McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
American carrier-capable multirole strike aircraft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations, and formerly by the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels.
F/A-18 Hornet | |
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A U.S. Navy F/A-18C in flight | |
Role | Multirole fighter |
National origin | United States |
Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas (1974–1997) with Northrop (1974–1994) Boeing (1997–2000) |
First flight | 18 November 1978; 45 years ago (1978-11-18) |
Introduction | 7 January 1983 (USMC) 1 July 1984 (USN) |
Retired | 2019 (Hornet, USN) 2021 (RAAF) |
Status | In service |
Primary users | United States Navy (historical) United States Marine Corps Finnish Air Force Spanish Air and Space Force |
Produced | 1974–2000 |
Number built | F/A-18A/B/C/D: 1,480[1] |
Developed from | Northrop YF-17 |
Variants | McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet High Alpha Research Vehicle |
Developed into | Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Boeing X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing |
The F/A-18 was designed to be a highly versatile aircraft due to its avionics, cockpit displays, and excellent aerodynamic characteristics, with the ability to carry a wide variety of weapons. The aircraft can perform 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, though it has been criticized by many Naval aviation experts[by whom?] for its lack of range and payload compared to its earlier contemporaries, such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat in the fighter and strike fighter role, and the Grumman A-6 Intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II in the attack role.
The Hornet first saw combat action during the 1986 United States bombing of Libya and subsequently participated in the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 Iraq War. The F/A-18 Hornet served as the baseline for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, its larger, evolutionary redesign, which supplanted both the older Hornet and the F-14 Tomcat in the U.S. Navy.