McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, supersonic, twin-engine, carrier-capable multirole combat aircraft designed as both fighter and attack aircraft, which gives it the F/A designation. McDonnell Douglas and Northrop derived it from the YF-17, which had lost the Air Force lightweight fighter competition to the YF-16, and the United States Navy developed it for its Navy Air Combat Fighter program. The Marine Corps adopted it too, and several foreign air forces fly it. The first production F/A-18A flew in April 1980 and the Hornet entered operational Navy service in 1983, replacing the A-7 Corsair II and remaining F-4 Phantoms. It also served with the Blue Angels demonstration team.