The Hornet’s ten years in service

2 November 2005

The first F-18 Hornet air defence fighters entered service with the Air Force ten years ago.

A new era in the Finnish Air Force’s fighter operations dawned with the arrival of the Hornet. To be exact, this happened at 1510 hours on 7 November 1995 when the first F-18D Hornet, HN-462, landed in Finland.

The four-aircraft formation completed its ferry flight from St. Louis, in the United States, to Pirkkala in 9 hours 35 minutes non-stop, using air-to-air refuelling. The rear seat of the first aircraft to land was occupied by Lieutenant General Matti Ahola, who was the commander-in-chief of the Air Force at that time.

The predecessors of the Hornet were the Saab 35 Draken and MiG-21bis interceptors. The introduction of the modern, advanced Hornet was a quantum leap in the capabilities of the Air Force; in fact, the Air Force skipped an entire fighter generation to end up with having an aircraft possessing extremely high performance and incorporating modern technology. The new weapon systems of the Hornet brought along the most significant developments compared with the earlier aircraft. Its APG-73 radar, active radar guided AMRAAM missiles, infra-red guided Sidewinder missiles and a nationally developed data link have been key contributors in the raising of the firepower and effectiveness of Finland’s air defence to a new level.

Another, absolutely essential new element inherent of modern fighter warfare and training has been  the introduction of self-protection systems and electronic warfare methods.

Advanced technology has also changed mission preparation in general and post-mission debriefings in particular. The possibility to generate synchronised representations of aircraft flight paths, flight parameters, cockpit displays, radio communications, and weapons employment has provided a significant boost to the effectiveness of training.

The Hornet has met the Air Force’s expectations as an efficacious and pilot-friendly fighter. The transition into the new era has therefore gone as planned, and the Air Force has established a good operational capability. Experiences obtained during various exercises have shown that this capability is also appreciated internationally.

As for its flight characteristics and performance the Hornet remains a top-class fighter. The aircraft also has potential for further developments and enhancement of its performance.

During the intended 30-year life cycle of the Hornet the Air Force will undertake two upgrades to maintain its capabilities up-to-date and to ensure that functional and structural lifespan requirements will be met. The first of these will take place during 2007 and 2008. The second upgrade, planned for incorporation between 2012 and 2014, will include a study of giving the aircraft air-to-ground capability, among other matters.

International co-operation has increased

When the Hornet was entering into service ten year ago, few persons could foresee the changes that international co-operation would make to the Air Force’s operations. At the end of the 1990s, the Air Force began actively develop international co-operation through participation in live exercises and training of its personnel. This has resulted in international exercises becoming part of training routine in the Air Force.

Although flight operations are now conducted using tactical English, which enables operations in accordance with procedures applied in international exercises, homeland defence remains the primary objective of the employment of the air defence fighter fleet and associated operational training. Metric units have been replaced with imperial units that are standard in international aviation. Despite the shortness of the period of transition, these changes have neither affected the efficiency of flight operations nor degraded flight safety.

As laid down in a Government report of 2004, the Air Force is developing a rapid reaction F-18 unit capable of undertaking combined crisis management operations. This four-aircraft unit will be provided with means to operate as part of a multinational detachment and in this way achieve the objectives of missions, the scope of which will be respectively widened. The goal of the preparation work is set at achieving operational capability towards the close of this decade. Training and flight operations related requirements have for the most part been met already, while the building of the unit’s technical support and  organisation to match the required schedule is underway.

The programme started in 1987

Preparations for the purchase of a new air defense fighter for the Air Force started as early as 1987. The drafting of an invitation for tenders began in the spring of 1988.

Replies to the first invitation, which was sent to four companies in 1990, were received from France, the United States and Sweden, to cover respectively the Mirage 2000-5, F-16A/B and Saab 39 Gripen. Later an invitation was also sent to the Soviet Union for the MiG-29. In spring 1991 the stakes were raised with a revised invitation that now covered the replacement of the aircraft of the Air Force’s all three fighter squadrons instead of two as initially intended. Concurrent with this, McDonnell Douglas entered into the competition with its F/A-18C/D, which in turn resulted in the United States modifying its bid to include the essentially upgraded C/D version of the F-16.

These aircraft types - except the MiG-29, which was evaluated only in the Soviet Union - underwent an evaluation process, both in their countries of origin in 1991 and in Finland during 1992. In the early spring of 1992, the Air Force proposed to the Ministry of Defence that the F/A-18 would be selected. A decision, made by the Ministry and the Government, to sign a letter of intent for the purchase was announced on 6 May 1992.

After final negotiations the Finnish Government authorised the signing of a letter of offer and acceptance on 5 June 1992. The Hornet purchase thus finalised consisted of Finland acquiring fifty-seven single-seat F-18Cs and seven two-seat F-18Ds. It was agreed that the two-seaters be assembled in the United States while the assembly of all single-seat aircraft would take place in Finland.

The first Finnish F/A-18D was handed over in St. Louis in June 1995. The first four F-18Ds were flown to Finland in November 1995 with the remaining three arriving in February the following year.

Patria (then Valmet Aviation Industries) assembled the single-seat aircraft at Halli (now part of the town of Jämsä, at that time of the municipality of Kuorevesi). The assembly of the first article began in June 1995, and it rolled off the assembly line in June 1996. The handover of the first F-18C to the Air Force was on 28 June 1996. The last aircraft was delivered on 8 August 2000. The intended life cycle of the aircraft in the Air Force is approximately thirty years. The contracting arrangement was successful as manifested by the fact that every aircraft was delivered ahead of schedule.

The Hornet project was among the biggest military aircraft procurement programmes in Europe at the time. There was a lot of public discussion on possible spillover of costs from the budgetary framework. Although the programme was completed in accordance with the outlines and principles laid down in the budget its total costs exceeded the amount allocated in the budget, which was entirely due to index costs and changes in currency exchange rates.

Hornet: technical data

Power plant: Two General Electric F404-GE-402 afterburning turbofans, thrust each 53 kN without afterburner and 80 kN with afterburner. The engines can be started with compressed air taken from an auxiliary power unit (APU).

Fuel: Maximum capacity approximately 6,000 l (F-18C) or 5,600 l (F-18D) in two wing tanks and four fuselage tanks forward of the engines. Three 1,250-litre drop tanks can be carried on external stores stations. Single-point refuelling is provided.

Performance: Maximum speed 1,300 km/h at low level, 1.8 mach at altitude. Maximum range with drop tanks 3,700 km at altitude. Ceiling 15,000 m.

Weights: Empty weight 10,680 kg, maximum gross weight 23,541 kg.

Dimensions: Length 10.07 m, height 4.66 m, wing span 11.43 without wingtip missiles and 12.31 m with missiles. Wing span with wings folded 8.83 m.

Armament: One 20-mm GE M61 Vulcan gun. Maximum of twelve AIM-120B AMRAAM and AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

Radar: Hughes AN/APG-73 multimode radar.

The United States is an important partner of Finland

7 November 2005

- The United States is an important partner of Finland and other European nations in economic, cultural, political, and security political sense, the Minister of Defence Mr. Seppo Kääriäinen reminded in a Hornet anniversary party at Satakunta Air Command on Monday. The Finnish Air Force received the first of its new air defence fighters ten years ago.

Minister Kääriäinen quoted Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who has said that Finland should use its forthcoming period of European Union chairmanship to bridge Europe and the United States in political and defence related matters.

- A purely European military alliance would overlap Nato or compete with it. Little would be gained with this.

Mr. Kääriäinen emphasised the separate nature of the relations between Finland and the United States. They offer great benefits to the governments, defence forces and industries of the two countries so Finland is determined to deepen the bilateral co-operation in defence matters in the spirit of the applicable co-operation agreements in the form of purchases of military technology and exchange of information, to name a few areas.

- Finland maintains and develops its credible defence as a militarily non-allied nation. In this role we are to some extent dependent on the availability of high technology products from the United States.

Minister of Defence Kääriäinen saw the F-18 Hornet programme as a good example of co-operation between Finland and the United States.

- A good and incentive atmosphere has prevailed in our co-operation during the programme, which has added to the knowledge of the two parties of security politics and raised their level of professionalism in military matters.

According to Mr. Kääriäinen, the purchase of the Hornet then years ago has turned out to be an essential contributor in the renewal of the Finnish Air Force. The aircraft has helped the Air Force to enter into a new era.

- The project is an indication of the Finns’ determination to build and maintain credible national defence, he admitted.

The project turned into a success story

The Air Force commander-in-chief, Major General Heikki Lyytinen expressed his thanks to all personnel involved in the running of the project in a speech that he delivered in the occasion. The project was a success story that was completed ahead of schedule and on budget.

- The final decision to purchase the aircraft made the Finnish Air Force to embark in the most intensive training programme in its history. 150 aircraft maintainers and 15 pilots were trained in the United States. The lessons they learned were subsequently modified to be compatible with the respective Finnish systems.

Lyytinen explained how the arrival of the Hornet brought along major changes in the Air Force’s operations, know-how and capabilities. Its sophisticated technology changed mission preparation procedures, and more importantly, post-flight debriefings and mission analyses. The effectiveness of training was boosted, and avenues opened for the developments of tactical doctrines.

According to Lyytinen, the Hornet has met the Air Force’s expectations as an efficacious and pilot-friendly fighter. The transition into the new era has therefore gone as planned, and the Air Force has established a good operational capability. Experiences obtained during various exercises have shown that this capability is also appreciated internationally.

- As for its flight characteristics and performance the Hornet remains a top-class fighter. The aircraft also has potential for further developments and enhancement of its performance.