F/A-18 question

Hornet97 · September 21, 2019, 08:29:48 PM

Hopefully, this is the proper place for this but does anyone know if the F/A-18 family legacy or Super can carry live weapons on triple ejector racks or multiple ejector racks like the A-6 could? I've only seen them carrying the racks with training weapons and was curious if anyone knows if that's all they can carry on them. Thanks.

rickshaw · September 21, 2019, 11:11:07 PM

You mean like these?

Dizzyfugu · September 22, 2019, 01:43:46 AM

AFAIK, yes the F-18 can (why not?), both TERs and MERs.

Mc Donnell Douglas F-18 Hornet (C.15) by Ejército del Aire Ministerio de Defensa España, on Flickr

Hornet97 · September 22, 2019, 11:32:49 AM

Thanks guys. Yeah I know they can carry them but can they carry like 500lb bombs on them?

jcf · September 22, 2019, 05:32:00 PM

Of course, why would they not be able to?http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/mk82dr_1.htm

kerick · September 22, 2019, 06:13:07 PM

When the F-18 first came out they carried a double bomb rack that never caught on. Is that what you're thinking of?

Hornet97 · September 22, 2019, 06:33:35 PM

Quote from: kerick on September 22, 2019, 06:13:07 PM
When the F-18 first came out they carried a double bomb rack that never caught on. Is that what you're thinking of?

Yes this is what all my books have them listed as carrying instead of the MER or TER and I've only found photos of training rounds on the MER which is why I was confused if they could carry live weapons on them or not.

Dizzyfugu · September 23, 2019, 12:16:01 AM

I think that the MER and TER do not show up anymore is the result of a change of tactics. They were highly popular during the Vietnam war, where broad bombardment with masses of rather light bombs was the prime strategy. After that, the theatre of operations never necessitated this again, and air strikes more and more went towards surgical strikes with smart/guided weapons against more defined targets. Furthermore, these racks are draggy and limit the aircraft's speed and range - the F-18's "double" racks were to avoid this, and you only see them with streamlined/supersonic iron bombs, if at all.

Snowtrooper · September 23, 2019, 01:00:39 AM

It's also a matter of bringback weight (maximum landing weight). If the mission is aborted, target is not found, etc., upon returning to carrier dumping a mass of iron bombs in the designated sea area was not a big deal. Dumping several smart weapons would be a major expense compared to that.

Hornet97 · September 23, 2019, 08:27:55 PM

Gotcha thanks guys big help on clearing that up for me.

ChernayaAkula · September 25, 2019, 07:39:06 PM

TERs - haven't seen them on either Legacy or Super Hornets.
MERs - only with practice bombs. Jake Melampy's Modern Super Hornet Guide states that only practice rounds are a legal load on MERs on Super Hornets. The MERs are carried only on stations 3 and 9 (the middle wing stations).

The ones carrying full-sized ammo (live or inert) on Hornets are the twin-store VER/CVER racks (Vertical Ejector Rack /Canted Vertical Ejector Rack).