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Focus
- First Test Flight of Super Hornet with 4x AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship
Missiles |
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Video:
F/A-18F Super Hornet takes on a full load of Harpoons Anti-ship missiles
for the first time |
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On
runway 24 of U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland, a part
of Boeing Harpoon missile history was recently witnessed when four of
the proven Harpoon Block IC cruise missiles were uploaded onto a Boeing
F/A-18F Super Hornet to undergo a rigorous flight test over the Atlantic
Ocean. The test verified flight characteristics with the quad load-out;
a Harpoon first. |
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Boeing Video |
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The test
was performed jointly by members of the U.S. Navy’s VX-23 Strike
Test squadron, PMA-201 Precision Strike Weapons team, Boeing Test &
Evaluation and Weapons & Missile Systems businesses.
“There’s probably nothing that has to be more perfect than
weapons integration and performance,” said James Dodd, vice president
of Boeing Global Strike Weapons & Missile Systems. “It puts
everyone at a high sense of perfection as to how they do their job on
the Boeing side and the customer side.” |
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An F/A-18F Super Hornet from U.S. Navy Strike Test VX-23 in flight with
four Boeing built Harpoon anti-ship missiles under its wings.
Picture: Boeing
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The Harpoon
Block IC missile is an autonomous, all weather anti-ship and land strike
weapon that can be launched from aircraft, ships, submarines or by mobile
coastal defense vehicles. It’s used by more than 30 international
allies.
U.S. Navy CDR. Kevin Quarderer, NAVAIR’s Precision Strike Weapons
program office deputy program manager for the Harpoon and SLAM ER programs,
said the Boeing and U.S. Navy teams work incredibly close to achieve
the levels of perfection dictated by working around ordnance and weapons.
“It’s absolutely serious business,” said CDR. Quarderer.
“The only answer that’s acceptable is that every single
weapon has got to find its target.”
The flight test with the four Boeing built Harpoon Block IC missiles
underneath the wings of the F/A-18 Super Hornet was a success. More
integration work proving the capabilities of the missile configuration
and fighter attack jet is continuing. |
