F/A-18C Hornet
A McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk in the Pacific Ocean, 2005.
F/A-18
aircraft
Also known as: F-18A Hornet, F/A-18 Hornet, Hornet, McDonnell Douglas F-18A(Show More)
F/A-18, U.S. twin-engine multirole fighter derived from the Northrop YF-17. Developed by McDonnell Douglas as the F/A-18 Hornet (the F/A designation refers to “fighter” and “attack”), it is a carrier-based aircraft designed for ground attack, but it also possesses excellent air-to-air capability. It entered service with the U.S. Marine Corps in 1983 and the U.S. Navy the following year. The Northrop YF-17 was the losing candidate in the U.S. Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program...