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The F/A 18 hornet was my favorite. The first all-weather fighter/attack jet. The tomcat got much pub because of Top Gun, but the hornet was an arse kicker

The Tomcat was a Fighter-Attack aircraft, we just never dropped bombs until the early ‘90s but we had the capability - we just opted to leave that to the A-6 and A-7’s. For the Gulf War, the Hornet didn’t have the Nighthawk pod, and they could only drop VFR,..not all weather. The Tomcat got the GPS stabilized LANTIRN Pod a little after the Hornet got their Nighthawk Pod, so the Hornet was all weather then, but the Nighthawk was not GPS stabilized like the Tomcat’s LANTIRN Pod. And we had a RIO and a much bigger scope in the backseat, and because we could carry more bombs, needed less gas and had a greater “bring aboard” capability, We were the premier bomber of the two.

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Was the airframe and accompanying hydraulic systems a big part of the reason that they phased out the Tomcat?

The Hornet ran a digital radar bus system and we ran the ancient analog. All the newer weapons like the AIM-120 AMRAAM were digital, so the Tomcat was unable to shoot them. Maintenance on the F-14, getting to and swapping parts was more difficult due to older technology locking down the access panels, ie, Kalfaxes, but the F-14 was an older jet, so I’d say the digital vs Analog was a much bigger problem. Because of that, the money began going into the Hornet because it was the “new” plane with updated technology. The Hornet eventually morphed into the carrier point defense fighter as Tomcats became more air-to-ground guru’s, even though it was actually the better fighter of the two due to it’s fuel capacity and maneuverability with tanks on. Hornets are only better if they are not carrying external fuel tanks, which is extremely limiting for any carrier based aircraft. Hornets are limited by the weight of what they can bring back aboard a carrier when they land, Meaning for example, if they are returning to the ship still carrying a 2000lb. bomb they haven’t needed to drop, they will be “bingo on the ball” (low on fuel) due their weight, necessitating having to waste that bomb by jettisoning it in the water before landing. Because of the Tomcat’s internal fuel capacity in the larger wings and tank, etc., they carry more fuel so don’t need to waste ordinance when landing on the ship. Also, because it is a smaller plane, in order to achieve the time necessary to perform their missions, the Hornet has to carry a larger number of tanks. This limits dogfighting capability. If both the Tomcat and Hornet carried only two external tanks, they could be a close match, but with the Hornet needing to carry 3, it slowed them down and ruined their turn rate capability. Fighting them became like whipping a disabled kid in a wheelchair. Despite that, the Tomcat was eventually phased out due to the practical reasons of age.