F/A-18 Hornet

The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet was developed from the Northrop YF-17 Cobra that lost the Lightweight Fighter competition to the F-16. The Navy selected it as a dual-role fighter/attack aircraft to replace both the F-4 Phantom and A-7 Corsair II. The F/A-18 designation reflected its ability to switch between air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with the flip of a switch. It proved its versatility in the 1991 Gulf War when Hornets dropped bombs on an Iraqi airfield and then shot down two MiGs on the same mission. The Super Hornet variant remains the US Navys primary carrier aircraft.