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Update – McDonnell Douglas F /A-18D
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McDonnell Douglas F/A-18D
As Australia rapidly nears the delivery of its final McDonnell Douglas F/A-18, the US Navy and Marine Corps are in the process of receiving the first of an entirely new model of the Hornet that for the first time ever gives the aircraft a true night attack capability.
The secret of the Hornet’s future growth as a combat aircraft lies squarely with the fact that it is a totally software driven weapon system. Translated, this essentially means that the aircraft’s inherent mission capabilities can be greatly expanded simply by rewriting the basic mission software and increasing the ‘firepower’ of the aircraft’s computers. The more powerful the aircraft’s computers, the more able they are to not only be programmed with additional reference data but also to be able to process incoming data quicker in order to perform missions that ordinarily would be beyond both the aircraft and its crew’s capability.
These changes are essentially what makes the latest F/A-1SC/ D different to our own F/A-18NB. The latest models are also what South Korea, Kuwait and Switzerland will be receiving when their Hornet deliveries begin. Our own Hornets will be progressively upgraded with the enhanced software, etc over the coming years (refer box for full details) to the point where in the mid 1990s they will be as advanced as tactical fighters as they were when the first unit became operational in 1986. This is no mean feat and is largely possible because the aircraft is, like all recent combat and now most civil jet transport aircraft, software driven.
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