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The US Navy has started a process to replace the Blue Angels demonstration team’s aircraft with a squadron of Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornets.
Boeing will receive a contract to draw up the engineering plans needed to convert the single-seat Super Hornet into a configuration specific to the Blue Angels role, the navy said in a 3 December acquisition notice.
The engineering work will support engineering change proposal 6480, which is entitled, “Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels) Super Hornet Conversion”, the acquisition document shows.
Since 2010, the navy has been moving F/A-18C/Ds into the squadron, but now the service is considering moving the Super Hornet into the role.
To perform the Blue Angels role, the F/A-18E will likely need similar design changes that the navy has performed on the original Hornet fleet.
...andA note on the Blue Angels’ official web site cites the Super Hornet’s extra heft as one reason why the older model is favoured for the public demonstration role.
“While the Super Hornet has more recent technology, the Hornet is more suitable to the needs of the current team due to its light weight and slick manoeuvrability,” the navy document says.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... ol-419812/
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