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McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet facts for kids

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A U.S. Navy F/A-18 Flying

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 hornet is currently used by the United States Marine Corps, which has 143 F/A-18 aircraft and plans to use them until the early 2030s.

The last operational deployment of the F/A-18C Hornet in U.S. Navy service was aboard the USS Carl Vinson and ended on 12 March 2018. The aircraft briefly went back to sea for routine carrier qualifications in October, but it was retired from active Navy service on 1 February 2019. The type continued to be used by reserve units, primarily for adversary training. The actual final Navy F/A-18C operational flight occurred on 2 October 2019.

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

Air to Air

Aim-120 AMRAAM

Aim-9 Sidewinder

Aim-132 ASRAAM

Iris-T

Aim-7 Sparrow

Air to Ground

AGM-65 Maverick

AGM-88 HARM

AGM-164 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)

Taurus Cruise Missile

Anti Ship

AGM-84 Harpoon

Related pages

Images for kids

See also

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