighter jets. It has advanced indicators, but it is also slightly behind the times. It is now beginning to be popularized in our country. Active phased array radar.
The J-15 can mount the PL-8 short-range air-to-air missile and the medium-range PL-12 air-to-air missile, but it has shortcomings in attack capabilities. It does not have a ground-attack optoelectronic pod, so it can mount the YJ-83 anti-ship missile and contemporary aircraft. Compared with the Leopard, it also lacks the ability to project precision-guided bombs and the vital combat capability of anti-radar, which makes it slightly inferior.
In recent years, China has also followed the American F18E Growler electronic fighter and developed the electronic jamming model J-15, which can be regarded as making up for this shortcoming.
The J-15 has also developed an electronic warfare model in recent years. It is expected to be able to carry anti-radar missiles and hard-kill enemy radars.
In fact, if we want to compare with the F18 to see who is better at repairing, the J-15 still has a long way to go.
