F-18E V F-18F

[Geoff M]

Maybe a simple answer but what capability does the 2 seater have over the single seater or can the single seater do everything the 2 seater does?  I do notice in a lot of the pictures posted here that the single seaters tend to do the bulk of the refueling.

 

 

[GW8345]

The F has an extra set of Mk 1 Mod 0 eyeballs and an extra set of biological actuators to assist the pilot. It also has less fuel so it assists the front seater with getting home faster.

 

There than that, the E's can do everything the F's can do, just with slightly more gas.

[Murph]

The F model has somebody to carry the bags to billeting.

 

Regards,

Murph

[JohnEB]

A guess why you see shots of single seat ships refueling...

Because the photographer is in the two seater.

 

 

I'll guess given the preponderance of single seat Es, it would be rare to have two Fs in a flight.

[GreyGhost]

CVW-17 has two F/A-18F squadrons, VFA-22 & -94...

I imagine there's all sorts of ways to utilize the GIB in the Family Model ...

 

-Gregg

[longmc]

Interestingly, I recently asked this very question to a guy in our group that used to be a SH back seater. He said the main difference is that the F does the FAC(A) mission. Other than that, he said they did the same mission sets, but that the E had more fuel and on-station time. 

[mawz]

3 hours ago, longmc said:

Interestingly, I recently asked this very question to a guy in our group that used to be a SH back seater. He said the main difference is that the F does the FAC(A) mission. Other than that, he said they did the same mission sets, but that the E had more fuel and on-station time. 

And the FAC(A) mission comes down to having a GIB to spot and run the radios. 

[Thadeus]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:35 AM, GW8345 said:

The F has an extra set of Mk 1 Mod 0 eyeballs and an extra set of biological actuators to assist the pilot. It also has less fuel so it assists the front seater with getting home faster.

 

There than that, the E's can do everything the F's can do, just with slightly more gas.

 

I'm sold on the last one. "Honey, can we go home faster? You've got dishes to do."

Oh, and the F has more capability to look cool. IMHO. I bet they were thinking just that when they procured the Super Hornet.

 

I always thought that Navy would get an all F/A-18F fleet. The Air Force did it with the F-15E. Then again, why replace the Legacy Hornet with a dual seater? The AF replaced the F-111 with F-15E.

 

 

[SCOUT712]

When I worked as a tactics intructor at NATO's Tactical Leadership Programme, we had a mix of instructors from various nations and aircraft background. Pilots (Transport/Fast Jet/Helo, WSO's (like myself) and Navigators (RAF Tornado F-3 and GR-4).

Naturally F-16 jocks were of the hardcore God's gift to mankind - I can do everything by myself - type of personality. One day we received a briefing by a RAF GR-4 nav about his experiences in the Afghanistan ToO. He presented a TST mission when from the ring of the claxon (ground alert not sitting in the jet) until bomb impact less than 30 minutes elapsed. And that included jumping to a spare jet, flying low level between the mountains and lasing the weapon onto a moving target before it entered a town.

Afterwards I talked to my Dutch Viperpilot buddy and he said with a smile that this kind of mission certainly required the backseater but he would never openly admit it.

It boils down to the mission. Air Forces around the world have been spoiled by those local conflicts without a credible threat and electronic environment. If you go into a heavily contested environment with a credible air and ground threat, preferably at night, and with a non-stealthy aircraft, the picture certainly looks different.

Just my 2 cents.

B/r

Michael

[Geoff M]

Another question about this topic.  Is the backseater a pilot or NFO (not sure if that is the correct term).  It would seem to me that the best use would be for front and rear seaters to be pilots.  Just a thought.

 

[Collin]

41 minutes ago, Geoff M said:

Another question about this topic.  Is the backseater a pilot or NFO (not sure if that is the correct term).  It would seem to me that the best use would be for front and rear seaters to be pilots.  Just a thought.

 

NFO is the answer. NFO is the generic term for non-pilot winged officer flight crew....specifically for the Hornet community their NFO's are called WSO's (Weapon System Operators).  

 

The reason you don't have two pilots is cost and ability to keep qualified at the boat.  You need so many passes (day and night) to keep in qual flying around the boat....if you double the pilots you have a lot more suffling needs to happen to do to keep everyone qualified.  The E-2 community has figured it out but they have a pilots ratio that accounts for this . When the S-3 first started flying....it was crewed by two pilots up front (and a NFO/TACCO & AW/SENSO in the backseats).  The community soon found out it was tough to keep the pilots qualified for carrier landings...eventually removing one of the pilots and replacing the front right seat with a NFO (COTAC).  From a big Navy side...it cost more to produce a pilot than a NFO...so there was cost savings there as well.  It all comes down to $$$.  

 

Cheers

Collin (a NFO)

Edited June 7, 2023 by Collin