The F/A-18 Super Hornet Is the Navy’s Aircraft Carrier Fighter ‘Backbone’

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Key Points and Summary: The U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 has undergone far-reaching improvements that have kept this 1970s-era fighter formidable well into the 21st century.

-Originally intended for about 6,000 flight hours, extended Service Life Extension Programs have pushed it beyond 10,000 hours.

-Conformal fuel tanks, updated sensors like Infrared Search and Track (IRST), and redesigned weapon pods have boosted range, stealth, and targeting capabilities. The cockpit’s digital overhaul and a “magic carpet” landing system further modernize its performance.

-These powerful upgrades have helped the Hornet excel in anti-insurgency, maritime security, and conventional warfare—cementing its status as a core asset in U.S. naval aviation.

F/A-18’s Extended Lifespan: How a 1970s Jet Became the Navy’s Modern Workhorse

It would be an understatement to refer to the US Navy’s F/A-18s far-reaching modernization campaign and service life extension as wide-spanning because the multi-year effort has been extremely intense and impactful.

Overall, the 1980s-era aircraft has remained viable, competent, and highly effective in a range of varied and dangerous combat environments for decades beyond its intended service life. Over the years, the range of upgrades has included key areas such as the aircraft’s cockpit, airframe, helmet cueing, targeting, weapons, software, external configuration, navigational guidance, sensing, electronic warfare, and weaponry. 

The F/A-18 Hornet first flew as far back as 1978 with an initial expectation of flying 6,000 flight hours. However, the aircraft’s improvement and combat success, combined with the continued durability of its airframe, inspired the Navy to launch several Service Life Extension Programs (SLEP) to extend the combat life of the aircraft. 

Service Life Extension Program

Years ago, the platform’s service life was extended to 8,000 and beyond 10,000 flight hours. Upgraded F/A-18 Super Hornets have been destroying Houthi targets and intercepting drones and missiles in the Red Sea, more than 40 years of service life. 

The airframes remain viable decades later, yet the SLEP program served to reinforce and support the structure of the airframes to surge into the future, and today’s F/A-18 is almost an entirely different aircraft than the original design. The aircraft faced the fundamental problem that it could quickly become obsolete as enemy air defenses and fighter jets further advanced. 

Roughly ten years ago, the US Navy was operating with what it said was a significant F/A-18 deficit and had placed large numbers of the aircraft on the service’s unfunded priorities list. Around this general timeframe, the US Navy took several massive steps forward to improve the aircraft and insure it could respond properly to threats in a modern combat environment. This was particularly critical as the US Navy waited for the delayed arrival of the carrier-launched F-35C 5th-gen aircraft to arrive. 

Massive Upgrades

One of several experimental upgrades included adding what the service called “Conformal” fuel tanks; two semi-circular external tank structures were lodged on either side of the fuselage to expand the aircraft’s range and “dwell time” significantly. The extra fuel greatly extended the useful range of the aircraft and was supported by continued upgrades to sensors and weaponry to enable additional mission capabilities for the aircraft. 

Targeting, Sensing & Electronic Warfare

Sensor upgrades included adding advanced targeting technologies such as Infrared Search and Track (IRST). IRST improved the range and fidelity of F/A-18 targeting sensors and further hardened them for advanced threats such as electronic warfare (EW). The cockpit was completely redone with new digital systems and avionics. Navy engineers experimented with external weapons pods designed to lower the aircraft’s radar signature and enhance its stealth properties. 

An F/A-18F Super Hornet Strike Fighter Squadron 103 is parked on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) as the ship operates in the Arabian Sea on Dec. 5, 2006. The Eisenhower is in the Arabian Sea in support of maritime security operations.

One interesting aspect of this is that F/A-18s wound up helping greatly with targeting and threat identification in several conflicts, alongside operating as an attack platform. In fact, during the engagement against ISIS and even in Operation Iraqi Freedom to a certain extent, F/A-18s were used extensively for targeting and surveillance just as much as for attack, as the aircraft could patrol enemy areas and use high-resolution sensors to identify targets for later attack. 

Weapons Pod

A smoothed-over weapons pod would decrease the radar signature of the F/A-18 by covering up all of the jagged edges on weapons systems hanging on external hard points likely to generate a clearer radar return signal to enemy air defenses. The more sharp contours and protruding structures there are on an aircraft, the more likely it is to be detected by enemy ground radar. Clearly defined shapes and angled structures enable electromagnetic “pings” from radar to bounce off quickly to capture a more precise picture for ground-based air defenses. 

Lastly, the Navy also upgraded the software on the F/A-18 with a unique technology called “magic carpet,” designed to help pilots land on a carrier deck with a smoother “glide slope.” 

About the Author: Kris Osborn 

Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.