The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets (F/A for Fighter/Attack). The F/A-18 was derived from the YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and
Marine Corps. It has been the aerial demonstration aircraft for the U.S. Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, since
1986. The fighter's primary missions are fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), 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 F-14 Tomcat in the fighter and strike fighter role, and the A-6 Intruder and A-7 Corsair II in the attack role.[3]
F/A-18 Hornet provided the baseline design for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, a larger, evolutionary redesign of the F/A-18. Compared to the Hornet, the Super Hornet is larger, heavier and has improved range and payload capability. The F/A-18E/F was originally proposed as an alternative to a completely new aircraft to replace existing dedicated attack aircraft such as the A-6. The larger variant was also directed to replace the aging F-14 Tomcat, thus serving a complementary role with Hornets in the U.S. Navy, and serving a wider range of roles including refueling tanker, and electronic jamming platform.[4]
Specifications (F/A-18E/F)
Three view projection of the Super Hornet
Data from U.S. Navy fact file,[13] Aerospaceweb[97]
General characteristics
* Crew: F/A-18E: 1, F/A-18F: 2
* Length: 60 ft 1¼ in (18.31 m)
* Wingspan: 44 ft 8½ in (13.62 m)
* Height: 16 ft (4.88 m)
* Wing area: 500 ft² (46.45 m²)
* Empty weight: 30,600 lb (13,900 kg)
* Loaded weight: 47,000 lb (21,320 kg) (in fighter configuration)
* Max takeoff weight: 66,000 lb (29,900 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× General Electric F414-GE-400 turbofans
o Dry thrust: 14,000 lbf (62.3 kN) each
o Thrust with afterburner: 22,000 lbf (97.9 kN) each
* Internal fuel capacity: F/A-18E: 14,400 lb (6,530 kg), F/A-18F: 13,550 lb (6,145 kg)
* External fuel capacity: 5 × 480 gal tanks, totaling 16,380 lb (7,430 kg)
Performance
* Maximum speed: Mach 1.8+[13] (1,190 mph, 1,900 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,190 m)
* Range: 1,275 nmi (2,346 km) clean plus two AIM-9s[13]
* Combat radius: 390 nmi (449 mi, 722 km) for interdiction mission[98]
* Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,070 mi, 3,330 km)
* Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,000+ m)
* Wing loading: 94.0 lb/ft² (459 kg/m²)
* Thrust/weight: 0.93
* Design load factor: 7.6 g[99]
Armament
* Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61 Vulcan nose mounted gatling gun, 578 rounds
* Hardpoints: 11 total: 2× wingtips, 6× under-wing, and 3× under-fuselage with a capacity of 17,750 lb (8,050 kg) external fuel and ordnance
* Rockets:
* Missiles:
o Air-to-air missiles:
+ 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or 4× AIM-120 AMRAAM, and
+ 2× AIM-7 Sparrow or additional 2× AIM-120 AMRAAM
o Air-to-surface missiles:
+ AGM-65 Maverick
+ Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM-ER)
+ AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation missile
+ AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
o Anti-ship missile:
+ AGM-84 Harpoon
* Bombs:
o JDAM Precision-guided munition (PGMs)
o Paveway series of Laser guided bombs
o Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs
o CBU-87 cluster
o CBU-78 Gator
o CBU-97
o Mk 20 Rockeye II
* Others:
o SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or
o Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod or
o AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR Targeting pods or
o up to 3× 330 US gallon (1,200 L) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time or
o 1× 330 US gal (1,200 L) tank and 4× 480 US gal (1,800 L) tanks for aerial refueling system (ARS). Avionics
* Hughes APG-73 or Raytheon APG-79 Radar
* Northrop Grumman/ITT AN/ALE-165 self-protection jammer pod or BAE Systems AN/ALE-214 integrated defensive electronic countermeasures system
* Raytheon AN/ALE-50 or BAE Systems AN/ALE-55 towed decoy
* Northrop Grumman AN/ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver
* MIDS LVT or MIDS JTRS datalink transceiver
