The RAAF retires the F/A-18A/B classic Hornet

In the first week of December, the RAAF will retire the last of its McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B Hornets after more than 36 years of service.

Much-loved by its pilots and maintainers alike, the Hornet introduced new standards of human-machine interface (HMI), flexibility, and reliability, and has served with distinction and provided outstanding capability with safety to Australia. 

But age has finally caught up with the Hornet – well beyond its originally planned withdrawal in 2012 – and with 44 F-35As now on strength and another 15 to come in 2022, its time has come.

This is a brief summary of the Hornet in RAAF service.

DEVELOPMENT 
The F/A-18 has had a long evolution that can trace its lineage way back to 1966, when a team at Northrop began working on a new high-performance lightweight air-superiority fighter. Dubbed the N-300, it resembled a stretched F-5 with two engines, a long nose and nose-mounted gun, stubby trapezoid wing, and two small highly-swept leading edge wing-root extensions (LERX, or LEX).

In 1967, the N-300 concept began to attract more detailed design inputs, and an internal project dubbed Project 530 emerged. While still resembling an F-5 in plan, P530 evolved through several iterations, including setting the wings higher at mid-fuselage, moving the intakes further aft, adopting twin vertical stabilisers, deepening the fuselage, and giving the LERX a more slender and curved shape.

In early 1972, Northrop received USAF funding to develop the concept for the USAF’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) requirement, and what was then dubbed the P600 internally was given the YF-17 designation by the USAF. The lightweight YF-17 weighed just 17,000lbs empty, carried 5,800lbs of internal fuel, and in testing demonstrated an ability to exceed Mach 1 without afterburners.

It is now history that the competing YF-16 was selected to fulfil the USAF’s LWF requirement, but Northrop continued to develop and market the P600 as the F-18L. The aircraft’s saviour was to be the US Navy which in September 1973 issued a request for proposals (RFP) for an aircraft to replace the F-4 Phantom, A-4 Skyhawk, and A-7 Corsair.

With Northrop not having any experience with carrier-borne aircraft, it entered into a joint-venture with McDonnell Douglas. Under the arrangement, Northrop would be prime contractor for the land-based F-18L, while McDonnell Douglas would be prime for the US Navy’s program, for which it was selected in May 1975.

McDonnell Douglas redesigned the P600 for the rigours of life aboard an aircraft carrier. Despite its resemblance, the substantially new aircraft had a wider fuselage with a reinforced structure, greater wing area with folding outer wing panels, greater LERX area, double the internal fuel capacity, additional avionics, an articulated dual-wheel nosewheel and completely redesigned main gear, and a naval arrestor hook. Thus was born the F-18A.

A dual-seat fully combat-capable version – initially dubbed TF-18 and later changed to F-18B – was also developed, and featured a higher-set rear cockpit and reduced internal fuel capacity.

NEXT TACTICAL FIGHTER 
In 1976 the RAAF established the Tactical Fighter Project Office (TFPO) to look for a replacement for its Dassault Mirage IIIO fighters. An RFP for the Next Tactical Fighter (NTF) was issued in November of that year, to which 11 responses were received. 

In March 1977, the TFPO issued a shortlist of six contenders – the McDonnell Douglas F-15A, General Dynamic F-16A, Dassault Mirage 2000, Northrop F-18L, Panavia Tornado, and the McDonnel Douglas F-18A. In late 1978 this shortlist was reduced to four with the dropping of the F-15A and Tornado, and in 1979, to two – the F-16A, and the F-18A. 

After an extensive evaluation by RAAF test pilots, engineers, and Defence scientists, in October 1981 the F-18A Hornet was named as the winner of the NTF competition to replace the Mirage IIIO.

The first two F/A-18Bs – the ‘Fighter/Attack’ designation was adopted in 1982 in recognition of the aircraft’s multi-role capability – were delivered to Australia on 17 May 1985. A brace of four Mirages flew out to meet the new aircraft, and they touched down at RAAF Williamtown near Newcastle around 4.00pm after a 15-hour non-stop flight from NAS Lemoore in California. To this day, that delivery flight is still the longest non-stop flight ever undertaken by any model of F/A-18.

In total, the RAAF ordered and operated 57 F/A-18As and 18 F/A-18Bs, and all but the first two aircraft were assembled by the Government Aircraft Factory (GAF) at Avalon in Victoria from increasing amounts of Australian-manufactured components. The final aircraft was handed over at a ceremony at RAAF Fairbairn in Canberra on 16 May 1990.

The first RAAF unit to convert to the Hornet was No 2 Operational Conversion Unit (2OCU), with the first cadre of pilots and maintainers going to NAS Patuxent River and then NAS Lemoore in the US in 1984 and early 1985 to train on the jet prior to the ferry flight home. 2OCU officially divested the last of its Mirages in January 1985 as it transitioned to the Hornet, and it graduated its first Hornet Operational Conversion (OPCON) course in 1986.

2OCU remained the RAAF’s Hornet conversion and fighter combat instructor (FCI) training unit until December 2018, when it divested its F/A-18s and transitioned to the F-35A Lightning II. Today, it conducts ab-initio, conversion, and air warfare instructor (AWI) courses for all RAAF F-35A
pilots and maintainers.

No 3 Squadron (3SQN) was next to convert to the Hornet after returning to Williamtown from Butterworth in Malaysia and divesting its Mirages in 1986, and received its first F/A-18A/Bs soon after. In late 2017, 3SQN divested its Hornets and stood-down, before reforming in early 2018 at Luke AFB in Arizona to take delivery of Australia’s first F-35As, and returned to Australia in late 2018.

The next unit to receive its F/A-18s was 75SQN. The unit had returned to Williamtown after being based at Butterworth since 1967, and reformed there with its first Hornets in 1986, before moving to its current home of RAAF Tindal in the Northern Territory in 1988. 75SQN will be the final Hornet unit, and is scheduled to transition to the F-35A in 2022.

In 1987, the final RAAF unit to receive its F/A-18A/Bs was the Williamtown-based 77SQN which had also operated the Mirage and briefly, Macchi MB326 advanced trainers. 77SQN divested the last of its Hornets in December 2020, and transitioned to the F-35A in 2021.

RAAF squadrons typically held about 15 Hornets on strength, with the remaining jets rotated through maintenance and an attrition reserve. While the RAAF had initially expected to lose 10 Hornets through attrition by 2000, that it has only lost four jets in more than 36 years of operations is a credit to the Hornet’s robust design and redundant systems, and the uniformed and industry maintenance workforce. 

UPGRADES
The RAAF’s Hornet force received a series of major upgrades through the early 2000s. 

Under the multi-phased Project AIR 5376 Hornet Upgrade Program (HUG), the aircraft were given a renewed lease on life with a new AN/APG-73 radar and Litening AT targeting pod, an enhanced ALR-67(V)3 electronic warfare suite, a JHMCS helmet-mounted cueing system, improved secure communications and Link-16 datalinks, and ongoing structural modifications and refurbishment to get them beyond their planned 6,000 hour service life. 

The associated Projects AIR 5409 and AIR 5418 added advanced ASRAAM infrared and AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missiles, GPS-guided and dual-mode bombs, and the AGM-158A JASSM stand-off strike missile.

The Hornet’s capabilities were further enhanced by the RAAF’s acquisition of new KC-30A air-to-air refuelling aircraft, the E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C, and the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The E-7A and Super Hornet’s advanced sensors in particular have – through advanced datalinks when operating in a joint force – extended the range of the classic Hornet’s own sensors and weapons, allowing it to remain tactically relevant right up to its retirement.

OPERATIONS
Although the RAAF’s Hornets were reportedly placed on alert status during the Timor Leste campaign in 1999, the first operational deployment of the RAAF’s F/A-18As was of four jets and personnel from 77SQN and later 3SQN to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia in November 2001. 

The aircraft were deployed to the island base to provide combat air patrol cover during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and returned to Williamtown in May 2002 without logging any combat missions.

The next deployment was in February 2003 when 14 Hornets and crew from 75SQN – led by the RAAF’s current Chief of Air Force, AIRMSHL (then WGCDR) Mel Hupfeld – deployed to Al Udeid AB in Qatar under Operation Bastille to support the build-up of forces prior to the invasion of Iraq. 

When combat operations against Iraq commenced on 19 March, under Operation Falconer 75SQN was initially tasked with protecting high-value assets such as AEW&C and tankers, before switching to a defensive-counter-air (DCA) and close-air-support (CAS) role as air superiority was gained.

By the cessation of hostilities on 3 May 2003, 75SQN Hornets had flown 350 combat sorties and had delivered 120 precision-guided weapons onto targets, primarily in southern Iraq. Upon their return to Tindal, 75SQN was awarded a special meritorious unit citation.

The RAAF’s Hornets’ next deployment was to Operation Okra, the ADF’s contribution to the Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve effort to oust the ISIS terror group from Iraq and Syria. Initially deploying an Air Task Group (ATG) with an E-7A, KC-30A, and six F/A-18Fs from 1SQN to Al Minhad AB in the UAE in August 2014, the Super Hornets were relieved by F/A-18As from 75SQN in March 2015.

The Hornets of 75SQN were relived by jets and personnel from 77SQN in September 2015, and then more Hornets and personnel from 3SQN in April 2016. The classic Hornets were relieved by 1SQN Super Hornets in late 2016, and RAAF combat operations ceased in January 2018, although E-7A and KC-30A deployments continued until 2019. 

In total, RAAF Hornets and Super Hornets flew more than 2,700 combat sorties over Iraq and Syria in Operation Okra, many of which were more than eight hours long involving multiple air-to-air refuellings, at ranges up to 1,500km from base.

DISPOSITION
Many of the RAAF Hornets have been parked up at Williamtown in their former squadron ‘carports’ since 2017, and have had parts ‘Christmas-treed’ off them to keep the dwindling fleet flying.

At least 18 flying and seven other Hornets destined to be parted-out have been transferred to Canada to augment the RCAF’s fleet of similarly-configured CF-18s until they are replaced in the late 2020s, the first of which was delivered in February 2019 after completing the type’s final Exercise Red Flag at Nellis AFB.

Of the remaining 46 Hornets, a deal for some or all of these jets to be transferred to Air USA – a US-based adversary air services provider – appears to have fallen through after that company failed to win any services contracts awarded by the US DoD in early 2021. 

While this is great news for the various museums who had applied to display them – including an Operation Okra veteran which has already been allocated to the Australian War Memorial – it is unclear what restrictions the US State Department will place on the display of the RAAF’s former jets. 

EDITOR’S INDULGENCE:

I wish I could have devoted more space here and in the latest magazine to the retirement of the RAAF’s classic Hornet from service, but time and circumstances in recent months have got away from us.

I can honestly say that, as a total aviation nut, the Hornet is right up there as my favourite aircraft ever. Long before I was a writer, I was an aviation geek. I was that kid (and young adult…and middle-aged adult!) who would run outside and look up when there was just faintest suggestion of the sound of an aircraft nearby.

But the Hornet held a particularly special place, perhaps because I grew up during the evaluation process that led to its selection, then through its service entry, it’s upgrades, its deployments, and finally, it’s impending retirement.

While researching my first book – Hornets Down Under – in 2004 and since, I have met quite a few of the RAAF’s Hornet pilots, and am proud to count a few of them as friends. While some of them have flown higher-performing jets such as the F-15, F-16, Eurofighter, or even the F-22 on exchange, without exception they all rate the Hornet highly, and many have or would gladly take it to war if required.

I’ve been fortunate to visit Nellis, Williamtown, Darwin, Townsville, and Tindal to witness RAAF Hornets in action at major exercises such as Red Flag, Pitch Black, Aces North, and High Sierra, as well as day-to-day Hornet operations.

But the absolute highlight of my existence as a Hornet-geek was a ride I had in the RAAF’s first Hornet – A21-101 (above) – at RAAF Edinburgh in December 2000. It was early in my writing career and I was at Edinburgh to do a story on ARDU – the ADF’s Aircraft Research & Development Unit, now part of the Air Warfare Centre, and I had a vague notion that there was hope of a flight in a PC-9 or Black Hawk the unit had on strength at the time.

So, I had a PC-9 ride on the first day of my visit, and the pilot spun me and we pulled some G, but I held it all in and had a ball. When we got back I went back to Av Med to ensure I was OK, and that’s when they told me I was cleared for my Hornet ride the next day! Huh? Umm…ok…

Needless to say, it was the best 1.3 hours of my life. We went high, pulled some alpha, went supersonic, flew low and fast, did a mock ‘Hornet pop’ attack on a target, pulled some G again, and then a few touch-and-goes back at Edinburgh at the end.

I’m not a pilot, just a ‘wannabe’ who has been fortunate enough to meet some awesome people and get some great access. To me, the Hornet will likely always be my favourite jet!

Andrew McLaughlin

These articles appear in the September/December 2021 issue of ADBR.