CF-18 Hornet
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![CF-18 Hornet firing a self-defence flare. [Detail]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CF-18Flare.jpg "CF-18 Hornet firing a self-defence flare. [Detail]")
The CF-18 Hornet (CF-18) is a Canadian Forces aircraft, based on the American F/A-18 Hornet.
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.
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.
History
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.
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.
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.
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)
Fleet
- Year(s) procured: 1982 to 1988
- Originally Ordered: 98 CF-18A / 40 CF-18B
- Current strength: 115 (81 in operational use).
- 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
- Permanent rotations from Cold Lake occur at 4 Wing 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.
- Cost: 35,000,000 Canadian dollars each.
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]
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