The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myrosnychenko, revealed to media early in June that Ukraine was studying the potential of acquiring some or all of Australia’s 46 remaining FA-18A and two-seat F/A-18B Hornet jets. The last of those jets were retired from Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) service two years ago, and would otherwise soon be either sold or destroyed.
Ukraine had previously focused its efforts on acquiring F-16s and Swedish Gripen single-engine jets. Now, the country is definite to receive F-16s, and seems increasingly prone to buy Gripens at some later point. But Australia’s 46 retired Hornets, in storage at Williamtown airbase near Newcastle, have created an option that Ukraine appears compelled to explore—despite the prices of introducing an extra type into service.
There are further reports that “high level negotiations” are already underway involving the U.S., Australia, and Ukraine over what could grow to be Australia’s largest value transfer of military aid thus far. The U.S. has already indicated that it’s “favorably disposed” to Australia giving the American-designed jets to Ukraine, having been assured that such jets wouldn’t be used over Russian airspace.
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Earlier in 2019, Australia sold 25 of its 71 remaining Hornets to Canada. Training contractor RAVN Aerospace (formerly Air USA) placed a deposit to buy 41 of the 46 Australian Hornets to be used in aggressor training, i.e. surrogate bad guys. Meaning RAVN must also give and receive authorization for such a posh transaction. A senior Australian official told ABC News which might be “There are still many hurdles to clear before the F/A-18s could be sent to Ukraine.”
One other consideration is the condition of the aircraft. The Defense Post reported a claim that only 12 to 16 are “operable”. Nevertheless, one other source told Australia’s Financial Review that every one but a “handful” of the ex-RAAF F/A-18s would require just slightly work to revive to flyability and are in good condition.
Thus far, Australia is the biggest non-NATO provider of assistance to Ukraine, having thus far transferred $475 million in assistance, including customized M113AS4 APCs, Hawkei infantry mobility vehicles, 90 Bushmaster mine-resistant trucks, six M777 howitzers and 300 small D40 kamikaze drones.
The McDonnell-Douglas FA-18 Hornet entered service within the Nineteen Eighties as a twin-engine multi-role fighter (thus having each the ‘Fighter’ and ‘Attack’ designation in its name) for each U.S. Navy carriers and land-based Marine Corps squadrons. The design is noted for its excellent low-speed handling characteristics and talent to attain high angles of attack (i.e. the power to point the nose at high angles above the plane’s current trajectory). It also got here out within the Nineteen Eighties with beyond-visual-range capabilities, fly-by-wire avionics, and digital multi-function displays—long before those had grow to be universal in fourth-generation fighters.
Despite seeing loads of combat duty within the Middle East and Balkans—including claiming two air-to-air kills, though one loss was also suffered to an Iraqi MiG-25—the FA-18 Hornet didn’t last particularly long in service attributable to the emergence of the enlarged FA-18E/F Super Hornet jet. The Super Hornet had greater range, much more advanced avionics, and a greatly reduced radar signature, and is mostly considered a largely latest plane—despite its evolutionary lineage from the Hornet. The U.S. Navy retired its Hornets in 2019, though the Marine Corps still operates 138 F/A-18Cs and Ds.
Importantly for Ukraine, the Hornet—just like the F-16—can use the long-range AIM-120 fire-and-forget radar-guided missiles and radars that may give Ukrainian pilots a fighting likelihood against Russian Su-35 Flanker fighters. It might also employ diverse precision ground and naval attack weapons. Nevertheless, neither the Hornet nor the F-16 would outrange Russian radars and missiles. They might still must approach Russian jets at low altitude and, likely, with jamming support to mask their approach before popping as much as attack.
As each additional aircraft type operated by an air force involves considerable ‘overhead’ costs to coach pilots and maintainers for sustained service, this significantly raises the bar that Ukraine must consider when evaluating whether or not allocating resources to a Hornet fleet (even free Hornets) is sensible—especially given the foremost costs already implied in operating F-16s.
Hornet Versus Falcon Over the Skies of Ukraine?
Identical to the F-16A/Bs Ukraine will likely receive, Australia’s first-generation FA-18A/Bs have been updated from their initial production configuration to the A++ standard. This makes them closer—in lots of respects—to second-generation F/A-18C/Ds, thanks to raised radars, longer-range missiles, and latest cockpit displays.
Broadly, the F/A-18A/B and F-16A/B are each short-range, fourth-generation fighters known for his or her maneuverability. In comparison with Ukraine’s Soviet-era MiG-29 and Su-27 fighters, each bring to the table longer-range radars and missiles that give them a fighting likelihood against Russia’s air force. But neither matches the capabilities of Russia’s newer4.5-generation Su-35 fighter, nor Russia’s extremely powerful (if indiscrete) Irbis-E radar.
The Hornet has a rather lower maximum speed than an F-16 and, based on one government report, nearly twice the operating costs. Nevertheless, attributable to being designed to land on aircraft carrier decks, it has higher low-speed/low-altitude handling that makes it a wonderful within-visual-range dogfighter. It’s also in a position to operate from shorter, more rugged runways, making it easier to disperse F/A-18s to satellite bases to avoid Russian strikes.
Australia’s Hornets do profit from an even bigger, longer-range AN/APG-73 radar than any F-16As that Ukraine is prone to get, improving its beyond-visual range capability. It also boasts 9 hardpoints for weapons, in comparison with 7 on the F-16. Moreover, Australian F/A-18s can employ EL-2222 jamming pods to cut back vulnerability to radar-guided missiles until (hopefully) they get inside range to employ their very own AIM-120 or ASRAAM missiles. That said, Israel may exercise its licensing rights to dam transfers of pods to Ukraine because it has for other weapons.
Popular Mechanics asked Mena Adel, who covers aviation exercises for Scramble magazine, for his thoughts on the relative merits of the Hornet versus the F-16 for Ukraine. He wrote:
“The plane has ruggedized landing gear that’s more strongly suit the Ukrainian environment, as well as to raised survivability for the pilots since it has two engines with the power to hold more missiles for air engagement, and higher maneuvering capabilities at medium-low speeds in inside visual range engagements. It’s considered among the finest for those forms of mission.”
He believes the 2 types could complement one another reasonably well:
“The mixture of the 2 fighters greatly reduces the pressure on the F-16 in defensive counter-air missions. Also, the F-16 shall be free to take part in offensive missions within the event of planning daring ambushes against Russian fighters and even attacking forces near the frontlines. Even the F/A-18 can cover the F-16 in the course of the withdrawal, and additionally it is possible for the F-16 to open a spot with HARM anti-radar missiles targeting air defenses (very similar to what the Ukrainians do with their Soviet planes) for munitions launched from F-18s.”
Notably for surface attack missions, Hornets are compatible with quite a lot of precision guided weapons, including JDAM GPS-guided and Paveway laser-guided glide bombs, ship-sinking Harpoon Block II missiles (range 81 miles), and potent JASSM long-range stealth cruise missiles.
Adel noted that Hornets have trained before to fight in high-threat environments like those in Ukraine before:
“Despite the presence of advanced integrated air defense systems augmented with capable fighters posing a giant threat … F/A-18s have consistently participated in exercises akin to Red Flag including the newest Red Flag 21-3 … All of those tactics rely on electronic support from air and land ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Targeting Acquisition and Reconnaissance) assets via data links for each F-16s and F/A-18s. The major query stays the power of the Ukrainian pilots to soak up these tactics and implement them.”
The Unique Australian Hornet
The Hornet found its technique to the land down under to interchange the RAAF’s delta-wing Mirage III fighters, beating out the F-14 Tomcat (too pricy) and the F-16 and Mirage 2000 single-engine fighters—due to safety advantages of getting a second engine and more robust beyond-visual range capabilities than the latter two aircraft.
Australia ordered 47 FA-18As and 18 two-seat FA-18Bs to equip its No. 81 Wing (No. 3, 75, and 77 squadrons) and a training unit (No. 2 OCU). The primary two were built at McDonnell-Douglas’s St. Louis plant as usual, while the rest were assembled at an ASTA factory in Avalon using 40% Australian-built components.
The Australian Hornets differed only in having the irrelevant carrier landing equipment removed, in addition to minor alterations to their radios, landing systems and ejection seat straps. The primary aircraft entered service in 1985 and performed well, with only 4 lost to accidents 1987-1992 (though, sadly, all fatal) and none after that, in comparison with ten times as many crashed Mirage IIIs.
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Hornets of No. 75 squadron first saw combat in 2003, flying 350 escort and shut air support missions supporting U.S. Marines invading Iraq. Initially, they were flying escort missions, after which close air support, from Al Udeid airbase in Qatar. RAAF Hornets from No. 75 and later 77 squadrons returned to the Middle East twelve years later for the anti-ISIS war in January of 2015, flying 1,973 sorties and targeting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
But before these expeditions, the introduction of fourth-generation fighters to Australia’s Pacific neighborhood compelled Canberra to institute its three-phased Hornet Upgrade Program (HUG), which began in 1999.
Most significantly, this replaced the unique APG-65 radar with the digital AN/APG-73 pulse doppler radar, which had an an efficient range of 92 miles and included latest high-resolution ground-mapping capabilities.
Air-to-air combat capabilities were enhanced by introducing the long range AIM-120 fire-and-forget radar-guided AMRAAM missile and integrating a helmet-mounted sight that allowed pilots to focus on short-range ASRAAM missiles by craning their head (moderately than pointing the nose of the entire aircraft). Larger, but sharing an identical infrared imaging seeker to the comparable U.S. AIM-9X short-range missile, ASRAAM trades a number of the latter’s close-range maneuverability for longer range.
These Hornets also received AAS037 Nitehawk and Israeli-built Litening targeting pods equipped with gimbaled infrared and regular cameras, in addition to a laser designator.
For improved survivability, additionally they received an ALR-67(V3) radar warning receiver, which outputs data on incoming threats to a 3” display within the cockpit.
Communications were enhanced with encrypted comms and the Link-16 datalink for networking with friendly forces. When Australia retired its F-111 Aardvark supersonic bombers, they passed on their Israeli-built EL/L-8222 self-defense jamming pods for mounting under the Hornet’s fuselage, which repeatedly scans for each air- and surface-based threat radars and robotically jams them.
In fact, RAAF modernization culminated within the acquisition of beefier Super Hornet fighters, EA-18G Growlers and, ultimately, F-35A stealth fighters that completely replaced the Hornets in service in 2021.
Making Ukraine a Hornet’s Nest?
A vital final consideration shall be Ukraine’s ability to sustain and expand its Hornet fleet. Arguably the rationale that Ukraine fixated on obtaining F-16s was that there have been 1000’s built, and so they were used so extensively across the globe. It stays in production today, and is prone to receive additional upgrades in the approaching many years.
The Hornet, nonetheless, is in its twilight, with production having ended way back and most major Hornet operators planning to interchange them with newer jets. But lots of those operators are donors of military assistance to Ukraine, creating future opportunities for Ukraine to expand a national Hornet fleet.
Notably, the Finnish Air Force still has 62 F/A-18C/Ds, Spain has around 84 F/A-18Cs and EF-18As in service, and Canada has around 86 customized CF-18As and Bs in service.
All of those operators are phasing in F-35A stealth jets to interchange their Hornets within the second half of the 2020s. In fact, the U.S. has its own bucket of recently retired F/A-18s too, though some could also be in worse condition attributable to salt-water exposure from carrier operations. These Hornet-operating countries could also help Ukraine train and maintain the sort, whether or not they sell/donate any.
That implies that Ukraine could eventually have a shot at acquiring a pair hundred hand-me-down F/A-18s from its allies, with additional theoretical opportunities from Switzerland (25 Hornets), Kuwait (55) and Malaysia (8).
But whilst appealing as free fighters sounds, it will still require a substantial investment by Ukraine of cash and personnel toward a fleet of aircraft which aren’t any longer leading edge and near the top of their service lives (thus requiring paying for all times extensions). This might prevent resources from as a substitute of going toward newer 4.5-generation designs that may more confidently go head-to-head with Russia’s Su-35s. The associated fee-benefit evaluation may explain why Ukraine hasn’t made a full-throated push for Australia’s FA-18s … yet, that’s.