CF-18 Hornet
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CF-18break-away.jpg
The CF-18 Hornet is a Canadian Forces aircraft, based on the American F/A-18 Hornet.
It was originally manufactured in St. Louis, Missouri, USA by the McDonnell Douglas military aerospace company, who in 1997 merged with Boeing. The term CF-18 is actually a misnomer. The planes are technically designated CF-188: the name Hornet is not used as it is not bilingual. However, in every context except the most official of military documents, the planes are referred to as CF-18s. The ability of Canada's air force to contribute effectively to the NATO Air Campaign was made possible by its recent acquisition of precision guided munitions. Even during its air-to-ground bombing missions, all of Canada's CF-18s were armed with the Sidewinder and Sparrow air-to-air missiles.
The CF-18s were long 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). However, in every context except the most official of military documents, the planes are referred to as CF-18s.
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 kilometres (more with air-to-air refueling)
Armament: Sidewinder and Sparrow air-to-air missiles, Maverick air-to-ground missile, conventional bombs and precision-guided bombs, rockets, and M-61 20 mm cannon
Crew: 1 pilot (CF-18A), 2 pilots (CF-18B)
Year(s) procured: 1982 to 1988
Quantity in CF: 122 (60 operational/62 fighter training, testing and rotation)
Location(s): 3 Wing CFB Bagotville, Quebec and 4 Wing CFB Cold Lake, Alberta
See also
List of Canadian Air Force Equipment
External link
http://www.airforce.forces.ca/equip/cf-18/intro_e.asp
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