F/A-18 HORNET

The F/A-18 Hornet is Naval Aviation's principal strike-fighter. This state-of-the-art, multimission aircraft serves in both the Navy and Marine Corps. Its reliability and safety records, high performance, and multiple weapons delivery capability have highlighted the Hornet's success as it surpassed 3,000,000 flight hours in December 1996. Programmed improvements to the original Hornet A/B/C/D variants provide significant warfighting enhancements in the near term, including GPS, Link 16, AIM-9X Sidewinder/Helmet Mounted Cueing System, Combined Interrogator Transponder, Joint Direct Attack Munition/Joint Stand-Off Weapon delivery capability, and a Digital Communication System for close air support. The aircraft's weapons, communications, navigation, and Defensive Electronic Countermeasures systems will also continue to be upgraded.

The introduction of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to the Fleet in 2000 will provide critical growth capacity, weapon bring-back improvements, survivability enhancements, and range/payload improvements, all of which are required to keep the strike-fighter force lethal and viable well into the 21st century. There will be extensive commonality with weapons systems, avionics, and software between F/A-18 variants. The infrastructure needed to support the Super Hornet will build upon existing organizations. Ultimately, the F/A-18E will replace older F/A-18s while the two-seat F/A-18F will replace the F-14. The lethality, flexibility, reliability, and survivability of the F/A-18E/F will make it the right aircraft to fulfill the majority of missions associated with regional and littoral conflicts.