Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet to begin tests for Indian aircraft carrier.

According to a tweet published by Boeing on April 8, 2022, Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft will begin tests at the INS Hansa, the Indian naval air station, for the Indian aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
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Shore-based Test Facility at the Indian naval air station, INS Hansa (Picture source: sinodefenceforum)

The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet is the newest highly capable, affordable, and available tactical aircraft in U.S. Navy inventory. The Super Hornet is the backbone of the U.S. Navy carrier air wing now and for decades to come.

The combat-proven Super Hornet delivers cutting-edge, next-generation multi-role strike fighter capability, outdistancing current and emerging threats well into the future. The Super Hornet has the capability, flexibility, and performance necessary to modernize the air or naval aviation forces of any country.

Two versions of the Super Hornet – the single-seat E model and the two-seat F model – are able to 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 defenses, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control, and tanker missions.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet has 11 weapon stations which include two additional wing store stations and will support a full range of armaments including AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-7 Sparrow, and AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, guided air-to-ground weapons such as Harpoon, SLAM/SLAM-ER, GBU-10, GBU-51, HARM and Maverick; and free-fall air-to-ground bombs, Mk-76, BDU-48, Mk-82LD, Mk-82HD, and Mk-84.

The aircraft can also carry the GPS- / inertially guided JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition), JSOW (joint stand-off weapon), and JASSM (joint air-to-surface stand-off missile).

INS Vikrant, also known as Indigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC-1), is an aircraft carrier constructed by the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for the Indian Navy. It is the first aircraft carrier to be built in India.

India considered a number of aircraft for operation from the indigenous aircraft carrier. On 6 January 2022, the Indian Navy started testing the Rafale-M for operations from INS Vikrant at the shore-based test facility at INS Hansa in Goa.