AIRCRAFT PROGRAM

Multirole fighter with twin General Electric turbofan engines.

Design and initial production by McDonnell Douglas, now manufactured by Boeing and in service with military in Australia, India, Kuwait and United States.

Graphite/epoxy fuselage (Northrop Grumman), doors, trailing edge flaps, inter-spar skin panels and tail skin (CASA, now Airbus), light alloy wing and aluminium honeycomb core tail. Titanium firewall surrounds twin General Electric turbofan Engines.

Aircraft, with twin tail fins, large wings and leading edge root extension has range of up to 1,660 n miles and speed of Mach 1.6+, maximised by conformal fuel tanks mounted on shoulders of aircraft. The F/A-18E Super Hornet uses 42% less parts than the original F/A-18 Hornet.

Single seat F/A-18E and tandem F/A-18F pilot(s) in upward open canopy cockpit, face an advanced cockpit system with large area (10x19 inch) colour display screen and twin monochrome screens. Joint helmet mounted cueing system (Collins) combined with an advanced network infrastructure, increases the aircraft’s ability to communicate with both ground and airborne fleets.

Type variants

Variant	Launch/First flight	Production end
Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet	1995 / 1995		Multirole fighter, single-seat/two-seater variants.
Boeing F/A-18G Growler	2003 / 2006		Electronic warfare variant of F/A-18F.

Recent news

• 03/06/2026:  NEWS:  Ghost Bat stealth trial strengthens Boeing combat aircraft programme
• 22/05/2026:  Press Release:  Unison Hardware supports milestone first flight of unmanned U.S. Navy MQ-25A
• 14/05/2026:  Press Release:  Mobix Labs to acquire U.S. rare earth and critical minerals company powering defence and national security
• 01/04/2026:  Press Release:  Solestra Group adds flight safety, fracture-critical manufacturing capabilities with acquisition of Aerofab Corporation
• 19/02/2026:  Press Release:  Amca acquires Payne Magnetics, strengthening its power electronics capabilities

View full news archive for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.

See recent updates (latest 08/06/2026)