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F/A-18 Hornet: Carrier Aviation, Multirole Combat, Blue Angels, and the Story of the Navy Fighter That Replaced a Generation
Paperback
Series: Fighter Jet Legends
AviationAir CombatArmed Forces
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 26 2026
Pages: 130
Weight: 0.40
Height: 0.28 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Carrier aviation demands more than speed and firepower. It demands an aircraft capable of launching from a moving deck, shifting between missions, surviving punishing operational cycles, and earning the confidence of pilots, maintainers, and commanders across decades of service.
F/A-18 Hornet - Carrier Aviation, Multirole Combat, Blue Angels, and the Story of the Navy Fighter That Replaced a Generation delivers the complete historical journey of the aircraft that transformed U.S. naval aviation. From its unexpected origins in the defeated YF-17 programme to its emergence as the Navy and Marine Corps' multirole workhorse, Robert Hardman traces the decisions, rivalries, combat experiences, and human effort that shaped the Hornet.
Inside, you will discover:
- How the YF-17 evolved into a carrier fighter through the complex partnership between Northrop, McDonnell Douglas, and the U.S. Navy
- How carrier requirements shaped the Hornet's design, from reinforced landing gear and corrosion protection to fly-by-wire controls, cockpit workload, and maintainability at sea
- How the aircraft performed in real operations, including Libya, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the distinctive missions of the Marine F/A-18D
- How international service, the Blue Angels, NASA research, and structural life-extension programmes expanded its story far beyond combat
Through carefully researched history, revealing operational detail, and lesser-known episodes, this book shows how technology, doctrine, training, maintenance, and human judgement combined to make the Hornet effective.
Read the story of the fighter that replaced a generation-and understand why the F/A-18 became one of the defining aircraft of modern naval aviation.
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