Does the S-3 leaving mean more NFO's will be in F/A-18 F Superhornets?

[Purdue Jones]

I have been reading about how the S-3 is being phased out and was wondering # 1 if anyone knows when that will be and #2 with the S-3 being phased out does that mean a lot more NFO's will be going to F-18's? And #3 What types of missions would one expect in a two seater F-18?

 

[ChuckMK23]

I have no idea - but it's an interesting question none the less. I *think* that the VS community had gone mostly to flying with the rear seats empty - but I don't know for sure - but the VS squadrons along with VAW were great career paths to command for NFO's.

During Desert Storm I saw S-3's flying strikes in addition to hauling gas. The S-3 seemed like it could take quite a few MK-82's on board.

What about the AW's that used to fly in the back of the S-3's? Do squadrons still have flying AW's?

 

[HooverPilot]

the Viking still flies with a crew of three in most overseas AOR's. There will only be 2 onboard if it is only a dedicated tanking hop like Yo-Yo tanking. Otherwise there will always be a second NFO onboard as the primary system operator for the secondary mission.

The Viking can carry up to 10 MK-82's, but you would have to take the buddy store & right drop tank off which will rarely happen on deployment. More often these days you'll have a couple of Mk-82's in the bomb bay and the normal tanking external load, or if on a specific mission a SLAM-ER or Maverick missile on the wings.

That being said, there are 2 NFO's in an S-3 and 1 in a Super Hornet. So there will not be an opportunity for all NFO's to go to that community. They are going to Prowlers, E-2's, P-3's, EP-3's, E-6's also. Every community is taking a "fair share" of the S-3 guys. The sundown of the S-3's seems to always be changing but the last squadron will close their doors in 2008 (maybe 2007 w/new budget). It is always changing based on the TSPAT though.

As for the F/A-18F mission, others can answer better than I can, but I would expect it to be the normal air to ground and air to air missions that the Tomcat and Hornet fly today. The F will just have a different capability in filling those roles.

 

[HeyJoe]

I have been reading about how the S-3 is being phased out and was wondering # 1 if anyone knows when that will be and #2 with the S-3 being phased out does that mean a lot more NFO's will be going to F-18's? And #3 What types of missions would one expect in a two seater F-18?

One of the first S-3 transitions to Super Hornet is already at VFA-122. he was quite a hit as he "misplaced" his flight jacket at North island and his "friends" had it sent along...problem was he made a stink about it being purloined and dearly hurt his friends' feelings so a court was held....his flight jacket was subsequently altered (patch locations, etc.) and modified to look like something out of mardi gras or a hybrid version of a PI jeepney. There's a jpeg or two floating around out there in cyberspace.

Back to your question, F/A-18F replaces F-14 and more so it can do Air-to-Air and Air-to-Mud, tank! (if E is aboard, they get that role) and do FAC(A) mission.

 

[ChuckMK23]

It's a shame the Hornet is being adopted as a tanker...

That's Navy Air's biggest weakness - and I've read War College papers re the tanking requirement being Naval AViation's achille's heal.

Why don't we adopt global/regional - non organic tankers based on transport category land based jets? At least partially it would seem to make sense. It wouldn't solve the issues of needing fuel due to either bad weather or recovery issues. But surely strike based tanking could be done by Navy owned land based assets.

You'd be amazed at how much the AF criticizes the valkue of Naval Aviation becaiuse of our ratio of support aircraft to strike. I doubt this will be fixed anytime soon but I'm sure with the way the budgets are going the Navy will pay dearly for this for sticking to a policy that the Air Force criticizes so heavily...

 

[Blutonski816]

One of the first S-3 transitions to Super Hornet is already at VFA-122. he was quite a hit as he "misplaced" his flight jacket at North island and his "friends" had it sent along...problem was he made a stink about it being purloined and dearly hurt his friends' feelings so a court was held....his flight jacket was subsequently altered (patch locations, etc.) and modified to look like something out of mardi gras or a hybrid version of a PI jeepney. There's a jpeg or two floating around out there in cyberspace.

Somebody already posted that in the humor section...

What happens when you lose your flight jacket...