McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 Hornet is a modern all-weather carrier-capable strike fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. Designed in the 1970s, it is in service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, as well as the air forces of several other nations. Its primary missions are fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD), interdiction, close and deep air support, and 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 contemporaries.

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a distinct, evolutionary upgrade to the F/A-18 designed to serve a complementary role with Hornets in the U.S. Navy.^[1]

History

Origins

The F/A-18 was acquired as a result of the U.S. Navy's Naval Fighter-Attack, Experimental (VFAX) program to procure a multirole aircraft to replace the F-4 Phantom II, A-4 Skyhawk, and A-7 Corsair II, and complement the F-14 Tomcat. Vice Admiral Kent Lee, then head of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), 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 highest ranking naval aviator.^[2] In August 1973, congress mandated that the Navy pursue a lower-cost alternative to the F-14. Grumman proposed a stripped F-14 designated the F-14X, while McDonnell Douglas proposed a navalized F-15, but both were nearly as expensive as the F-14. That summer, Secretary of Defense Schlesinger ordered the Navy to evaluate the competitors in the Air Force's Light Weight Fighter (LWF) program, the YF-16 and YF-17, though the 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.^[3]

Though the YF-16 won the LWF competition, the Navy was skeptical that an aircraft with one engine and narrow landing gear could be easily or economically adapted to carrier service, and refused to adopt an F-16 derivative. The Navy fought for and won permission to develop an aircraft based on the YF-17. Since the LWF did not share the design requirements of the VFAX, the Navy asked McDonnell Douglas and Northrop to design a new aircraft around the configuration and design principles of the YF-17. The new aircraft, designated the F-18, shared not a single essential dimension or primary structure with the YF-17. Secretary of the Navy W. Graham Claytor announced on 1 March 1977 that the name of the aircraft would be "Hornet".^[3]

Development

Northrop had enlisted the aid of McDonnell Douglas as a secondary contractor on the NACF proposal to capitalize on the latter's extensive experience in building carrier aircraft, including the highly successful F-4. On the F-18, the two companies agreed to split the parts manufacture evenly, with McDonnell Douglas completing the final assembly, representing ~20% of the work. McDonnell Douglas built the wings, stabilators, and foward fuselage; Northrop built the center and aft fuselage and vertical stabilators. McDonnell Douglas was the prime contractor for the naval versions; Northrop would become the prime contractor and take over final assembly for the F-18L land-based version which Northrop hoped to sell on the export market.

The F-18, initially known as McDonnell Douglas Model 267, was drastically modified from the YF-17 while retaining the same basic configuration. For carrier operations, the airframe, undercarriage, and arrestor hook were strengthened, folding wings and catapult attachments were added, and the landing gear widened. To meet Navy range and reserves requirements, McDonnell increased fuel capacity by 4,460 pounds, with the enlargement of the dorsal spine and the addition of a 96-gallon fuel cell to each wing (the YF-17 had dry wings). Most visibly, a "snag" was added to the leading edge of the wings and stabilators to prevent a flutter discovered in the F-15 stabilator. The wings and stabilators were enlarged, the aft fuselage widened by 4 inches, and the engines canted outward at the front. These changes added 10,000 pounds to the gross weight, bringing it to 37,000 lbs. The computer-assisted control system of the YF-17 was replaced with a wholly digital fly-by-wire system, the first to be installed in a production fighter.

The original plan specified acquiring 780 total of three closely related models: the single seat F-18 fighter and A-18 attack aircraft, differing only in avionics, and the dual-seat TF-18, which retained full mission capability of the F-18, except with a reduced fuel load. With redesign of the stores stations and improvements in avionics and multifunction displays, it became possible to combine the A-18 and F-18 into one aircraft, the F-18A. Starting in 1980, the aircraft began being referred to as the F/A-18A, and the designation was officially announced on 1 April 1984. The TF-18 was redesignated TF-18A, and finally, F/A-18B.^[3]

Entry into Service

McDonnell rolled out the first F/A-18A on 13 September 1978, marked with "Navy" on the left and "Marine Corps" on the right. It took its first flight on 18 November. In a break with traditon, the Navy pioneered the "principal site concept" with the F/A-18, where almost all testing was done at NAS Pax River, instead of near the site of manufacture, and involving Navy test pilots instead of contractor pilots much earlier in the process. In March 1979, LCDR John Padgett became the first Navy pilot to fly the F/A-18. In all, 9 F/A-18A's and 2 F/A-18B's were assigned to flight systems development. During this period, the snag on the leading edge of the stabilators was filled in, and the gap between the LERX and the fuselage mostly filled in. The gap, called the bloundary layer air discharge (BLAD) slots, controlled the vortices generated by the LEX and presented clean air to the vertical stabilizers at high angles of attack. However, they also generated a great deal of parasitic drag, worsening the problem of the F/A-18's inadequate range. McDonnell filled in 80% of the gap, leaving a small slot to bleed air from the engine intake. This may have contributed to early problems with fatigue cracks appearing on the vertical stabilizers due to extreme aerodynamic loads, resulting in a momentary grounding in 1984 until the stabilizers were strengthened. Starting in May 1988, a small vertical fence was added to the top of each LEX to broaden the vortices and direct them away from the vertical stabilizers. This also provided a minor increase in controllability as a side effect.

The first production F/A-18A flew on 12 April 1980, and following trials by VX-4 and VX-5, began to fill the Fleet Readiness Squadrons (FRS) VFA-125, VFA-106, and VMFAT-101, where pilots are introduced to the F/A-18. the Hornet entered operational service with Marine Corps squadron VMFA-314 at MCAS El Toro on January 7, 1983, and with Navy squadron VFA-113 in March 1983, replacing F-4's and A-7E's respectively. The initial fleet reports were complimentary, indicating that the Hornet was extraordinarily reliable, a major change from its predecessor, the F-4J.^[3] The F/A-18 first saw combat action in 1986, when Hornets from the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) flew SEAD missions against Libyan air defenses during the attack on Benghazi.

After a production run of 371 F/A-18As, manufacture shifted to the F/A-18C in September 1987. As the A-6 Intruder was retired in the 1990s, its role was filled by the F/A-18. The F/A-18 demonstrated its versatility and reliability during Operation Desert Storm, shooting down enemy fighters and subsequently bombing enemy targets with the same aircraft on the same mission, and breaking all records for tactical aircraft in availability, reliability, and maintainability. The aircraft's survivability was proven by Hornets taking direct hits from surface-to-air missiles, recovering successfully, being repaired quickly, and flying again the next day. Two F/A-18s were lost in the Gulf War; both for reasons unknown. US Navy pilots Lt. Robert Dwayer (Air Wing Pilot VFA-87?) and LCDR M. Scott Speicher (VFA-81) were killed in the first hours of the air campaign. F/A-18s were credited with two kills, both of MiG-21s, and no air to air losses, during that conflict.^[4]

Design Evolution

In the 1990s the US Navy faced the retirement of its aging F-14 Tomcat, A-6 Intruder, EA-6 Prowler airframes without proper replacements even in development. To answer this deficiency, the Navy developed the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Despite its designation, it is not an upgrade of the F/A-18 Hornet, but rather, a new, larger airframe utilizing the design concepts of the Hornet. Until the deployment of the F-35C, Hornets and Super Hornets will serve complementary roles in the US Navy carrier arsenal.

Design characteristics

A Hornet is doing a high-g pull-up during an air show. The high angle of attack causes powerful wingtip vortices to form at the leading edge extensions. The vortices shown are so powerful that the drop in pressure experienced at their center results in visible vapor formations from water precipitating in the air, sometimes called, "vapes".

The F/A-18 is a twin engine, mid-wing, multi-mission tactical aircraft. It is superbly maneuverable, owing to its good thrust to weight ratio, digital fly-by-wire control system, and leading edge extensions (LEX). The LEX allow the Hornet to remain controllable at high angles of attack. This is because the LEX produce powerful vortices over the wings, creating turbulent airflow over the wings and thus delaying or eliminating the aerodynamic separation responsible for stall, allowing the Hornet's wings to generate lift several times the aircraft's weight, despite high angles of attack. The Hornet is therefore capable of extremely tight turns over a large range of speeds.

Canted vertical stabilizers are another distinguishing design element, and among the other design characteristics that enable the Hornet's excellent high angle-of-attack capability include oversized horizontal stabilators, oversized trailing edge flaps that operate as flaperons, large full-length leading-edge flaps, 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. The Hornet's normally high angle-of-attack performance envelope was put to rigorous testing and enhanced in the NASA F-18 HARV. NASA used the F-18 HARV to flight-validate high angle-of-attack handling qualities that had not been done previously because of the difficulty in performing such tests in a safe and methodical manner. The F/A-18's stabilators were used as canards on NASA's F-15S/MTD.

The Hornet was among the first aircraft to heavily utilize multi-function displays, which at the switch of a button allow the pilot to perform either fighter or attack roles or both. This "force multiplier" capability gives the operational commander more flexibility in employing tactical aircraft in a rapidly changing battle scenario. It was the first Navy aircraft to incorporate a digital multiplex avionics bus, enabling easy upgrades.

The Hornet is also notable for having been designed with maintenance in mind, and as a result has required far less downtime than its counterparts, the F-14 Tomcat and the A-6 Intruder. Its mean time between failure is three times greater than any other Navy strike aircraft, and requires half the maintenance time. For example, whereas replacing the engine on the A-4 Skyhawk required removing the aircraft's tail, the engine on the Hornet is attached at only three points and can be directly removed without excessive disassembly.

The General Electric F404-GE-400 or F404-GE-402 engines powering the Hornet were also innovative in that they were designed with operability, reliability, and maintainability first. The result is an engine that, while unexceptional on paper in terms of rated performance, demonstrates exceptional robustness under a variety of conditions and is resistant to stall and flameout. By contrast, the Pratt & Whitney TF-30 engines that power the F-14A are notoriously prone to flameout under certain flight conditions.

The engine air intake of the Hornet is notable among its contemporaries for being "fixed", unlike the F-14, F-15, and F-16 which have variable geometry or variable ramp engine air intakes. The variable geometry enables high-speed aircraft to keep the velocity of the air reaching the engine below supersonic. This is one speed limiting factor in the Hornet design. Instead, the Hornet uses bleed air vents on the inboard surface of the engine air intake ducts to slow and reduce the amount of air reaching the engine. While not as effective as variable geometry, the bleed air technique functions well enough to achieve near Mach 2 speeds, which is within the designed mission requirements. The less sophisticated design is also more robust.

Because it was designed as a light multirole aircraft to complement the specialized F-14 and A-6 airframes, it had a relatively low fuel fraction. That is, its internal fuel capacity is small relative to its take-off weight, at around 23%. Most aircraft of its class has a fuel fraction between .30 to .35. This situation was exacerbated by the addition of new avionics over its lifespan, further reducing the fuel fraction.

Variants

A+/C/D

File:DSCF078.jpg

A Finnish Air Force F/A-18C at RIAT 2005.

The F/A-18A and F/A-18C are single-seat aircraft. The F/A-18B and F/A-18D have two seats, space for the rear cockpit being provided by a relocation of avionic equipment and a 6% reduction in internal fuel; two-seat Hornets are otherwise fully combat-capable. The B model is used primarily for training, while the D model is configured as an all-weather strike craft. Whereas the B model has both seats configured as pilot's stations, the D model's rear seat is configured for a Weapons and Sensors Officer to assist in operating the weapons systems. The D model is primarily operated by the U.S. Marine Corps in the night attack and FAC(A) (Forward Air Controller (Airborne)) roles.

The F/A-18C and D models are the result of a block upgrade in 1987 incorporating upgraded radar, avionics, and the capacity to carry new missiles such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile and AGM-65 Maverick and AGM-84 Harpoon air-to-surface missiles. Other upgrades include the Martin-Baker NACES (Navy Aircrew Common Ejection Seat), and a self-protection jammer. A synthetic aperture ground mapping radar enables the pilot to locate targets in poor visibility conditions. C and D models delivered since 1989 also include an improved night attack capability, consisting of the Hughes AN/AAR-50 thermal navigation pod, the Loral AN/AAS-38 Night Hawk FLIR (forward looking infrared array) targeting pod, night vision goggles, and two full-color (previously monochrome) MFDs and a color moving map.

Beginning in 1991, Hornets were upgraded to the F404-GE-402 engine, providing a 20% increase in thrust.

In 1992, the original Hughes AN/APG-65 radar was replaced with the Hughes (now Raytheon) AN/APG-73, a faster and more capable radar. The A model Hornets upgraded to the AN/APG-73 are designated F/A-18A+. Since 1993, the Nite Hawk also has a designator/ranger laser, allowing it to self-mark targets.

In addition, 48 D model Hornets are configured for reconnaissance as the F/A-18D (RC) version, substituting the gun with a sensor package.

Production of the F/A-18C ended in 1999.

F/A-18Cs were used in Operation Iraqi Freedom. One was accidentally downed by a Patriot missile early in the conflict, and two others collided over Iraq in May 2005.

E/F Super Hornet

Main article: F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

The newest models, the single seat F/A-18E and two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet, carry over the name and design concept of the original F/A-18, but are extensively redesigned, with a new, 25% larger airframe. The Super Hornet has a stretched fuselage and larger wings with leading-edge extensions; more powerful GE F414 engines based on F/A-18's F404; upgraded avionics suite. The E/F began when McDonnell Douglas proposed an enlarged Hornet to replace the cancelled A-12 project. (The ambitious and very expensive A-12 design was to have been a stealthy replacement for the US Navy A-6 and US Air Force attack aircraft.) Congress was unwilling to fund a "new" aircraft, however the proposed F/A-18E could be represented as a mere upgrade. A development contract for the Super Hornet worth $3.8 billion was signed in December 1992. The first new aircraft was rolled out of McDonnell Douglas on September 17, 1995. The Super Hornet's first cruise was with Strike Fighter Squadron 115 (VFA-115) flying the F/A-18E in July 2002. The squadron flew 214 combat missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Southern Watch. The aircraft is currently in production and will eventually equip 22 squadrons.

EA-18G Growler

This is an electronic warfare version of the F/A-18F Super Hornet, slated to begin production in 2008, with fleet deployment in 2009. The EA-18G will replace the Navy's EA-6B Prowler and the already-retired Air Force EF-111A Ravens.

Export Variants

F/A-18 Hornet

AF/A-18A : Single-seat fighter/attack version for the Royal Australian Air Force. The F/A-18A was the original company designation. Australian Hornets are in the process of a major upgrade program. This program called HUG (Hornet Upgrade) has had a few evolutions over the years. The first was to give Australian Hornets F/A-18C model avionics. The second and current upgrade program (HUG 2.2) is another avionics upgrade program in which the fleet will up upgraded to beyond E model Hornet capability.
AF/A-18B : Two-seat training version for the Royal Australian Air Force. The F/A-18B was the original company designation.

CF-18 Hornet

CF-18A : Single-seat fighter/attack version for the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadian Armed Forces designation CF-188A Hornet.
CF-18B : Two-seat training version for the Canadian Armed Forces. Canadian Armed Forces designation CF-188B Hornet.

EF-18 Hornet

EF-18A : Single-seat fighter/attack version for the Spanish Air Force. Spanish Air Force designation C.15.
EF-18B : Two-seat training version for the Spanish Air Force. Spanish Air Force designation CE.15.

KAF-18 Hornet

KAF-18C : Single-seat fighter/attack version for the Kuwait Air Force.
KAF-18D : Two-seat training version for the Kuwait Air Force.

U.S. Only

RF-18

This designation was given to a reconnaissance version of the F/A-18A. The first of two prototypes flew in February 1984, however the variant was not produced.

TF-18A

Two-seat training version of the F/A-18A fighter, later redesignated F/A-18B.

F-18D(CR)

Proposed two-seat reconnaissance version for the US Marine Corps. The F-18D(CR) was originally intended to replace the RF-4B Phantom tactical reconnaissance aircraft. None were ever built.

F-18 HARV Single-seat high-alpha research vehicle for NASA.

F-18L The F-18L was a lighter land-based version of the F/A-18 Hornet. It was designed to be a single-seat air-superiority fighter and ground-attack aircraft. It was originally intended to be built by Northrop as the export version of the F/A-18 Hornet. Despite the advantages gained from the deletion of navalised equipment, customers preferred the "ordinary" Hornet, and it never went into production.

Foreign Operators

Though Navy aircraft have not historically sold well on the export market, the F/A-18 has been purchased and is in operation with a number of forein air services. Export Hornets are typically similar to U.S. models of a similar manufacture date. Since none of the customers operate aircraft carriers, all export models have been sold without the automatic carrier landing system; and Australia further removed the catapult attachment on the nose gear. Except for Canada, all export customers purchased their Hornets through the U.S. Navy, via the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program, where the Navy acts as the purchasing manager but incurs no financial gain or loss. Canada ordered its planes directly from the manufacturer.

Australia

Australia (Royal Australian Air Force) 71 aircraft

Canada

Canada (Canadian Forces Air Command, designation CF-188A and CF-188B, a/k/a CF-18 Hornet), 138 aircraft

The Canadian government sought a New Fighter Aircraft (NFA) in March 1977 to replace its CF-101 Voodoo, CF-116 Freedom Fighter, and CF-104 Starfighter. The competition came down to the F-16 and F/A-18. Canadian Forces Air Command announced the selection of the Hornet on 10 April 1980, largely on the basis of the dual engines, which they believed to be a safer setup over the large isolated regions in Northern Canada. They purchased 98 single-seaters and 40 dual-seaters for 2,340 million in 1977 Canadian dollars, the single largest defense contract in Canadian history. They are largely similar to the A and B model Hornets then being produced by McDonnell, and designated CF-18A and CF-18B respectively (sometimes also referred to as CF-188A and CF-188B). The primary modification is a 600,000 candlepower spotlight fitted to the left side of the forward fuselage to aid visual identification.

The first CF-18 flew on 29 July 1982, and was delivered on 25 October. Eighteen Hornets from No. 409 Squadron participated in Operation Desert Shield, flying over 1,110 CAP and training sorties from Doha, Qatar. Supplemented by 26 Hornets from Nos. 439 and 416 Squadrons, the Canadians conducted CAP and escort missions during the Gulf War. They dropped some limited unguided and guided bombs but lacked the capacity to illuminate targets for laser-guided weapons. Though orginally planned to be in service until 2003, the Canadians will need to extend the service of the CF-18 and have embarked on the CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project (IMP) to extend their service life until 2017-2020, primarily consisting of imporoved avionics to communicate with other NATO forces. The structural life will be extended under the International Follow-on Structural Program, in conjunction with Australia^[3]

Finland (Suomen Ilmavoimat, F-18C/D interceptor variant) 63 Aircraft (one was destroyed in mid-air collision in 2001)
Kuwait (Al Quwwat Aj Jawwaiya Al Kuwaitiya) 40 aircraft (the 40 aircraft were pre-ordered before the Iraqi invasion of August 1990)
Malaysia (Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia) 8 F-18D
Spain (Ejército del Aire, designation C.15/EF-18) 72 EF-18 and an additional 24 F/A-18 from the US inventory
Switzerland (Luftwaffe) 33 aircraft

The F/A-18E/F was a candidate aircraft for the Royal Navy Future Carriers (CVF), assuming that Catapult assisted take off design ships were built. The UK did select a conventional design ship, but configured for STOVL operations with the F-35B. In an interesting twist, the 1976 British HS.1207 (P.158) design carries a striking resemblance to the F/A-18A.

The Philippine Air Force also expressed its interest in the F/A-18 Hornet but its plan to purchase modern multi-role fighter aircraft to replace its retired F-5A/B Freedom Fighters has been shelved due to economic reasons and having counter-insurgency operations as its main priority.

Specifications (F/A-18C Hornet)

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Unit Cost: $39.5 Million (1998)

Airfoil: NACA 65A005 mod root, 65A003.5 mod tip

Performance

Thrust/weight: >0.95

Armament

Nine pylons – 2 wingtip, 4 underwing, and 3 fusalage, carrying up to 13,700 lb (6,215 kg) of missiles, rockets, bombs, fuel tanks, and pods
1x 20 mm M61 Vulcan internal gatling gun
Missiles:
- Air-to-air: AIM-9 Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-7 Sparrow, IRIS-T
- Air-to-ground: AGM-45 Shrike, AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM, SLAM-ER, JSOW, Taurus missile
- Anti-ship: AGM-84 Harpoon
Bombs: CBU-87 cluster, CBU-89 gator mine, CBU-97 CEM, Paveway, JDAM, Mk 80 series, nuclear bombs MK 20 Rockeye cluster, mines.

Avionics

APG-73 radar

F/A-18C of the Swiss Air Force taxis for takeoff

Fiction

Hornets and F/A-18F Super Hornet make frequent appearances in action movies and military novels.

The F/A-18 series are playable aircraft in many flight simulator video games. It is featured in the Apple Macintosh game F/A-18 Hornet, Interactive Magic's iF/A-18 Carrier Strike Fighter (1997), F/A-18E Super Hornet by Digital Integration (1999) and F-18 Precision Strike Fighter by Xicat (2002). The F-18 is included in Jane's survey sims US Navy Fighters (1994) and it subsequent release, Fighters Anthology (1997). In 1999 Jane's released a dedicated F-18 simulation simply titled Jane's F/A-18 Simulator.

The Hornet was also featured in the Hollywood film Independence Day. Inaccurately, some F/A-18's in the film were seen with markings from the United States Air Force, the Israeli Air Force, and the Iraqi Air Force. They were also erroneously equipped with a drogue parachute that deployed from beneath the speed brake between the vertical stabilizers.

Milestones

File:659 hornet.jpg

A Finnish F-18C stands on its tail.

Boeing Milestones list

May 2, 1975 - The U.S. Navy selects McDonnell Douglas Corporation as the prime contractor for development of the F-18 strike fighter.
Sep 13, 1978 - The U.S. Navy's F-18 Hornet makes its public debut during rollout ceremonies in St. Louis, Mo.
Nov 18, 1978 - The F-18A Hornet makes its first flight, taking off from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport with McDonnell Aircraft chief test pilot Jack Krings at the controls.
Jan 16, 1979 - The first F-18 is flown to the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Md., for continued flight testing.
Nov 3, 1979 - the F-18 completes its first sea trials after the third Hornet makes 32 successful launches and landings aboard the aircraft carrier USS America.
December 1979 - The first F-18B makes its maiden flight.
April 1980 - The first production F-18, Hornet number 12, is delivered to the U.S. Navy.
Oct 25, 1982 - Canada becomes the first international customer when the first CF-18 Hornet is delivered to the Canadian Forces Air Command.
December 1982 - The U.S. Navy officially redesignates the Hornet the F/A-18 to emphasize its dual role capabilities as both an air-to-air and air-to-ground tactical aircraft.
Jan 7, 1983 - The F/A-18 Hornet officially enters U.S. operational service with U.S. Marine Corps squadron VMFA-314 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Ca.
October 1983 - The first Hornet is delivered to a U.S. Navy operational squadron.
Oct 29, 1984 - The first F/A-18 Hornet is delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force.
Nov 22, 1985 - The first EF-18 for the Spanish Air Force is delivered.
March 10, 1986 - The U.S. Navy selects the F/A-18 Hornet as the official aircraft of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
November 1986 - The first F/A-18 Hornet squadron arrives in Japan to prepare for deployment aboard USS Midway.
February 1987 - The 100th Canadian CF-18 is delivered.
April 1987 - The 500th Hornet is delivered.
September 1987 - First delivery of an F/A-18C/D.
Sept 3, 1987 - The F/A-18C makes its first flight.
Jan 22, 1988 - The 380th and final F/A-18A for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps is delivered, accepted by VMFA-312.
May 6, 1988 - The F/A-18D makes its first flight.
Oct 3, 1988 - Switzerland's Federal Military Department announces plans to purchase 34 Hornets, armament, spares and support, a contract worth an estimated $1.9 billion.
Nov 14, 1989 - The first production night attack F/A-18 Hornet is delivered to Patuxent River, Md.
April 10, 1990 - The F/A-18 Hornet fleet surpasses one million flight hours.
May 11, 1990 - The U.S. Marine Corps rolls out the night attack F/A-18D at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, Ca.
Jan 17, 1991 - During Operation Desert Storm, U.S. Navy pilots Lt. Nick Mongilio and Lt. Cmdr. Mark Fox become the first pilots to register air-to-air kills while still completing their original air-to-ground mission. While going out from USS Saratoga in the Red Sea to bomb an airfield in southwestern Iraq, an E-2 warns them of approaching MiG-21 aircraft. The Hornets shoot down two MiGs and resume their bombing run before returning to Saratoga.
April 18, 1991 - The 1,000th F/A-18 Hornet is delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Oct 8, 1991 - The first Kuwait Air Force F/A-18 Hornet is delivered.
May 6, 1992 - Finland's Ministry of Defense approves the purchase of 64 Hornets, a program worth approximately $3 billion.
Feb 10, 1993 - An F/A-18 Hornet becomes the 10,000th jet aircraft built by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis when it is delivered to the U.S. Navy.
June 7, 1995 - The first F-18 Hornet for the Finnish Air Force is delivered.
Jan 25, 1996 - The first F/A-18 Hornet for the Swiss Air Force is delivered.
August 2000 - The final delivery of an F/A-18, an F/A-18D Hornet, is delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps.
December 12, 2002 - The F/A-18 Hornet fleet surpasses five million flight hours.
May 25, 2005 - The F/A-18 Hornet lands on the French carrier Charles de Gaulle for the first time, during joint exercises which were part of Multi-National Maritime Exercise (MNME) 05-1.

References

^ U.S. Navy. "F/A18-E/F Super Hornet ....Leading Naval Aviation into the 21st Century". U.S. Navy. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Kelly, Orr (1990). Hornet: the inside story of the F/A-18. Novato: Presido Press. ISBN 0-89141-344-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jenkins, Dennis R. (2000). F/A-18 Hornet: A Navy Success Story. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-134696. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
^ Miller, David (2002). The Illustrated Directory of Modern Weapons. St. Paul: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 0-7603-1346-6.

Kelly, Orr (1990). Hornet: the inside story of the F/A-18. Novato: Presido Press. ISBN 0-89141-344-8.
"F/A-18 Hornet". F/A-18 Hornet from Air to Air Combat.com. Retrieved May 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
"F/A-18 Hornet". F/A-18 Hornet from the Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved May 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
"F/A-18". F/A-18 Background Info. Retrieved May 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)