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In Detail —— the CF18 Hornet fighter ——

by Allan Ng M.Eng., P.Eng.

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Canadian Defence Procurement  –  November 2003 The CF18 Hornet fighter aircraft  –  In Detail    (Part 7) Allan Ng examines the evolution and development of the CF's fighter Enter the CF18  –  the Hornet Flies into Canadian Service The CF18 entered Canadian operational service in 1984. McDonnell Douglas had flown the first CF aircraft at St. Louis in July. In October, the first two CF18s were formally handed over to 410  (Operational Training Unit)  Squadron at Cold Lake, Alberta. The CF18 would eventually equip 409, 439, and 421 Squadrons at Baden Söllingen in Germany, 410 (OTU), 416, and 441 Squadrons at Cold Lake, and 425 and 433 Squadrons at Bagotville, Quebec.  From 1984 to 1990 CF's Air Command operated CF18s in Canada and Europe training for both the air-to-air combat and ground attack missions. In Canada – in addition to training –  CF18s were tasked directly with NORAD protecting North America from Soviet aerial incursions. [1] But, the CF18's entry into service hadn't been completely without pain. Structural fatigue problems plagued the early CF18 [2] and delayed their deployment. It had been intended that the first operational squadron would perform NORAD duties but, in the end, 409 Squadron had to be redeployed to Baden-Söllingen. Once its structural problems had been overcome, the CF18s began to fill both the NATO and NORAD roles as originally planned. The new CF18 pilots would prove to be very capable aerial marksmen. In 1988, the CF team at the reknown international William Tell air-to-air weapons competition came a strong second to the top US team. Further opportunities to fly in mock air- to-air engagements against NATO fighters were available to CF18 pilots assigned to the 1st Canadian Air Division (1CAD) in Europe.  During this period, the pilots of CF18s averaged 240 flying hours per year enabling them to maintain very high levels of proficiency.  Some indication of the aggressiveness of their training is provided by the fairly high CF18 attrition rates during the period. Nevertheless, CF18 training attrition was actually lower than had been anticipated in initial procurement planning.  In 1985, this lower than expected training attrition rate  (and the usual funding limitations)  prompted Canada to decline the option it held on an additional 20 CF18s at their original 1978 purchase price. This decision would come back to haunt DND,  particularly as the flying hours began to mount on aging CF18s.  When it was time to modernize, the CF18 fleet had to be culled.