Image copyright of Boeing Corporation

The F/A-18 Hornet is a multi-mission strike fighter, combining the capabilities of a fighter or interceptor with those of attack aircraft or bomber. The F/A-18A (single seat) and F/A-18B (dual seat) became operational in 1983 replacing US Navy and Marine Corps F-4s and A-7s. It quickly became the battle group commander's mainstay because of its capability, versatility and availability. Reliability and ease of maintenance were emphasized in its design, and F/A-18s have consistently flown three times more hours without failure than other Navy tactical aircraft, while requiring half the maintenance time.

Features

Following a successful run of more than 400 A and B models, deliveries of the improved F/A-18C (single seat) and F/A-18D (dual seat) models began in September 1987. These Hornets carry the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and the infrared imaging Maverick air-to-ground missile. Two years later, the C/D models came with improved night attack capabilities. The new components included a navigation forward looking infrared (NAVFLIR) pod, a raster head-up display, night vision goggles, special cockpit lighting compatible with the night vision devices, a digital color moving map and an independent multipurpose color display.

The multi-mission F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet" strike fighter is an evolutionary upgrade of the combat-proven night strike F/A-18C/D. The Super Hornet will provide the battle group commander with a platform that has significant growth potential, more than adequate carrier based landing weight, as well as range, endurance, and ordnance carriage capabilities comparable to the A-6 and F-14 which are now being retired. The F/A-18E/F is also considerably more survivable than the most recent F/A-18C/Ds which will permit unescorted operations against highly defended targets early in the conflict. The Navy/Industry F/A-18E/F team has developed a remarkably improved aircraft, taking advantage of more than 3,000,000 flight hours experience with the F/A-18A/B/C/D versions; correcting known deficiencies, and adding many new capabilities.

The F/A-18E/F aircraft are 4.2 feet longer than earlier Hornets, have a 25% larger wing area, and carry 33% more internal fuel which will effectively increase mission range by 41% and endurance by 50%. The Super Hornet also incorporates two additional weapon stations. This allows for increased payload flexibility by mixing and matching air-to-air and/or air-to-ground ordnance. The aircraft can also carry the complete complement of "smart" weapons, including the newest joint weapons such as JDAM and JSOW. Additionally, carrier recovery payload is increased to 9,000 pounds, and its engine thrust from 36,000 pounds to 44,000 pounds utilizing two General Electric F414 turbo-fan engines.

F/A-18A/B/C/D aircraft will fly for years with the U.S. Marine Corps and eight international customers: Australia, Canada, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand.

Specifications