The short range of the F-18 Super Hornet fighters complicates their use in the fight against Russia and China and makes US aircraft carriers vulnerable to long-range attacks. This is reported by the publication Military Watch.
The F-18 Super Hornet served as a replacement for a variety of aircraft on board aircraft carriers, including the A-6 Intruder carrier-based attack aircraft and the F-14 Tomcat long-range interceptor, which was part of an effort to reduce operating costs. This reduced the area of military influence of aircraft carriers by 77 percent, which was considered an acceptable price in the post-cold War world.
The Super Hornet has been criticized for its short range, and the US Navy planned to commission a variant of the aircraft with a longer range. However, it turned out that the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet would not be equipped with conformal fuel tanks. According to the publication, the cancellation of modernization plans poses a threat to the viability of aircraft carriers, since such potential opponents as Russia, North Korea and China already have more effective classes of anti-ship weapons.
Thus, the US Navy will probably have to wait for its future sixth-generation carrier-based fighter to enter service in order to gain air superiority at long distances.
Alexander Enikeev
