According to the blog "The DEW Line" web resource www.flightglobal.com, the corporation Boeing at its facility in St. Louis presented a new perspective modification of the Boeing F / A-18F Super Hornet, designed by the US Navy. The machine is equipped with overhead conformal fuel tanks on the fuselage (Сonformal fuel tanks - CFT), a special ventral "stelsed" outboard container to accommodate controlled
weapons, as well as a new retractable opto-electronic turret in the lower nose of the fuselage.
The suspension container holds four Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-to-air missiles. On the aircraft demonstrated, the overhead conformal fuel tanks, ventral container and retractable optoelectronic turret were model, but in joint (factory and Navy) flight tests, which are scheduled to begin at the end of summer - early autumn 2013, overhead conformal fuel tanks and ventral container should be already fully functional.
Modified aircraft Boeing F / A-18F Super Hornet