McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet

CF-18 Hornet
An RCAF CF-18A performs during Canadian Armed Forces Day 2014
General information
Type	Multirole fighter
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas (some assembled by Government Aircraft Factories)
Status	In service
Primary user	Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built	138
History
Manufactured	1982–1988[1]
Introduction date	25 October 1982
First flight	28 July 1982[2]
Developed from	McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New Fighter Aircraft Project competition to replace CF-104 Starfighter, CF-101 Voodoo and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter. Deliveries of the CF-18 to the Canadian Armed Forces began in 1982. CF-18s have supported North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) air sovereignty patrols and participated in combat during the Gulf War in 1991, the Kosovo War in the late 1990s, and as part of the Canadian contribution to the international Libyan no-fly zone in 2011. CF-18s were also part of the Canadian contribution to the military intervention against ISIL, Operation Impact. A procurement process to replace the CF-18 with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II has been ongoing since 1997.