Hornet celebrates 30th anniversary of first flight

Published: Tue Nov 18th, 2008
Source: US Navy

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, Patuxent River, Md. -- The F/A-18 Hornet community celebrates the 30th anniversary of the legacy aircraft’s first flight today.

The Hornet, introduced as a multi-mission aircraft, was designed to replace the Navy's F-4 Phantom and A-7 Corsair II in each of their respective fighter and attack roles.

"Throughout its 30 years of service in the Fleet, it has demonstrated its capability and maintainability," said Capt. Mark Darrah, F/A-18 and EA-18G program manager.

Darrah noted that the Hornet has proven its multi-mission capability. He recounted that on the first day of Operation Desert Storm, two Hornets shot down an enemy fighter jet and continued on to destroy their assigned target and that during the Kosovo War, Marine F/A-18Ds were used during the rescues of downed U.S. Air Force pilots.

Currently, 636 Legacy Hornets are part of 62 active, Reserve, training and research, development, test and evaluation squadrons within the Navy and Marine Corps fleet. Seven international business partners also fly the Hornet.

The entire F/A-18 family of aircraft, including the Hornet, Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler, commemorated the accumulation of seven-million flight hours in July.

"The Super Hornet and Growlers, built on the platform of the Hornet, are destined to continue the 30-year F/A-18 achievement in the future," said Darrah.

FILE PHOTO - The Blue Angels perform their delta formation.
Source: US Navy

FILE PHOTO - An F/A-18C Hornet takes off from CVN 74.
Source: US Navy

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Hornet celebrates 30th anniversary of first flight

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