The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather
night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first
production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September
1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B
and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases
with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.

In 1953 VMA-332 adopted the polka dots, top hat and cane when they replaced VMA-312
“Checkerboards”. Mocking the black and white checkerboard painted on VMA-312 aircraft
cowlings VMA-332 painted their cowlings with red polka dots on a white background. Their 2
letter identifier “MR” looked like the abbreviation for Mister and the pilots considered
themselves gentlemen so the top hat and cane were adopted. In early 1960s the name
“Moonlighters” was adopted and the tail letters changed to EA. In 1993 the unit became
VMFA(AW)-332.

Specifications for the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C/D Hornet

Role - supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft

Crew – 1 x F/A-18C, 2 x F/A-18D (Pilot and Weapons Systems Officer – WSO)

Dimensions
Length – 56 ft   (17.1 m)
Wingspan
With AAMs – 40 ft 5 in   (12.31 m)
Folded – 27 ft 6 in   (8.38 m)
Height – 15 ft 4 in   (4.7 m)

Weights
Empty – 23,000 lb   (10,400 kg)
Loaded – 36,970 lb   (16,770 kg)
Maximum Take off – 51,900 lb   (23,500 kg)

Performance
Powerplants – 2 x General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofan
Dry Thrust – 11,000 lbf   (48.9 kN) per engine
After Burner Thrust – 17,750 lbf   (79.2 kN) per engine
Maximum Speed – Mack 1.8   (1,190 mph)   (1,915 km/h) @ 40,000 ft   (12,190 m)
Range – 1,089 nmi   (1,250 miles)   (2,000 km) with 2 x AIM-9s
Combat Radius – 400 nmi   (460 miles)   (740 km) air-to-air missions
Ferry Range – 1,800 nmi   (2,070 miles)   (3,330 km)
Service Ceiling – 50,000 ft   (15,240 m)
Rate of Climb – 50,000 ft/min   (254 m/s)

Armament
1 x 20 mm M61 Vulcan cannon mounted in nose with 578 rounds
9 x Hardpoints - a capacity of 13,700 lb   (6,215 kg) with external fuel tanks and ordnance
2 x wingtip missile launch rails
4 x under-wing
3 x under-fuselage
Rockets
2.75 inch   (70 mm) Hydra 70 rockets
5 inch (127 mm) Zuni rockets

Missiles
Air-To-Air
4 x AIM-9 Sidewinders
or
4 x AIM-132 ASRAAM
or
4 x IRIS-T or 4 x AIM-120 AMRAAM and 2 x AIM-7 Sparrow
or
Additional - 2 x AIM-120 AMRAAM

Air-To-Surface
AGM-65 Maverick
Standoff Land Attack Missiles (SLAM-ER)
AGM-88 HARM Anti-radiation Missile (ARM)
AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW)
Taurus Missile (Cruise Missile)

Anti-ship
AGM-84 Harpoon

Bombs
JDAM Precision-Guided Munition (PGM)
Paveway series of Laser-guided bombs
Mk. 80 series of unguided iron bombs
CBU-87 cluster bombs
CBU-89 gator mine
CBU-97
Mk. 20 Rockeye II
B61/Mk. 57 nuclear bombs

Others
SUU-42A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod
Or
Electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod
Or
AN/AAS-38 Nite Hawk targeting pod (USN only) to be replaced by AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR
Or
LITENING targeting pod (only used by USMC, Royal Australian Air Force, Spanish Air Force
and Finnish Air Force)
Or
Up to 3 x 330 US gallons   (270 imp gallons / 1,200 liters) Sargent Fletcher drop tanks for
ferry flight Or Extended range/loitering time

Avionics
Hughes APG-73 radar
ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver) antenna for use by USN F/A-18C
strike fighter squadrons
Inertial Navigation System (INS)
GPS
2 x mission computers
HUD (Head Up Display) cockpit display
Very High Frequency (VHF) omni-directional landing system
Multiple-functioning Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display

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