CC New Project

We are starting work on the F/A-18CJ Crimson Hornet. It's just a base F/A-18C, with new made-in-Crimsonia Mitsubishi F209X Turbofan, as well as a larger capacity fuel tank, bring it's range to 1200nm. and a combat radius of 500nm, and a ferry range of 2000nm. Maximum speed will be around Mach 2. New radars and avionics will also be installed, but will be in the same configuration. Currently, we have 2 being upgraded to the F/A-18JX, which will provide the testbed for the new equipment.

Estimated testing will be done by the end of May with current-fleet upgrades to commence June 1, with a first of 20.

AST has done research on such an F/A-18. IT was called the F/A-18 SX Technology Demonstrator. Wing aspect was increased in order to allow for higher cruising and max speed. This also allowed for a higher g loading. Integral tanks were mounted to the fuselage to extend range and combat radius while maintaining a low cross section. Because of the extended wing aspect along the root necessary to achieve higher speeds, the aircraft suffered a significant loss of airspeed under high g loading. To make up for this thrust vectoring nozzles were added. In the most recent model, we experimented with canards. This did improve the aircraft's sustained turn rate, but the increase in weight required more powerful engines and a slightly extended aft fuselage to maintain optimum performance. AST came to the conclusion that even with all these upgrades the aircraft still could not match the overall mission role capabilities if the Su-35 and F-22/FB-22. OCU will provide you with our data if you like. Perhaps you can figure out something we didn't.