CF-188 Hornet

The McDonnell Douglas F18 Hornet, designated CF-188 by the Royal Canadian Air Force, was built in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1980, the Canadian Armed Forces purchased 40 dual-seat and 98 single-seat F-18 Hornets from the McDonnell Douglas Corporation; the first arrived in 1982 and the last were delivered in September 1988. Canada was the first country to import Hornets for its air force, buying them to replace the CF-116 Freedom Fighter, the CF-104 Starfighter, and the CF-101 Voodoo. Based in Cold Lake, Alberta, and Bagotville, Quebec, the aircraft are used at home and abroad for air defense, tactical support, aerobatic demonstrations, and other missions. Designed to attack both aerial and ground targets, Hornets carry bombs, guns, and missiles. Created for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy to operate from land bases and aircraft carriers, they went into production in 1978. Canada's Hornets first saw combat during the Gulf War in 1991 and have since been used in many NATO operations; after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, they played a crucial role in protecting the skies over Canada and, as part of NORAD, all of North America. They were also deployed in 2014 as part of Operation Impact to assist security forces in the Republic of Iraq against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The example at the National Air Force Museum of Canada entered service in 1982 and was used as a training aircraft by 410 Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron in Cold Lake, the home of all F-18 training in Canada; it carries two pilots and was presented to the museum in 2009 in commemoration of the 100 Years of Flight anniversary.

Ontario · Canada