Adaptability, training
to fore with Hornets

THE adaptability of the Air Force’s F/A-18 Hornets and the standard of crew training has been highlighted during the early stages of Operation Falconer.

Praise has come from many areas, including the Director of Operations of the US Air Force Central Command, Major-General Gene Renuart, who said the Royal Australian Air Force fighters had showed their flexibility by switching from defensive counter-air missions to strike sorties.

Their role in providing close air support for ground troops, protective escort duties for Coalition aircraft and engaging in decisive strike missions requires different strategies and draws on different training but the Australian pilots are meeting the task. Collectively the pilots are clocking up to 80 hours a day with individual sorties lasting up to seven hours with the aid of air-to-air refuelling.

The F/A-18 is equipped with a range of precision weapons including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, laser-guided bombs and conventional bombs in addition to its 20mm nose cannon. Depending on the target, the Hornets have been loaded with GBU10 2000-pound bombs or GBU12 500-pound bombs.

Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Angus Houston said the Hornet strike missions had all been in southern Iraq against military targets ranging from tanks and military vehicles to command and control facilities.

He said the Australian fighters had also worked effectively in package formations where different types of aircraft from the Coalition forces were integrated to form a comprehensive air armada.

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