When the testing of these F/A-18E/F Super Rhubarb fighter prototypes was about to be completed, the Boeing Company of the United States began mass production of the F/A-18E/F Super Rhubarb fighter block 1 fighter, which is the production version of the Super Bug fighter. In the first batch, the data shows that there are 59 single-seat F/A-18E block1 Super Hornet fighters, and 78 two-seater F/A-18F block1 Super Hornet fighters, totaling 137.
These F/A-18E/F block1 Super Hornet fighters are still equipped with the traditional AN/APG-73 pulse Doppler radar, which is theoretically a standard third-generation fighter. Due to the airframe’s structure, there is still no replacement for AESA, and it is estimated that it will be retired in this way.
After completing the mass production of the F/A-18E block1 Super Hornet fighter jet, the Boeing Company of the United States began to assemble and produce the F/A-18E/F block2 Super Hornet fighter jet. There are 71 Hornet fighters, 106 F/A-18F block2 Super Hornet fighters, and a total of 177 F/A-18E/F block2 Super Hornet fighters in this batch. This batch of F/A-18E/F block2 Super Hornet fighter jets is equipped with AN/APG-79 active phased array radar for the first time. At this time, the F/A-18E/F block2 Super Hornet fighter jets are already a standard tradition for Three and a half generations of fighter jets.
By 2007, the Boeing Company of the United States began to assemble and produce more advanced F/A-18E/F block2+ Super Hornet fighter jets, including 251 single-seaters and 180 two-seaters, a total of 431. To sum up, in the past 20 years, the Boeing Company of the United States has produced a total of 137 block1 aircraft, 177 block2 aircraft, and block2+431 aircraft. The total of these three versions of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets is 745. If you think about it carefully, this number is quite a lot.
At present, these F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets are mainly equipped by the US Navy, and the Australian Air Force and the Kuwaiti Air Force have also purchased some. However, in India, Malaysia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain and other countries’ air forces’ bidding for new-generation fighter jets, Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets failed due to various reasons. Without winning the bid, the capable countries in these countries have purchased Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth fighter jets. After all, it is still a stealth fighter.
In addition to the already-produced F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets, Boeing’s latest version mass-producing is the F/A-18E/F block3 Super Hornet fighter jets. Block version 17 frames. Due to the small number, this number is not counted for the time being. In addition, the US Boeing Company also produced 160 EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft for the US Navy.
This is a dedicated tactical electronic warfare aircraft. In the subsequent normal combat preparations, the U.S. Air Force will also ask the U.S. Navy to borrow these EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft. This number is also quite a lot. Many years ago, some people said that the strongest air force in the world was the US Navy. Currently, there are more than 600 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets (745 minus the number of Australia and Kuwait), and 160 EA-18Gs are The strength of the U.S. Navy. Of course, in terms of strength, the U.S. Air Force is still much stronger.
Note: The number of fighter jets in this article is for reference only due to the limitation of the source of the data.
