BOEING F/A-18 SUPER HORNET: AN ENABLER OF INDO-US NAVAL BONHOMIE

Even though Indian aircraft carriers were designed for Russian and indigenous combat jets, Boeing has conducted several studies over the last couple of years that demonstrate that the F/A-18 Super Hornet will be fully compatible with Indian vessels, explains ANKUR KANAGLEKAR, Vice President, India Fighters Lead, Strike, Surveillance & Mobility, Boeing Defense, Space & Security

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The role of naval aviation in defending India’s maritime interests is expected to get significantly enhanced as a result of the current geopolitical situation that India is facing. The formation of the Quad and AUKUS signifies that partnership between ‘like-minded’ countries in the Indo-Pacific will only grow stronger. The strength of the partnership for Indo-Pacific will be determined by the abilities of the countries to work together seamlessly. Commonality and interoperability of defence assets contributes not only towards efficient operations of the partner countries but also offer significant enduring strategic benefits to the partners. The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III for the Indian Navy will offer several such strategic advantages to India.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet serves as the frontline multirole fighter of the US Navy. More than 800 Super Hornets and Growlers (electronic attack variant based on the Super Hornet platform) are in the global fleet. The Block-III is the most advanced Super Hornet ever built and Boeing is delivering operational capable Block-IIIs to the US Navy. The Block-III configuration is suited to protect India’s maritime interests as it’s built to meet the broadest range of missions while benefiting from the upgrades and knowledge related to US naval aviation. We anticipate the Super Hornet opening up opportunities for greater interoperability between the two navies for a secure Indo-Pacific.