Inside the Archive #7 | Super Hornet

As far as starts go, it’s hard to imagine how things could have been much worse for the F/A-18F Super Hornet before it entered the RAAF’s fleet. Previous defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon was certainly not a fan. “I have made it clear,” he thumped in 2008, “that in the end, if the advice comes to me from the review that the Super Hornet is not up to the job, I will have no hesitation in cancelling it.”

It was one of many bad write-ups the aircraft suffered after it was declared a stopgap between the retirement of the F-111 and the delayed arrival of its true successor, the fifth-generation F-35. What was the point, critics argued, of a freelance fighter in our fleet?

But such controversy always felt unfair in the first place. Its more powerful engines, bigger fuel capacity and ability to carry more modern weapons make it better suited for air combat than its predecessor. Meanwhile, its half-brother, the Growler, is even smarter with next-generation technology that can jam enemy communication systems. Today, the RAAF has 24 Super Hornets and 11 Growlers, which have also participated in Exercise Pitch Black in the Northern Territory and Exercise Bersama Shield on the Malaysian Peninsula. Both models are operated out of RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland after arriving in 2010.