The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an American carrier-based fighter jet. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) adopted the aircraft in the 1980s, initially designating it as the F/A-18A. It was later redesignated as the AF/A-18A to reflect its affiliation with the RAAF. By the 1990s, the Air Force feared that the Hornets would fall behind the new MiG-29s.

Initially, the Air Force considered replacing the F/A-18A with either the Eurofighter Typhoon or the F/A-18E Super Hornet, but both projects were deemed not yet mature enough. Ultimately, the decision was made to extensively modernize the existing Hornets. The Hornet Upgrade Program (HUG), launched in 1999, consisted of three phases that gradually upgraded the aircraft's avionics, radars, communication systems, and armament. Thus, during HUG 2.4, the Hornets gained the capability to use approximately 37 AN/AAQ-28 LITENING targeting pods. The F/A-18A remained in service until the end of 2021, when it was replaced by the more advanced F-35 Lightning II.

The Australian AF/A-18A Late was introduced in Update 2.49 "Tusk Force" and is located in the British aviation research tree. In terms of combat capabilities, the Australian Hornet resembles the Finnish F/A-18C with its excellent flight characteristics, speed, and weapons suite, which includes JDAM bombs of various calibers, AIM-9 and AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, and pylons with a vast array of countermeasures. One of its shortcomings is the lack of good air-to-ground missile armament.