Page 118 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec21-Jan22

118 DEFENCE BUSINESS HORNET FAREWELL
DECEMBER 2021-JANUARY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
AIR FORCE
BIDS
FAREWELL
TO THE
HORNET
The sun finally set on the Royal Australian Air Force’s McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B ‘classic’ Hornet in early December when the final batch of jets were flown from Tindal to Williamtown for disposal.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
SELECTED in 1981 to replace the RAAF’s Mirage IIIO fighters, the first of 75 Hornets entered service in 1985 and, until it was finally replaced by the Lock- heed Martin F-35A, formed the backbone of Austra- lia’s fighter force for more than 36 years.
During that time, representing almost 408,000 fly- ing hours, only four aircraft were lost in accidents. The RAAF deployed Hornets operationally three times in the jet’s long career: the first to Diego Garcia between September 2001 and May 2002 (Operation Slipper); the second to the Middle East in February 2003 (Op- eration Falconer), and the third – again to the Middle East – between 2015 and 2018 (Operation Okra).
During Operation Okra, the final operational de- ployment, the Hornet fleet performed 1,937 missions over Iraq and Syria, flying 14,780 flying hours and delivering around 1,600 munitions.
A retrospective account of the Hornet’s career with the RAAF and what it achieved in terms of region- al presence will appear in the March-April issue of ADM, but here we present a pictorial tribute to the aircraft, including images of some of the more colour- ful jets, seen through the lens of editor Nigel Pittaway.
MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 120