All hail the Super Hornet

How the Super Hornet proved the doubters wrong to extend its life until at least 2030

Just after our previous issue was going to press, an intriguing story crossed the Australian Aviation newsdesk. The UK’s Defence Secretary, visiting Australia, hitched a ride on a RAAF Super Hornet on a flight between Canberra and Adelaide. Grant Shapps would have gotten away with it without much publicity if the not-so subtle ‘service’ hadn’t been captured on video and posted on YouTube. Defence said the flight was “part of a demonstration of an important element of Australia’s defence capability to one of our key defence partners. ” Which is, of course, nonsense. Shapps wanted to tell his friends he’d flown on the world’s coolest aircraft, the platform that was the undoubted star of the last Top Gun film. And who can blame him?

It was one of two major Super Hornet stories Australian Aviation has covered this year. Because, just before our previous issue went to print, the federal government announced the fighter would continue to fly until at least 2030 while receiving several upgrades to extend its life. It had been due to be retired in 2027. In fact, the enduring success of the Super Hornet was behind the decision not to purchase any more F-35s and instead invest the cash in long-range missiles capable of warding off the threat of an expanding Chinese military.