More than 36 years of RAAF ‘classic’ Hornet flying came to an end on 30 November, with the ferry of the few remaining operational aircraft from RAAF Tindal to Williamtown for withdrawal.
In an official ceremony at Williamtown the previous day, Defence Minister Peter Dutton and Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld had formally farewelled the Hornet from Service. The final squadron to relinquish the aircraft, No.75 Squadron at Tindal, will begin conversion to the F-35A Lightning II in the new year.
The RAAF acquired 75 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B ‘classic’ Hornets from 1985, after the type had been selected to replace the ageing Australian-built Mirage III fighters. The first two were built by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) in St Louis and arrived at Williamtown after their trans-Pacific delivery flight in May 1985. The remaining 73 Hornets were assembled by Government Aircraft Factories (GAF, later Aerospace Technologies of Australia) at Avalon, with increasing levels of local content.
The final Hornet was delivered to the RAAF from Avalon in May 1990 and only four aircraft have been lost in accidents in over 36 years, and a cumulative total of almost 408,000 flying hours, of service.
The Hornet has deployed overseas operationally three times it its career: the first to Diego Garcia between September 2001 and May 2002 (Operation Slipper); the second to the Middle East in February 2003 (Operation Falconer), and the third – again to the Middle East - between 2015 and 2018 (Operation Okra).
During Operation Okra, the fleet performed 1,937 missions over Iraq and Syria, flying 14,780 flying hours and delivering around 1,600 munitions.
“It is quite fitting that in the Air Force’s centenary year we say goodbye to the ‘classic’ Hornet, a fighter jet that has been an integral part of Australia’s defence capability for more than three decades,” AIRMSHL Hupfeld said.
The Hornet has been supported in Australia by Boeing for almost all its operational life, including the completion of an incremental upgrade program under Project Air 5376 (Hornet Upgrade), which delivered significant enhancement to its capabilities and included new radar, avionics and weapons systems.
Follow-on work performed in Australia by Boeing included deep maintenance services for the fleet from 2013, and was followed by the Classic Hornet Sustainment Services (CHSS) contract in July 2017. Under the latter contract Boeing became the Hornet’s Weapon Systems Integrator and most recently the company has been preparing retired aircraft for disposal.
“The retirement of the ‘classic’ Hornets will be a sad day for many at Boeing, but it will also be filled with immense pride at our role in its success over the past four decades,” Boeing Defence Australia Vice President and Managing Director Scott Carpendale said.
Australia has sold ‘up to 25’ of its retired Hornets to Canada, for continued service with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Boeing has delivered 20 of these to date. A further number will go to museums and heritage organisations around the country, including one already delivered to the Australian War Memorial. In addition, ‘up to 46’ aircraft were to have been sold to US-based ‘red air’ training company Air USA, but the current status of the deal is unknown.
The December-January issue of ADM will include a pictorial tribute to the Hornet and a detailed account of its long service in Australia will follow in our March-April edition.