The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft (F/A designation for Fighter/Attack).

• Role: Multirole fighter
• National origin: United States
• Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas/Boeing
• First flight: 18 November 1978
• Introduction: 7 January 1983
• Status: In service
• Number built: F/A-18A/B/C/D: 1,480
• Developed from: Northrop YF-17
• Variants: McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet
• Developed into: Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing

Military operators F/A-18 Hornet

• United States Navy
• United States Marine Corps
• Royal Australian Air Force
• Spanish Air Force
• Canadian Armed Forces
• Swiss Air Force
• Finnish Air Force
• Kuwait Air Force
• Royal Malaysian Air Force

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: F/A-18C: 1, F/A-18D: 2 (pilot and weapons system officer)
• Length: 56 ft (17.1 m)
• Wingspan: 40 ft (12.3 m)
• Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m)
• Wing area: 400 ft² (38 m²)
• Airfoil: NACA 65A005 mod root, 65A003.5 mod tip
• Empty weight: 23,000 lb (10,400 kg)
• Loaded weight: 36,970 lb (16,770 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 51,900 lb (23,500 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofans
  • Dry thrust: 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) each
  • Thrust with afterburner: 17,750 lbf (79.2 kN) each
• Fuel capacity: 10,860 pounds (4,930 kg) internally

Performance

• Maximum speed:
  • High altitude: Mach 1.8 (1,190 mph, 1,915 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,190 m)
  • Low altitude: Mach 1.2 (915 mph, 1,473 km/h)
• Range: 1,089 nmi (1,250 miles, 2,000 km)  with only two AIM-9s
• Combat radius: 400 nmi (460 mi (740 km))  on air-air mission
• Ferry range: 1,800 nmi (2,070 mi (3,330 km))
• Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,240 m)
• Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
• Wing loading: 93 lb/ft² (454 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.96 (1.13 with loaded weight & 50% internal fuel)

Armament

• Guns: 1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan nose mounted 6-barreled Gatling cannon, 578 rounds
• Hardpoints: 9 total: 2× wingtips missile launch rail, 4× under-wing, and 3× under-fuselage with a capacity of 13,700 pounds (6,200 kg) external fuel and ordnance
• Rockets: **2.75 inches (70 mm) Hydra 70 rockets
  • 5 in (127.0 mm) Zuni rockets
• Missiles: **Air-to-air missiles:
  • • 4× AIM-9 Sidewinder or 4× AIM-132 ASRAAM or 4× IRIS-T or 4× AIM-120 AMRAAM and
    • 2× AIM-7 Sparrow or 2× AIM-120 AMRAAM
  • Air-to-surface missiles:
    • AGM-65 Maverick
    • AGM-84H/K Standoff Land Attack Missile Expanded Range (SLAM-ER)
    • AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation missile (ARM)
    • AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
    • AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
    • Taurus missile Cruise missile
  • Anti-ship missile:
    • AGM-84 Harpoon
• Bombs: **B61 nuclear bomb
  • JDAM precision-guided munition (PGMs)
  • Paveway series of laser-guided bombs
  • Mk 80 series of unguided iron bombs
  • CBU-78 Gator
  • CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
  • CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
  • Mk 20 Rockeye II
• Others:
  • SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or
  • Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod or
  • AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk Targeting pods (US Navy only), to be replaced by AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR or
  • LITENING targeting pod (USMC, Royal Australian Air Force, Spanish Air Force, and Finnish Air Force only) or
  • up to 3× 330 US gallons (1,200 l; 270 imp gal) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time.

Avionics

• Hughes APG-73 radar
• ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) antenna for use by US Navy’s F/A-18C strike fighter squadrons