Carrier-based multirole fighter ·First flight 1978 · In service 1983
The F/A-18 Hornet fused the fighter and attack missions into a single carrier jet, replacing several older types with one rugged, twin-engine airframe designed from the outset for the punishing life of catapult launches and arrested landings.
Reliable, easy to maintain and endlessly adaptable, the Hornet — and its larger Super Hornet successor — became the mainstay of US Navy carrier aviation and the mount of the Blue Angels.
