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Jane's F/A-18 Air to Air Guide
by Bob "KnightRyder" Nielsen

Hornet - one of the deadliest insects in the natural world. Its enemies fear its sting, its friends welcome its protection. In the modern world of naval air-to-air combat, the same holds true, because the US Navy's F/A-18/E/F Super Hornet rules the skies over US naval battle groups. Gamers get a chance to slip into the cockpit of this $30 million + aircraft in Jane's F/A-18, the first of the Jane's line to devote itself to a naval carrier based aircraft. One of the primary missions of the F/A-18 is to kill enemy aircraft, and this is prominently simulated in this game. Before delving into the specific weapons system of the Hornet, I'm going to digress and give a little background information on naval aviation and air-to-air combat.

Fig. 1. Jane's F/A-18 Engaged

Air-to-air combat hasn't changed much since the days of Baron Von Richtofen in WWI. The main objective remains the same - see and kill your enemy before he is able to see and kill you. The main difference in today's arena is range. Combat often occurs between aircraft far beyond visible range, and combatants often never see each other, except as dots on a radarscope. Consequently, new and more powerful weapon systems were developed to equip the new generation of dogfighters.

Fig. 2. Padlocked!

The main ingredient of modern naval aviation is the supercarrier. A floating city, these monster ships are the backbone of American rapid deployment forces, often being the first on the scene in major trouble spots. These ships carry more firepower than almost the entire WWII US Navy. And that's not counting the aircraft.

In Jane's F/A-18, gamers fly the newest model of the Hornet, the F/A-18F. The "Super Hornet," as she is referred to, has greater range than any previous model of the F/A-18, and can carry more firepower. It is designed as a multi-role aircraft, capable of performing air-to-air and air-to-ground operations. We'll look at the air-to-ground ops capabilities of the Super Hornet in another chapter.

 

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