McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

The F/A-18 Hornet (CF-18, F-18) is a fighter jet that is made by Boeing, and was originally manufactured by the McDonnell-Douglas Company. It first flew in 1978 and was introduced in 1983. Its main user is the United States Navy. It can take off from aircraft carriers because of its special design. The F/A-18 can attack land and air targets. Any aircraft which can do this is called "multi-role". The Hornet is also flown by the Blue Angels.

Users

The F/A-18 is used by many countries, including the United States Navy

United States

The United States navy is the biggest user of the hornet. The hornet is currently only used by the United States Marine Corps, but until 2019 the U.S. Navy also had them.

The USMC currently has 143 F/A-18 hornets.

Blue Angels

The Blue Angels are the aerobatic team of the USMC. They use the F/A-18. Before the F/A-18 existed, they used the A-4 Skyhawk.

Australia

The Royal Australian Air force (RAAF) bought 57 F/A-18A and 18 F/A-18B (the b was used for training) in 1981 to replace the old Mirage III. The difference between the RAAF hornet and the US hornet is that the RAAF removed the carrier Capabilities, because Australia doesn't have any aircraft carriers big enough to fit the plane.

Armament

The hornet can carry a lot of bombs, missiles, rockets and guns. It can also carry pods, pods give the aircraft more options, the Litening targeting pod,for example, lets the pilot see the ground and guide bombs to the target.

Bombs

B81 and B83 nuclear bombs

Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM)

Paveway laser guided bombs (the bombs are guided by the targeting pod)

Mk80 bombs general purpose

CBU100 cluster bomb

Rockets

2.75 in (70 mm) Hydra 70 rockets

5 in (127.0 mm) Zuni rockets

Missiles

Related pages

Simulacrum of Multirole fighter

MiG-35 - Simulacrum of the F/A-18 Hornet

"Russia's cutting-edge MiG-35 fighter jet: aerobatic stunts back in fashion". TASS. 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2018-02-07. - on TASS Official Infographic(in English)

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