The Lockheed Martin F/A-18X Black Wasp (Formerly F/A-181 Black Wasp) is a stealth twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by Wernher and Noah Industries and Osean National Industries, the F/A-18X was created from the standard McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in the 2000s for use by the Osean Maritime Defense Force and Marine Corps. The Black Wasp is also used by the air forces of several other nations especially by the Osean Air Defense Force.
The F/A-18X was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit displays, stealth capabilities and excellent aerodynamic characteristics, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform many roles such as fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses, air interdiction, close air support, and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven it to be a valuable carrier asset.
The Black Wasp first saw combat action during the Circum-Pacific War and subsequently participated in the 2019 Lighthouse War and 2020 Aurelian War. The F/A-181 Black Wasp has many similarities with the original F/A-18 Hornet, such as multirole capabilities, both are carrier-based aircraft, both have digital fly-by-wire control system and both have excellent maneuverability. But the F/A-18X has many large improvements such as better maneuverability because of thrust vectoring nozzles, speed, more armaments because it can carry weapons both internally and externally and the largest improvement is low observable technology.
Design[]
The F/A-18X is a stealth twin engine, midwing, multi-mission tactical aircraft. It is highly maneuverable, due to its good thrust-to-weight ratio, digital fly-by-wire control system, and leading-edge extensions, which allow the Black Wasp to remain controllable at high angles of attack. The trapezoidal wing has a 20-degree sweepback on the leading edge and a straight trailing edge. The wing has full-span, leading-edge flaps and the trailing edge has single-slotted flaps and ailerons over the entire span.
The Black Wasp uses a clipped delta wing design with a reverse sweep on the rear. The Black Wasp's normally high angle of attack performance envelope was put to rigorous testing the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV). NASA used the F-18 HARV to demonstrate flight handling characteristics at high angle-of-attack (alpha) of 65–70 degrees using thrust vectoring vanes. F/A-18 stabilators were also used as canards on NASA's F-15S/MTD.
It has both conventional and fully-stealthed variants; the latter can only store up to eight weapons internally and does not have any external hard points.
Armament
By default, the Black Wasp is armed with a 30mm cannon that is loaded with 3600 rounds of high-explosive (HE) ammunition.
Features
Like other carrier-based aircrafts, the Black Wasp has a retractable tailhook that can be lowered or raised to assist in performing carrier landings, and can have its wings folded to allow for easier storage and transportation aboard aircraft carriers.
Compared to Yuktobania's Sukhoi Su-33 and Mikoyan MiG-35, the Black Wasp is better when it comes to avionics and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air-to-air combat.
The Black Wasp carries weapons internally or stealth weapon pods for the sake of stealth, but when stealth is not required, the Black Wasp can carry weapons externally.
Drawbacks
However, its flight model is slightly more sluggish and is unable to match modern fifth-generation Yuktobanian aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-57 and Sukhoi Su-71 agility in close-range dogfights. Arming the Black Wasp for CAS also means that most of its BVR advantages will have to be sacrificed, since it will need to utilise all of its (already limited) number of pylons for ground attack weapons instead of AAMs.
Weapons[]
Guns:[]
- 1x 20mm M61A2 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon (566 rounds)
Standard Missiles:[]
- STDM (AIM-9 Sidewinder)
Air-to-Air Weapons:[]
- SAAM (AIM-7 Sparrow)
- HVAA (AIM-7 Sparrow)
- SASM (AIM-132 ASRAAM)
- HCAA (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- HPAA (AIM-9X Sidewinder)
- QAAM (AIM-9X Sidewinder)
- LAAM (AIM-260 JATM)
- XMAA (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- 4AAM (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- 6AAM (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- 8AAM (AIM-120 AMRAAM)
- XLAA (AIM-120D AMRAAM)
Air-to-Ground Weapons:[]
- SOD (AGM-154 JSOW)
- GPB (GBU-16 Paveway II)
- RKTL (Hydra 70)
- UGBM (Mark 83 GP bomb)
- UGBL (Mark 84 GP bomb)
- FAEB (FB-45/B FAEB)
- XSDB (GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb or GBU-53/B Stormbreaker)
- SFFS (CBU-87)
- LASM (AGM-84 Harpoon)
- LAGM (AGM-88 HARM)
- 4AGM (AGM-65 Maverick)
- 8AGM (SPEAR 3)
- LACM (AGM-158 JASSM)
Multi-Purpose Weapons:[]
- 20mm SUU-16/A gun pods
Other:[]
- ECMP
Flares:[]
- 4x Flares
Skins[]
- Dark air superiority grey.
- Olive green/light brown desert camouflage dorsal surface and white underbelly, with yellow stripes on wings and rudder edges and white dorsal surface.
- Three tone gray aggressor camouflage.
- Aggressor blue camouflage.
- Gray body with black upper body and tail trims.
- Aggressor scheme of United States Navy VFC-12.
- Steel blue upper fuselage, with white/dark blue camouflage pattern on dorsal surface and white underbelly. Steel blue rudders with orange tips.
- Dense three-tone gray digital camouflage with black anti-glare panels.
- Snow leopard pattern dorsal surface with gray underbelly and dark blue leading edges and wingtips.
- Grey, dark grey camouflage based on the F-22A Raptor.
Gallery[]
