Indian Navy to lease F18 Super Hornet from the US

As per several sources, The Indian Navy in an advanced stage of negotiations to take one squadron strength of American-made F-18 jets. Under the newly introduced Defense ministry leasing guidelines, the Indian Navy is looking to lease several platforms. Including, light utility helicopters for its logistical needs among others. The Navy is looking to fill vital gaps in the frontline warships by urgently leasing 12-18 helicopters from foreign vendors. Amid the ongoing border row between India and China, last month Navy leased two Sea Guardian drones from the American giant General Atomics for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance over the Indian Ocean. A possible lease of 15-18 units of FA-18 Block III or one squadron multirole fighter jets is under advanced stages of negotiation. Could be operated from the Indian Aircraft carriers INS Vikramaditya and under trails INS Vikrant IAC. Though there are no official confirmations, there are no smokes without fire. Boeing has been flying a F/A-18E/F Super Hornet off a ground-based ski jump at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. This is part of a demonstration effort for the Indian Navy to show that the aircraft can operate from short take-off but arrested recovery configured (STOBAR) aircraft carriers, such as the INS Vikramaditya and the future INS Vikrant. F-18 ski-jump demonstration program :: An Indian defense analyst who goes by the Twitter handle @hukum2082 was first to reveal this flight testing, which was then picked up by another Indian analyst, Saurabh Joshi, in another series of tweets, on Aug. 19, 2020. The Chicago-headquartered plane maker subsequently confirmed that this ski jump demonstration program is presently taking place at Patuxent River, though it is not clear when exactly it began. The naval air station has a ground-based ski jump that it used during testing of the short and vertical takeoff and landing capable F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter. Twitter handle user @hukum2082 now claims that the Indian Navy in an advanced stage of procuring Boeing,s F-18 Block III. “Boeing and the U.S. Navy are in the beginning phases of operating a F/A-18 Super Hornet from a ski jump at Naval Air Station Patuxent River to demonstrate it is STOBAR compliant for the Indian Navy,” Justin Gibson, a Boeing spokesperson, told The War Zone. “Boeing completed the extensive analysis and more than 150 flight simulations on F/A-18 compatibility with Indian aircraft carriers, and while our assessment has shown the Block III Super Hornet is very capable of launching off a ski jump, this is the next step in demonstrating that capability. More details will be released upon the conclusion of the test demonstration.” McDonnell Douglas F18 Legacy McDonnell Douglas, which developed the original F/A-18 Hornet and was subsequently acquired by Boeing. Had also previously conducted ski jump tests with that aircraft at the tail end of the Cold War. That testing showed that with as little as a nine-degree incline, the total required takeoff roll for the Hornet could be cut in half, though it’s unclear what the jet’s gross weight had to be to achieve this performance. Ski jumps generally increase the takeoff performance of combat jets in the absence of catapults and also provide an added margin of safety. The Mighty F18 The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet is the world’s most lethal, advanced, combat-proven, multi-role frontline fighter-jet. The Block III version which is currently being manufactured for the United States Navy will enable the Indian armed forces to challenge the next generation of adversaries. It can perform virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum including air superiority, day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defense, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control and buddy refueling. Significant technology insertions in the form of advanced cockpit, new computing & advanced data link, conformal fuel tanks, increase airframe life, and ability to carry a wide variety of weapons makes F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet most lethal platform for Air Force and Navies of the world. More than 700 F/A-18 Hornets and Super Hornets are in operation today. F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet will offer superior economics to the Indian armed forces in the form of low cost of acquisition, operations, and high mission readiness./// (ifenewsnetwork.)