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The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (CF-188) is a Canadian Forces aircraft, based on the American F/A-18 Hornet.
[edit] Development[edit] The New Fighter AircraftIn 1977, the Canadian government identified the need to replace the NATO assigned CF-104 Starfighter, the NORAD assigned CF-101 Voodoo and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter, although the decision was later made to keep the CF-116. The subsequent decision was to proceed with the New Fighter Aircraft competition (NFA), with a purchase budget of around 2.4 billion CAD to purchase 130-150 of the winner of the competition. Candidates included the F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, Panavia Tornado, Dassault Mirage F1 (later replaced by the Mirage 2000), plus the products of the American Lightweight Fighter (LWF) competition, the F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, and a de-navalized version of the Hornet, the F-18L. The government stressed that the winner of the competition be a proven off-the-shelf design and provide substantial industrial benefits as part of the order. By 1978, the New Fighter Aircraft competitors were short listed to just two aircraft; the F-16 Falcon and the two F-18 offerings. The F-14, F-15, and the Tornado were rejected due to the high purchase price, while Dassault dropped out of the competition. The F-18L combined the systems and twin-engine layout of the F-18 that Air Command favored with a lighter land-based equipment setup that significantly improved performance. However, Northrop, the primary contractor for the F-18L version, had not built the aircraft by the time of the NFA program, waiting on successful deals before doing so. Additionally, while Northrop offered the best industrial offset package, it would only "pay off" if other F-18L orders were forthcoming, something the Department of National Defense (DND) was not willing to bet on. However, the F-14 almost entered Canadian service through the backdoor due to the Iranian Revolution. In the aftermath of the revolution, the US cut off all military supplies to Iran, which meant that their new fleet of F-14s would be potentially rendered unflyable due to a lack of spares. The Canadians offered to purchase them at a steeply discounted price. However, the negotiations died before a deal was reached as it was revealed that Canadian involvement was instrumental for the smuggling of American embassy personnel out of the new Islamic Republic.[1] 
In 1980, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was declared the winner of the New Fighter Aircraft competition. The order included 98 single-seat variants and 40 dual-seat variants, for a total of 138 purchased, plus 20 options (which were not exercised). The F/A-18 Hornet was then dubbed the CF-188 (the name Hornet not being used as the translation in French is "Frelon," which is already used by a French military helicopter). However, in every context except the most official of military documents, the planes are referred to as CF-18 Hornets. Reasons for the selection listed by the Canadian Forces were many of the features that was requested to be included for the US Navy; two engines for reliability (considered essential for conducting Arctic sovereignty and over the water patrols), an excellent radar set, while being considerably more affordable than the F-14 and the F-15. [edit] CF-18 design changesThe 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. Also, the underside of the CF-18 features a painted "dummy canopy". This is intended to disorient and confuse an enemy in air-to-air combat. Many features that made the F/A-18 suitable for naval carrier operations were also retained by the Canadian Forces, such as the robust landing gear, the arrestor hook, and wing-folding mechanisms, which proved useful when operating the fighters from smaller airfields such as those found in the Arctic. [edit] Operational history[edit] Introduction into Canadian ServiceThe first two CF-18 were formally handed over to 410 (Operational Training Unit) Squadron at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta on October 25, 1982.[2] Further deliveries equipped 409, 439, and 421 Squadrons at Baden-Soellingen in then West Germany, the 410 Operation Training Unit, 416, and 441 Squadrons at Cold Lake, and 425 and 433 Squadrons at Bagotville, Quebec. However, introduction into Canadian service was initially problematic due to early issues with structural fatigue which delayed initial deployment. As the initial bugs were worked out, the CF-18 started filling the NORAD interception and NATO roles as intended. [edit] CombatIn 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 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 marshaling 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 and 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 the air-to-ground and air-to-air roles. Canadian aircraft conducted ten percent 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 and 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 including surface-to-air missile sites, airfields, bridges and fuel storage areas. [edit] The Future of the FleetIn 2000, the need to upgrade the CF-18 became necessary as demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm and during the 1998 Kosovo conflict as advances in technology had rendered some of the avionics on board the CF-18 obsolete and out of step when operating with NATO allies. As a response, the military initiated in 2001 a major modernization program for the CF-18 dubbed the CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project (IMP). The project was broken into two phases over a period of seven years and is meant to improve air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, upgrade sensors and the defensive suite, and replace the datalinks and communications systems on board the CF-18 from the old F/A-18A and F/A-18B standard to the current F/A-18C and D standard. The project is supposed to extend the life of the CF-18 until 2017–2020, at which point, the F-35 Lightning II (JSF) is expected to replace the CF-18. Boeing (merged with McDonnell Douglas) the primary contractor and L-3 Communications the primary subcontractor, was then issued a contract for the modernization project starting in 2002. 80 CF-18s, consisting of 62 single-seat and 18 dual-seat models were selected from the fleet for the upgrade progamme. 
Phase I of the CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project consisted of:
Within the same time frame, other upgrades not in the scope of the IMP were also conducted:
The first completed "Phase I" CF-18 was delivered to the Canadian Forces on time in May 2003.[4] Final delivery of all "Phase I" CF-18s was done at a ceremony on 31 August 2006 at L-3 Communications in Mirabel, Quebec.[5] Phase II of the CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project was award to Boeing on 22 February 2005, which consists of the following upgrades:
Within the same time frame, other upgrades not in the scope of the IMP are also planned:
The first completed "Phase II" CF-18 was delivered to the Canadian Forces on August 20, 2007, at a ceremony in Montreal.[6] Completion of the final phase of the CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project is expected to be in 2009. Total costs of the entire CF-18 Incremental Modernization Project and additional Hornet upgrades is expected to be around $2.6 billion dollars Canadian.[7][8] [edit] Variants
[edit] Fleet
Planned allocation is two operational squadrons of 24 aircraft each, with the remaining 33 available for training, testing and evaluation AETE, and depot level maintenance.
[edit] Losses
[edit] Specifications (CF-18) Data from CF-18 Specifications[14] General characteristics
Performance
Armament
Avionics
[edit] See alsoRelated development Comparable aircraft Related lists [edit] References[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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