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The roles of the F/A-18E vs the F/A-18F in the USN?


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Hi guys,

 

Maybe a stupid question, but if so, so be it! As I understand it, both F/A-18E and F/A-18F are used for the same mission profiles by the U.S. Navy. Why do they have the F/A-18E and the F/A-18F? If the F/A-18E is as capable as the F/A-18F in Air Superiority and air-to-ground, why bother with a variant that requires two expensive-to-train-crewmembers-in-time-and-money and gives up on internal space for fuel/electronics to seat the 2nd occupant?

 

Reversely, if the F/A-18F is better in the mission profiles because a dedicated Weapons Systems Operator is employed, why bother with the F/A-18E at all instead of only using the F/A-18F?

 

Thanks & cheers,

Erik B.

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Not stupid at all. I've wondered about this since the programs were first rolled out. My guess was and is that the F has a mission capability which is classified but required two crew members when it was designed, and is different than the capability of the E. But they wanted similarity among the types. Kind of like the G. They just wanted all aircraft to have a common base model. They've now done the same with the F-35 models. 

Edited by Micro
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Although the E and F are similar with the exeption of the 1 vs 2 man crew and consequently reduced fuel, the main driver for using the F is that this is better at certain combat profiles than the single seater due to the two man crew. Nothing classified as such. 

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On 1/20/2021 at 8:47 PM, Niels said:

Although the E and F are similar with the exeption of the 1 vs 2 man crew and consequently reduced fuel, the main driver for using the F is that this is better at certain combat profiles than the single seater due to the two man crew. Nothing classified as such. 

Tak, Niels!

 

Would the offset in cost between the E and F be that much that the USN didn't want to buy an all-F fleet? Buy just enough F's to fulfill those mission profiles and and buy the "good enough"-E to fill up the numbers? A sort of Hi-Lo-mix as the USAF had with the F-15/F-16 mix?

 

I have no doubt that the F/A-18F with it's workload-sharing is in all fields much more capable than the E. It's not for nothing that the F-14 in the fleet-defense role and the A-6 in the all-weather attack role had a crew of 2... I don't know what role combat radius played in this respect? Is it much more for the -E or not that significant?

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From everything I have read (and heard from ex-USN pilots), the only role that the F/A-18F fulfills that cannot really be done by the single seaters is the FAC(A) mission. The units that operate only F/A-18E or F/A-18F models (or both) therefore generally have very similar missions, but FAC(A) is usually only done by F/A-18F units.

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On 1/24/2021 at 7:45 AM, Mfezi said:

From everything I have read (and heard from ex-USN pilots), the only role that the F/A-18F fulfills that cannot really be done by the single seaters is the FAC(A) mission. The units that operate only F/A-18E or F/A-18F models (or both) therefore generally have very similar missions, but FAC(A) is usually only done by F/A-18F units.

And CSAR, Combat Search and Rescue.

The second seat allows the team NFO+WSO to perform the Rescue Commander role.

Edited by shion
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5 hours ago, shion said:

And CSAR, Combat Search and Rescue.

The second seat allows the team NFO+WSO to perform the Rescue Commander role.

 

Interesting: Is that a formal F/A-18F mission? FAC(A) requires a special qualification by the crew. I'm not disputing it at all - just never heard it mentioned as such in the context of the F/A-18F. I know in the USAF, CSAR is performed by helicopters and I thought in the USN and Marines, the mission would go to something like the Osprey?

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  • 1 month later...

I always wondered if the decision on a mixed single/double seater fleet had anything to do with the F-14 transition. I'd say it's generally a bad thing if You have to get rid of so many officers. But then again I guess You could go for a mixed squadron of say 10 Echos and 2 Foxtrots. Keeping up a roster of flight crew might be a nightmare though.

Isn't Navy doing some replacement, swapping E squadrons for F? I remember the VFA-22 way back.

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