Muzz Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Folks, I was wondering if anyone can guide me on possible weapons loadouts for the F/A-18E during Op Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom. I have nearly completed my build of a VFA- 115 Screamin Eagles machine and was planning on 3 external tanks, a GBU-16 on station 9 and a GBU-31 JDAM on station 3. Was also considering an option of putting a single GBU-12 on station 10. I wasn't sure if this is above the aircrafts payload as the only photo's I've seen is either 1 centerline tank and and smaller stores such as GBU-12's on the majority on the pylons or 3 tanks with a couple of what look like GBU-32 JDAMS. Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolvoWill Posted April 17, 2008 Share Posted April 17, 2008 Your best bet is to ask on ARC - AFAIK Joe Hegedus over there was/involved in some of the testing for SH weapons, so he knows whats realistic and has been used operatioally. The one you mention sounds plausible to me though. At this present time the available loadouts for the F/A-18 are rather odd if you ask me - with the Super Hornets 'unusual' underwing aerodynamics (hence the canted pylons) and large number of weapons stations the potential number of weapons combinations are dizzying! And there a lot of cool looking weapon configurations that could be hung on the jet (as in, the pylons are rated for that much weight and it will all fit on the wing) that aren't cleared for flight as exhaustive testing hasn't been done. Most operational loads I've seen to date are a bit ugly if you ask me, though I appreciate looks aren't the driving factor to what gets carried! For current operations small PGMs are order of the day. A typical OIF/OEF load would be 'goofy gas' with 2 fuel tanks, 1 being on the centreline and one under the right wing, and then say a GBU-31 on the left innermost wing pylon, and a mix of GBU-12 (500lb Paveway II), GBU-38 (500lb JDAM) and/or laser maverick (AGM-65E) on the remainder of the pylons. Assymetrical loads are very common indeed - not just in terms of weaponry, but sometimes an outboard pylon is left off one of the wings too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 18, 2008 Author Share Posted April 18, 2008 (edited) Will Thanks for the info, I've seen a few pictures with some random looking fits right enough. Assymetrical loads seem to be the trend with lots of aircraft types now. Pardon my ignorance but whats ARC (I'm assuming it stands for Aircraft Reference Centre or something like that? Edited April 18, 2008 by Muzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notdoneyet Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Pardon my ignorance but whats ARC (I'm assuming it stands for Aircraft Reference Centre or something like that? Muzz, ARC is Aircraft Resource Center - here's a linky HTH, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolvoWill Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 Assymetrical loads seem to be the trend with lots of aircraft types now. Its soooo ugly a lot of the time as well, just looks completely unbalanced. Would be intrigued as to how such 'sweetheart loads' (as I have heard them described) effect the handling of the aircraft... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary C Posted April 18, 2008 Share Posted April 18, 2008 (edited) Muzz, Stations 2 and 10 were used for Amraam carriage early on during OIF whilst there was still percieved to be an A2A threat with tanks on 4 and 8 but this seemed to be quickly dropped with extra weapons employed in place of the tanks and just AIM-9's on the wingtips for self defence. 2 and 10 don't seem to have been used much after that. GBU-12's weren't used until the 10th of April 2003 as they weren't cleared for use on the SH until then with VFA-115 using GBU-16's instead. If it was me I'd lose the two tanks, go with one on the centreline and fill 3,4,8 and 9 with a mix of GBU-12's and GBU-31's with AIM-9's on the wingtips, or for an early ops phase use tanks on 4,6and 8 with GBU-16's or GBU-31's on 3 and 9, AIM-120's on 2 and 10 and AIM-9's on 1 and 11. As far as the switched tanks config goes this is done on the legacy Hornets to allow the FLIR pod on the left intake cheek a line of sight which would otherwise be obscured by a drop tank. I don't think this is an issue with the SH. It seems other assymetric loads are otherwise carried mostly to allow flexibilty in striking a range of targets these days, CAS weapons such as the GBU-12 can be combined with the greater precision/penetrative power of JDAMS on the same aircraft. F-16's carry GBU-38's on a BRU-57 dual adapter on one side with GBU-12's slant mounted on a TER on the other at the moment. I thought it looked pretty cool ... If want a list of what is cleared for what station have a look here http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/?FULL=ABD48012&PIC_NO=4 Gary Edited April 18, 2008 by Gary C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted April 19, 2008 Author Share Posted April 19, 2008 (edited) Guys, thanks for all the help (and links). I'm going to go with the 3 tanks, JDAM and GBU-16 with AIM-9's on the wingtips with the outboard pylons empty (well maybe a missile launch rail on one side.). I like my jets well hung !! Edited April 19, 2008 by Muzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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