The McDonnell Douglas F/A18 Hornet is a twinengine, supersonic, allweather, carriercapable, multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the F/A designation). Designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing) and Northrop (now part of Northrop Grumman), the F/A18 was derived from the latter's YF17 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.

The F/A18 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 for its lack of range and payload compared to its earlier contemporaries, such as the Grumman F14 Tomcat in the fighter and strike fighter role, and the Grumman A6 Intruder and LTV A7 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/A18 Hornet served as the baseline for the Boeing F/A18E/F Super Hornet, its larger, evolutionary redesign.

The U.S. Navy started the Naval FighterAttack, Experimental (VFAX) program to procure a multirole aircraft to replace the Douglas A4 Skyhawk, the A7 Corsair II, and the remaining McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom IIs, and to complement the F14 Tomcat. Vice Admiral Kent Lee, then head of Naval Air Systems Command, was the lead advocate for the VFAX against strong opposition from many Navy officers, including Vice Admiral William D. Houser, deputy chief of naval operations for air warfare – the highestranking naval aviator.

In August 1973, Congress mandated that the Navy pursue a lowercost alternative to the F14. Grumman proposed a stripped F14 designated the F14X, while McDonnell Douglas proposed a naval variant of the F15, but both were nearly as expensive as the F14. That summer, Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger ordered the Navy to evaluate the competitors in the Air Force's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program, the General Dynamics YF16 and Northrop YF17. The Air Force competition specified a day fighter with no strike capability. In May 1974, the House Armed Services Committee redirected $34 million from the VFAX to a new program, the Navy Air Combat Fighter (NACF), intended to make maximum use of the technology developed for the LWF program.

The F/A18 is a twin engine, midwing, multimission tactical aircraft. It is highly maneuverable, due to its good thrusttoweight ratio, digital flybywire control system, and leadingedge extensions, which allow the Hornet to remain controllable at high angles of attack. The trapezoidal wing has a 20degree sweepback on the leading edge and a straight trailing edge. The wing has fullspan, leadingedge flaps and the trailing edge has singleslotted flaps and ailerons over the entire span.

Canted vertical stabilizers are another distinguishing design element, one among several other such elements that enable the Hornet's excellent high angle of attack ability, including oversized horizontal stabilators, oversized trailingedge flaps that operate as flaperons, large fulllength leadingedge slats, and flight control computer programming that multiplies the movement of each control surface at low speeds and moves the vertical rudders inboard instead of simply left and right.

General characteristics

Crew: 1 (C)/2 (D pilot and weapon systems officer)
Length: 56 ft 1 in (17.1 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 4 in (12.3 m) with AIM9 Sidewinders on wingtip LAU7 launchers
Width: 27 ft 7 in (8.4 m) wing folded
Height: 15 ft 5 in (4.7 m)
Wing area: 410 sq ft (38 m2)
Aspect ratio: 4
Airfoil: root:NACA 65A005 mod.; tip:NACA 65A003.5 mod.
Empty weight: 23,000 lb (10,433 kg)
Gross weight: 36,970 lb (16,769 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 51,900 lb (23,541 kg)
Fuel capacity: 10,860 pounds (4,930 kg) internally
Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F404GE402 afterburning turbofan engines, 11,000 lbf (49 kN) thrust each dry, 17,750 lbf (79.0 kN) with afterburner
Performance

Maximum speed: 1,034 kn (1,190 mph, 1,915 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
Maximum speed: Mach 1.8
Cruise speed: 570 kn (660 mph, 1,060 km/h)
Range: 1,089 nmi (1,253 mi, 2,017 km)
Combat range: 400 nmi (460 mi, 740 km) airair mission
Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,100 mi, 3,300 km)
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (250 m/s)
Wing loading: 93 lb/sq ft (450 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.96 (1.13 with loaded weight at 50% internal fuel)

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