Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>F-18>HA3556
F/A-18A Hornet “20 years F/A-18” A21-26, RAAF, 2005
General Background
The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.
The Aircraft
F/A-18A Hornet A21-26 was delivered to the RAAF on March 31, 1988 and became the first
aircraft to be assigned to 75 Squadron. The aircraft first flew with 75 Squadron in April and in
September 1988 both 75 Squadron and A21-26 arrived at RAAF Tindal. In 2005 the aircraft
received a special paint scheme to mark the 20th Anniversary of Hornet operations with the
RAAF and was first shown at the Avalon Airshow that year. Over its service time; A21-26
spent time with 3SQN, 75SQN, 77SQN, 2OCU and ARDU.
Specifications :
| Role: | supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft |
| Crew: | 1 x F/A-18C, 2 x F/A-18D (Pilot and Weapons Systems Officer – WSO) |
| Dimensions | |
| Length: | 56 ft (17.1 m) |
| Wingspan With AAMs: | 40 ft 5 in (12.31 m) |
| Folded: | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Height: | 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m) |
| Weight: | |
| Empty: | 23,000 lb (10,400 kg) |
| Loaded: | 36,970 lb (16,770 kg) |
| Maximum Take off: | 51,900 lb (23,500 kg) |
| Performance | |
| Power Plant: | 2 x General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofan |
| Dry Thrust: | 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN) per engine |
| After Burner Thrust: | 17,750 lbf (79.2 kN) per engine |
| Maximum Speed: | Mack 1.8 (1,190 mph) (1,915 km/h) @ 40,000 ft (12,190 m) |
| Range: | 1,089 nmi (1,250 miles) (2,000 km) with 2 x AIM-9s |
| Combat Radius: | 400 nmi (460 miles) (740 km) air-to-air missions |
| Ferry Range: | 1,800 nmi (2,070 miles) (3,330 km) |
| Service Ceiling: | 50,000 ft (15,240 m) |
| Rate of Climb: | 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s) |
| Armament: | 1 x 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon mounted in nose with 578 rounds |
| 9 x Hardpoints - a capacity of 13,700 lb (6,215 kg) with external fuel tanks and ordnance | |
| 2 x wingtip missile launch rails | |
| 4 x under-wing | |
| 3 x under-fuselage | |
| Rockets: | 2.75 inch (70 mm) Hydra 70 rockets |
| 5 inch (127 mm) Zuni rockets | |
| Missiles: | Air-To-Air |
| 4 x AIM-9 Sidewinders or | |
| 4 x AIM-132 ASRAAM or | |
| 4 x IRIS-T or 4 x AIM-120 AMRAAM and 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow or | |
| Additional - 2 x AIM-120 AMRAAM | |
| Air-To-Surface: | AGM-65 Maverick |
| Standoff Land Attack Missiles (SLAM-ER) | |
| AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation Missile (ARM) | |
| AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) | |
| Taurus Missile (Cruise Missile) | |
| Anti-ship: | AGM-84 Harpoon |
| Bombs: | JDAM Precision-Guided Munition (PGM) |
| Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs | |
| Mk. 80 series of unguided iron bombs | |
| CBU-87 cluster bombs | |
| CBU-89 gator mine | |
| CBU-97 | |
| Mk. 20 Rockeye II | |
| B61/Mk. 57 nuclear bombs | |
| Others: | SUU-42A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod Or |
| Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod Or | |
| AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk targeting pod (USN only) to be replaced by AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR Or | |
| LITENING targeting pod (only used by USMC, Royal Australian Air Force, Spanish Air Force and Finnish Air Force) Or | |
| Up to 3 x 330 US gallons (270 imp gallons / 1,200 liters) 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 USN F/A-18C strike fighter squadrons | |
| Inertial Navigation System (INS) | |
| GPS | |
| 2 x mission computers | |
| HUD (Head Up Display) cockpit display | |
| Very High Frequency (VHF) omni-directional landing system | |
| Multiple-functioning Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display |