Breathtaking photo as F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot seemingly activates “Hyperspace Drive”

An amazing shot from a Super Hornet fighter pilot

This photo was taken by an F/A-18E Super Hornet pilot with the U.S. Navy’s Strike-Fighter Squadron 27 (VFA-27) “Royal Maces” during a night gun strafe practice.

The visual effect of the 20mm bullets fired by the M61A2 Vulcan nose-mounted Gatling-style cannon is that of faster-than-light travel between stars (dubbed “hyperspace drive” or “warp drive”) of some famous science fiction movies.

Therefore, if you thought that traveling between stellar systems was something for spacecrafts out of Star Trek or Star Wars movies, you were (somehow) wrong.

Based at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, in Japan, VFA-27 is part of Carrier Air Wing 5 and is attached to the USS George Washington (CVN-73).

Image credit: LT Chris Nigus

H/T to @G_Steuer for the heads-up

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About 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.