Enhanced capabilities for air force combat jets match US

Australia’s Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft are set to receive significant combat capability upgrades.

A RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fly in formation during a handling display at Newcastle Williamtown Air Show in November 2023. Picture: Department of Defence

Australia’s Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft are set to receive significant combat capability upgrades flagged under the Albanese government’s recently released Defence Integrated Investment Plan (IIP).

Included in the plans for both aircraft are new weapons and spiral electronic upgrades to keep the Royal Australian Air Force’s fleets on par with their counterparts in the US navy.

Both types will now remain in service to 2040 which means a further purchase of Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters will not go ahead and that fleet will remain capped at 72 aircraft.

“The F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler will be provided with lethality and survivability upgrades, while maintaining their interoperability with the United States and other key partners,” the IIP acknowledges.

“Defence is looking to extend the operational life of both these capabilities to 2040.”

The document makes provision for $2.3bn of approved funding for upgrading the Growlers out to 2034, and earmarks up to $2bn of further funding awaiting approval.

The Super Hornets are planned to be fitted with new long-range air to surface strike missiles, which will allow it to engage targets at greater distances.

Key among the new weapons is Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship missile (LRASM), which will be fitted to both the Super Hornet and F-35A, as well as the RAAF’s Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.

The LRASM is designed to engage maritime surface targets at distances of up to 70km, according to Lockheed Martin. These weapons are being acquired under Defence’s Air 3023 Phase 1 (Enhanced Maritime Strike for Air Combat Capability) program.

The Super Hornets (and F-35As) will also receive Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158B Joint Air to Surface Strike Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER) under Project Air 6004 Phase 2 (Multi-Domain Joint Strike – Air Launch).

The IIP allocates $260m over the next decade for air-launched strike weapons, with between $1-$1.5bn of further funding not yet approved.

“The integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER) capability onto the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike Fighter will enable air force to defeat a more diverse set of land targets at longer ranges,” the IIP promises.

Lastly, Australia’s Super Hornets are to receive a hypersonic air-launched weapons capability in future years, with funding of $1.5bn forecast to 2034, with a possible $1.5bn still to come.

In the US, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are developing the air-breathing, scramjet-powered Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), a weapon designed to fly at sustained speeds more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5.0). While this is a US air force program, the Navy’s equivalent is the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface (HALO) program, which is hoped to enter service by the end of the decade.

Given that each of these programs aim to deliver a hypersonic weapon which can be carried by a fighter – it is likely that one or the other will also be purchased by Australia.

Finally, the electronic attack Growlers (and F-35As) are to receive the Northrop Grumman AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (ARRGM-ER), which is an anti-radar weapon which is significantly more deadly and able to hit targets at longer ranges than current weapons.

“The integration of the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) onto the EA-18G Growler and F-35A Joint Strike Fighter will improve Air Force’s ability to disrupt potential adversary surveillance and targeting capabilities,” the IIP states.