Farnborough 2012 photo: F/A-18F Super Hornet take off

Published on: July 9, 2012 at 10:43 PM

Here’s a cool picture of the Boeing F/A-18F of the U.S. Navy VFA-122 departing for the daily air display at Farnborough International Airshow.

The multirole plane performed its display with a payload configuration hardly found on the Navy’s “Rhino”: 2x AIM-9X and 2x AIM-120 only. For instance, those embarked on the U.S. supercarriers within the Fifth Fleet Area Of Operation, flying sorties in support of OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom) in Afghanistan, carry at least the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) attached to the left intake and a JDAM and LGB on the underwing pylons.

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By David Cenciotti

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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.