Boeing [BA] and the Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-31) have begun flight testing a Distributed Targeting System for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in the California desert, the company reported.
“The Distributed Targeting System uses onboard hardware and software processing to produce precise targeting solutions for Super Hornet aircrews. This enhanced targeting capability is part of the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Network Centric Warfare Upgrades program as well as the F/A-18E/F Flight Plan, which ensures that the Super Hornet remains ahead of known and emerging threats throughout the coming decades,” Boeing said in a statement.
Distributed Targeting will continue to expand the Super Hornet’s already advanced multirole capability for the warfighter, Kory Mathews, F/A-18 and EA-18 programs vice president for Boeing, said.
“Distributed Targeting is a powerful tool that will provide Super Hornet aircrews with highly precise targeting capability when identifying and engaging ground target sets,” he said. “This is another phase of our evolutionary approach to continuous capability enhancement for the Navy’s combat-proven Super Hornet.”
The flight tests are taking place at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Advanced Weapons Lab in China Lake, Calif. The current test phase is scheduled to conclude in November 2011, according to the company.
Successful completion of the flight tests will enable the targeting system to transition to operational testing in late 2011. The capability is expected to become operational in F/A-18E/F aircraft in 2012.