The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twin-engine, supersonic, carrier-capable multirole fighter designed as a fighter and attack aircraft (hence the name F/A). The F/A-18 was designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing) and Northrop (now part of Northrop Grumman), derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other countries, previously used by the U.S. Navy flight demonstration squadron Blue Angels.
The Northrop YF-17 Cobra was developed into an F / A-18 with aircraft carrier capabilities.
The F/A-18 was designed as a highly versatile aircraft capable of carrying a wide range of weapons due to its avionics, cockpit display, and excellent aerodynamics. The aircraft can perform such tasks as fighter escort, fleet air defense, suppression of enemy air defense, air interception, close air support and aerial reconnaissance. Its versatility and reliability have proven to be a valuable carrier asset, although it has been criticized [by whom?] Unlike earlier contemporaries such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and attack fighter roles in the fighter, the Grumman A-6 Invader and the LTVA-7 Corsair II in the attack role.
The Hornet first fought during the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986 and subsequently fought in the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 Iraq War. The F/A-18 Hornet served as the benchmark for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and its larger evolutionary redesign replaced the U.S. Navy's old Hornet and F-14 Tomcat.
The U.S. Navy launched the Naval Fighter Attack Experiment (VFAX) program to purchase multirole aircraft to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, A-7 Corsair II and the remaining McDonnell Douglas F-4 Mirage II, supplementing the F-14 Tomcat. Vice Admiral Kent Lee, then commander of the Naval Air Systems Command, was a leading advocate of VFAX against the backlash of many naval officers, including William Lee, deputy chief of naval operations for air combat. Vice Admiral D. Hauser - the highest ranking naval pilot.
The US Air Force is testing YF-16 and YF-17 prototypes
In August 1973, Congress authorized the Navy to seek a low-cost alternative to the F-14. Grumman proposed a stripped-down F-14 named the F-14X, and McDonnell Douglas proposed a naval variant of the F-15, but both were almost as expensive as the F-14. That summer, Secretary of Defense James M. R. Schlesinger ordered the Navy to evaluate competitors in the Air Force Light Fighter (LWF) program, namely the General Dynamics YF-16 and Northrop YF-17. The Air Force competition designated a day fighter without attack capability. In May 1974, the House Armed Services Committee transferred $34 million from VFAX to a new program, the Naval Air Combat Fighter (NACF), designed to maximize the use of technology developed for the LWF program.
Although the YF-16 won the LWF competition, the Navy doubted that an aircraft with only one engine and narrow landing gear could easily or economically fit into carrier service and rejected a derivative of the F-16. On May 2, 1975, the Navy announced the selection of the YF-17. Since LWF did not share VFAX's design requirements, the Navy asked McDonnell Douglas and Northrop to develop a new aircraft based on the YF-17's design and principles. On March 1, 1977, Secretary of the Navy W. Graham Claytor announced that the F-18 would be named the Hornet.
Northrop worked with McDonnell Douglas as NACF's Tier 2 contractor to leverage the latter's experience in building carrier-based aircraft, including the widely used F-4Phantom II. On the F-18, the two companies agreed to split the parts for final assembly by McDonnell Douglas. McDonnell Douglas will build the wings, tail and forward fuselage; Northrop will build the middle and rear fuselages as well as vertical stabilizers. McDonnell Douglas is the prime contractor for the Navy version, and Northrop will be the prime contractor for the land-based version of the F-18L, which Northrop hopes to sell in the export market.
U.S. Navy Type C during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002
Originally known as the McDonnell Douglas Model 267, the F-18 was a significant modification of the YF-17. For carrier operations, the fuselage, landing gear and tail hook were strengthened, folding wings and catapult attachments were added, and the landing gear was widened. To meet Navy range and reserve requirements, MacDonald increased fuel capacity by 4,460 pounds (2,020 kg) by enlarging his back and adding a 96-gallon fuel tank to each wing. An "obstacle" was added to the leading edge and stabilizer of the wing to prevent aeroelastic flutter from being found in the F-15 stabilizer. The wings and tail were enlarged, the rear fuselage was widened by 4 inches (102 mm), and the front of the engine was tilted outward. These changes increased the total weight by 10,000 pounds (4,540 kg) to 37,000 lbs (16,800 kg). The YF-17's control system was replaced with an all-digital fly-by-wire system with quadruple redundancy, the first to be installed in a production fighter.
Initially, it was planned to purchase 780 aircraft of three models: a single-seat F-18A fighter and an A-18A attack aircraft, differing only in avionics, and a two-seat TF-18A, which retained the full mission capability of the F-18 with a reduced fuel load. With improvements in avionics and multifunction displays, as well as the redesign of external storage stations, the A-18A and F-18A were able to merge into one aircraft. Beginning in 1980, the aircraft began to be known as the F/A-18A, and the designation was officially announced on April 1, 1984. TF-18A was redesignated F/A-18B.
Northrop developed the F-18L as a potential export aircraft. Since it was not strengthened for carrier service, it was expected to be lighter, perform better, and be a strong contender for the F-16 Fighting Falcon offered to U.S. allies at the time. The F-18L has a normal total weight of 7,700 pounds (3,490 kg) lighter than the F/A-18A due to lighter landing gear, no wing folding mechanism, smaller area component thickness, and lower fuel capacity. While the aircraft retained a light tail hook, the most noticeable external difference was the removal of "obstacles" from the leading edge of the wing and tail. By weight, it still retains its versatility with the F / A-1871, as well as 90% of high-value systems, including avionics, radar, and electronic countermeasures suites, although alternatives are offered. Unlike the F / A-18, the F-18L does not carry fuel on its wings and does not have a weapons station at the air intakes. Instead, it has three underwing pylons on each side.
The F/A-18C Hornet produces a flow-induced vapor cone in transonic flight
The F / A-18L version then coincided with the US Navy's F / A-18A as a land-based export alternative. This is essentially an F/A-18A that weighs about 2,500 to 3,000 pounds (1,130 to 1,360 kg); Weight savings were achieved by removing the folding wings and associated actuators, enabling simpler landing gear (single-wheel nose gear and cantilever oleo main gear) and a land-based tailhook. The modified F / A-18L included wing fuel tanks and fuselage stations for the F / A-18A. Its armament capacity will increase from 13,700 pounds to 20,000 pounds (6,210 to 9,070 kg), mainly due to the addition of a third underwing pylons and reinforced wingtips (11 stations in total, compared to 9 for the F/A-18A). Compared to the F-18L, the outer weapon pylons are closer to the wingtip missile rails. Thanks to the reinforced non-folding wings, the wingtip missile rails are designed to carry AIM-7 Sparrow or Skyflash medium-range air-to-air missiles, as well as the AIM-9 Sidewinder as on the F/A-18A. Compared to the F/A-18A's design load factor of 7.5g, the F/A-18L has a design load factor of 9g.
The partnership between McDonnell Douglas and Northrop has been soured by competition for foreign sales of both models. Northrop believed McDonnell Douglas would put the F/A-18 in direct competition with the F-18L. In October 1979, Northrop filed a series of lawsuits accusing MacDonald of violating the agreement to use technology developed by Northrop for the F-18L to sell the F/A-18 and to suspend Hornet sales. McDonnell Douglas filed a counterclaim, accusing Northrop of illegally using F/A-18 technology in its F-20Tigershark. A settlement agreement for all litigation was announced on April 8, 1985. McDonnell Douglas paid Northrop $50 million to "sell the rights to F/A-18 whenever possible."
In addition, the two companies agreed to McDonnell Douglas as the prime contractor and Northrop as the main subcontractor. As the main subcontractor, Northrop will produce the rear of the F/A-18 (A/B/C/D/E/F), while McDonnell Douglas will produce the rest of the final assembly to be carried out by McDonnell Douglas. At the time of the settlement, Northrop had stopped work on the F-18L. Most of the F-18L's export orders were captured by the F-16 or F/A-18. The F-20Tigershark did not go into production, and although the program was not officially terminated until November 17, 1986, production was discontinued by mid-1985.
Exhaust nozzles for RAAF F/A-18
The F / A-18 is a twin-engine, mid-wing, multi-mission tactical aircraft. It has high maneuverability due to its good thrust-to-weight ratio, digital fly-by-wire control system and leading edge extension, which allows the Hornet to remain controllable at high angles of attack. The leading edge of the trapezoidal wing has a 20-degree sweep angle, and the trailing edge is straight. The wing has full-span leading edge flaps with trailing edge single-slit flaps and ailerons over the entire span.
The inclined vertical stabilizer is another distinctive design element and is one of several others that give the Hornet its excellent ability to large angles of attack, including an extra-large horizontal stabilizer, oversized trailing-edge flaps operating as flaperons, large full-length leading edge slats, and flight control computer programming that doubles the motion of each control surface at low speeds and moves the vertical rudder inward instead of simply moving left and right. The Bumblebee's usual high angle of attack performance envelope was rigorously tested and enhanced (Harf) in the NASA F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle. NASA used the F-18 HARV to demonstrate flight maneuvering characteristics at a high angle of attack (alpha) of 65-70 degrees using thrust vectoring blades. The F/A-18 stabilizer was also used as a canard for NASA's F-15S/MTD.
F/A-18A in various color schemes
The Hornet was one of the first aircraft to make heavy use of multifunction displays, and pilots could perform fighter or attack roles or both at the push of a button. This "force multiplier" capability gives operational commanders more flexibility to use tactical aircraft in rapidly changing combat scenarios. It was the first Navy aircraft to feature a digital multiplexed avionics bus that could be easily upgraded.
The Hornet is designed to reduce maintenance, so it requires much less downtime than the heavier counterparts, the F-14 Tomcat and A-6 Intruder. It has three times the mean time between failures than any other Navy attack aircraft and requires half the maintenance time. Its General Electric F404 engines are also innovative because they are designed with operability, reliability and maintainability in mind. The engine, while mediocre in terms of rated performance, exhibits exceptional robustness in all conditions and is able to prevent stalls and stalls. The F404 engine has only 10 connection points to the fuselage and can be replaced without special equipment: a team of four can remove the engine in 20 minutes. The aircraft has a top speed of Mach 40,000 at 1.8 feet.
F/A-18A in various color schemes
Like the F-16, the engine air intakes of the Hornet had a simpler "fixed" design, while the engine air intakes of the F-4, F-14 and F-15 had variable geometry or variable intake ramp intakes.
A 1989 study by the US Marine Corps found that single-seat fighters are well suited for air-to-air combat missions, while two-seat fighters are better suited for complex strike missions against heavy air and ground defenses in bad weather — the question is not whether a second pair of eyes is useful, but about having a second crew member sit on the same fighter or a second fighter. Single-seat fighters, lacking wingmen, proved particularly vulnerable.
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