The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet had several forms before reaching the design we see today. It was based on the late 1960s design of a twin engine multimission fighter called the Northrop Cobra. This design was originally sold to outside buyers before being improved upon by the U.S. Navy.
b. Congress requests new airplane to replace the A-7 and USMC F-4
After rejecting several proposals for Navy Air Combat protypes and not having enough money to start from scratch on a whole new design, Congress directed the Navy in 1975 to begin modifications on the Cobra and selected McDonnell Douglas to work with Northrop as the prime contractors.
After major redesigns and improvements to the Cobra's combat radius, radar powers and aircraft carrier compatability, it was assigned the desig
Besides the United States, the Hornet is used by Australia, Canada, Spain, Finland, Kuwait and Switzerland.
ii. AIM 7 Sparrow: 12 foot radar-guided air-to-air missile also with a high- explosive warhead. The Sparrow is all-weather and all-altitude capable and can also attack other aircraft and missles from any direction.
iv. AGM-88 HARM: HARM stands for high-speed antiradiation missile. It is a 10 inch air-to-surface tactical missile made to find and destroy air defense systems.