Our review of the aircraft of the US Navy Carrier Air Wings (CVWs) kicks off with the F/A-18C Hornet — old but not yet out.
FORCE REPORT | US NAVY CARRIER AIR POWER
ONCEIVED AS A multirole flghter-attack aircraft, the F/A-18A Hornet was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop (now Boeing and Northrop Grumman). First flown in November 1978, the initial Hornet entered service in February 1981 and began replacing F-4N/S Phantom IIs and A-7E Corsair IIs. It became operational in 1983 and first saw combat over Libya in 1986. The improved F/A-18C/D went into production in 1987.
Now referred to as the ‘legacy’ Hornet, the fighters are powered by a pair of General Electric F404-GE-402 engines and those assigned to the CVWs are mainly fitted with the AN/APG-73 radar. An internal 20mm M61 rotary cannon is installed in the nose and seven weapon stations can carry up to 14,000lb (6,350kg) of ordnance or external fuel tanks. Weapons include AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles, the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW), GBU-31/32/38/54 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), GBU-10/12/16/24/51 laser-guid…
