Finally! US Air Force New Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Is Ready for BattleThe U.S. Navy this month accepted the first two Block III F/A-18 Super Hornet jets from Boeing, the company announced Sept. 27, kicking off a process that will create a better networked and more lethal fighter fleet.Boeing will build 78 total new aircraft in the Block III configuration, which includes an Advanced Cockpit System built around a touchscreen display; the Tactical Targeting Network Technology, or TTNT; and Distributed Targeting Processor-Networked, or DTP-N.The network will help link all the sensors from aircraft and ships in the battlespace to create a better operational picture for smarter targeting decisions, and the new processor has 17 times the computing power of the precious mission computer, Jen Tebo, Boeing’s vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18G projects, told reporters Sept. 23. Tebo added that the new, open-design processor can take on yet-to-come upgrades and capabilities.The Block III jets are also built for 10,000 flight hours compared to 6,000 hours for earlier jets, and they’ve been made stealthier and more survivable with additional treatments that reduce their radar cross section, Tebo explained.“If you think about where the capabilities are going in the future, it’s certainly around the airframe, certainly around the survivability piece, stealth technology piece. But the meat and potatoes in the future are really going to be around the networking and the mission systems, and this sets up the Super Hornet to be the risk-reducer and the bridge to get to Next Gen Air Dominance,” she said, referring to the Navy’s next fighter program that’s in the early planning stages.AiirSource Military Channel brings you contents and communications from the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Latest videos of weapons, aircraft, tanks, ships, guns, artillery, vehicles, military operations and technologies are published on our network daily.