CF-18 Hornet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| CF-18 Hornet | |
|---|---|
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| A Canadian CF-18 flies off the coast Hawaii | |
| Type | Multirole fighter |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas / Boeing |
| Maiden flight | 1978-11-18 |
| Introduced | 1983-01-07 |
| Primary user | Canadian Forces |
| Unit cost | US$35 million in 2003 |
| Developed from | F/A-18 Hornet |
| Variants | F-18 Hornet |
The CF-18 Hornet (CF-188) is a Canadian Forces aircraft, based on the American F/A-18 Hornet.
Contents |
[edit] Background
It was manufactured in St. Louis, Missouri, USA by the McDonnell Douglas military aerospace company, who in 1997 merged with Boeing. Going back further, the F-18 originated as the Northrop YF-17 "Cobra". The YF-17 was pitted against the General Dynamics YF-16 Fighting Falcon in a competition to supply the USAF with its next generation of lightweight combat aircraft. In 1975, the USAF selected the YF-16.
However, YF-17 showed such promise the US Department of Defense directed the US Navy to base its own next generation program to replace the F-4 Phantom II and A-7 Corsair II on the YF-17. Several changes were made to the aircraft and the F-18A was born.
[edit] F-18 and Canada
Canada was the first export customer for the Hornet, ordering 138 aircraft to replace the CF-104 Starfighter (air recce & strike, based in Germany), the CF-101 Voodoo (air interception, Canada) and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter (ground attack, Canada). CF-116s continued to serve for some time though (light ground attack, lead in fighter training for the CF-18, and in Disimiliar Air Combat Maneuvers (DACM)), as they had many hours left on the airframes.
The most visible difference between a CF-18 and a US F-18 is the 600,000 candela night identification light. This spotlight is mounted in the gun loading door on the port side of the aircraft. Some CF-18s have the light temporarily removed, but the window is always in place.
CF-18s are painted with dummy canopies on the undersides of their noses, as shown above; this camouflage scheme never had the confidence of pilots as the planes' skins were too thin to absorb fire even if the ruse did work, and the general opinion was that if you were close enough to see the dummy canopies, you were close enough to not be fooled by them.
The term CF-18 is actually a misnomer. The planes are technically designated CF-188 (the name Hornet not being used as there is no officially recognized French Canadian translation). However, in every context except the most official of military documents, the planes are referred to as CF-18 Hornets.
[edit] History
[edit] Combat
In 1991, Canada committed 26 CF-18s to the Gulf War (aka Desert Shield / Desert Storm), these were based in Doha, Qatar. During the Gulf War, Canadian pilots flew 5,700+ hours, including 2,700 combat air patrol missions. These aircraft were taken from Canada's airbase in Germany, CFB Baden-Soellingen (now a civilian-only airport). In the beginning the CF-18s began “sweep and escort” combat missions to support ground-attack strikes by Allied air forces. However during the 100 hour Allied ground invasion in late February, CF-18s also flew 56 bombing sorties, mainly dropping 500 lb (230 kg) conventional ("dumb") bombs on Iraqi artillery positions, supply dumps, and marshalling areas behind the lines. At the time the Canadian Hornets were unable to deploy precision guided munitions. (PGMs)
Continuing violence in the former Yugoslavia brought CF-18s into theatre twice: first for a three-month deployment ("Op Mirador", August-November 1997) for air patrols supporting NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and again from late-June 1998 until late-December 2000 ("Op Echo").
In June 1999, with 18 CF-18s already deployed to Aviano, Italy, Canada participated in both air-to-ground and air-to-air roles. Canadian aircraft conducted 10% of the NATO strike sorties despite deploying a much smaller percentage of the overall forces. Canadian pilots flew 678 combat sorties (120 "defensive counter-air" escorts for Allied strike packages / 558 bombing strikes) during 2,577 combat-flying hours. CF-18s dropped a total of 397 PGMs and 171 free-fall "iron" bombs on a wide variety of targets ranging including surface-to-air missile sites, airfields to bridges and fuel storage areas.
[edit] Variants
- CF-18A : Single-seat fighter and ground attack aircraft. Canadian Armed Forces designation CF-188A.
- CF-18B : Two-seat training version. Canadian Armed Forces designation CF-188B.
[edit] Losses
- April 12, 1984: Aircraft crashes while performing an exercise at CFB Cold Lake. Pilot killed.
- June 4, 1985: Aircraft flown by the Flight leader crashes on formation takeoff from CFB Cold Lake. Pilot survives.
- May 24, 1986: Aircraft crashes in shallow water of Malpeque Bay after takeoff from CFB Summerside. Pilot killed.
- May 4, 1987: Aircraft crashes after going into a tailspin during test flight near Renchen, Germany. Both crew members eject safely and survive.
- September 21, 1987: Aircraft crashes after left engine catches fire on take-off from CFB Bagotville. Pilot ejects safely.
- October 20, 1987: Aircraft skids into field and disintegrates after pilot tries to abort formation takeoff from RAF Alconbury. Pilot survives.
- April 5, 1988: Aircraft crashes into hillside on Vancouver Island on a search and rescue mission. Pilot killed.
- January 11, 1989: Aircraft crashes near CFB Cold Lake on airlift support mission. Pilot killed.
- January 30, 1990: Plane crashes after takeoff from Inuvik, Northwest Territories, on a cruise-missile intercept exercise. Pilot killed.
- April 4, 1990: Aircraft crashes in Cold Lake Air Weapons Range near CFB Cold Lake. Pilot killed.
- April 17, 1990: Two CF-18's from CFB Baden-Soellingen collide while on a training mission in Germany. One crew member killed, other ejects safely.
- April 22, 1990: Aircraft plunges into Pacific Ocean during exercise off Vancouver Island. Pilot killed.
- June 15, 1995: Aircraft crashes near Klamath Falls (US ANG Base), Oregon, while on a training exercise. Pilot ejects safely.
- July 5, 1995: Aircraft from CFB Cold Lake crashes in Saskatchewan during training. Pilot killed.
- August 14, 1996: Aircraft crashes on takeoff from Iqaluit, Nunavut. Pilot safely ejects.
- May 26, 2003: Jet crashes on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range during the annual international training exercise MAPLE FLAG. Pilot killed.
- June 19, 2004: Aircraft from CFB Cold Lake lost when it was unable to stop while at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Aircraft was salvaged and is back in service. Pilot ejects but is injured.
- August 16, 2005: Aircraft crashes during a training exercise near CFB Bagotville. Pilot safely ejects.
[edit] Fleet
- Year(s) procured: 1982 to 1988
- Originally Ordered: 98 CF-18A / 40 CF-18B
- Current strength: 98 (80 in operational use). 121 Airframes available.
Planned allocation is two operational squadrons of 24 aircraft each, with the remaining 33 available for training, testing and evaluation AETE, and depot level maintenance.
- Operational readiness: Of the 48 aircraft in operational squadrons, 34 (70%) are normally mission-ready on a daily basis.
- Operational lifetime: The Canadian Forces expect the Hornet to maintain front-line status until 2017 to 2020, and also expect losses at an average rate of one aircraft every two years.
- Serial numbers: 188701 to 188798 (CF-18A), and 188901 to 188940 (CF-18B)
- Location(s):
- 3 Wing CFB Bagotville, Quebec
- 425 Alouette Tactical Fighter Squadron
- 4 Wing CFB Cold Lake, Alberta
- 409 Nighthawks Tactical Fighter Squadron
- 410 Cougars Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron
- 416 Lynx Tactical Fighter Squadron
- 441 Silver Fox Tactical Fighter Squadron
- AETE (Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment)
- Rotations from Cold Lake occur from 4 Wing to CFB Comox, British Columbia and from 3 Wing Bagotville to CFB Goose Bay and CFB Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and various forward operating bases in the Canadian Arctic. There are normally a few aircraft at CFB Trenton as well, though not a permanent squadron.
- Cost: 35,000,000 Canadian dollars each.
[edit] Specifications (F/A-18C Hornet)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Unit Cost: $39.5 Million (1998)
- Length: 56 ft 0 in (17.1 m)
- Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in with Sidewinders (12.3 m)
- Height: 15 ft 4 in (4.7 m)
- Wing area: 400 ft² (37.16 m²)
- Airfoil: NACA 65A005 mod root, 65A003.5 mod tip
- Empty weight: 24,700 lb (11,200 kg)
- Loaded weight: 37,150 lb (16,850 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 51,550 lb (23,400 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofans, 17,751 lbf (79 kN) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 1.8, 1,127 mph at 36,100 ft (1,814 km/h at 11,000 m)
- Range: 330 mi combat on a hi-lo-lo-hi mission; 2,070 mi ferry (535 km / 3,330 km)
- Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
- Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
- 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 with 578 rounds
- 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
[edit] Old Specifications
- Length: 17.07 m
- Wingspan: 12.31 m
- Height: 4.66 m
- Weight: 10,455 kg
- Power: 2 General Electric F404 low bypass turbofans
- Speed: Mach 1.8
- Ceiling: 15,000 m
- Range: 3,704 km
- Armament: Sidewinder and Sparrow air-to-air missiles, Maverick air-to-ground missile, conventional bombs and precision-guided bombs, rockets (i.e. CRV7), and M-61 20 mm cannon
- Crew: 1 pilot (CF-18A), 2 pilots (CF-18B trainer version)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Canada's Air Force, Aircraft: CF-18 Hornet
- Boeing.com - F/A-18 Hornet
- Boeing.com - F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
- Canada's Air Force - CF-18 Hornet Wallpaper
- U.S. Navy - F/A-18 Hornet - Wallpaper
[edit] Related content
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
Related development
- YF-17 Cobra
- F/A-18 Hornet
- F-18 Hornet (Finnish/Swiss Variant)
- F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
