After the end of the Cold War in the 1990s, US defence spending was reduced following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and many military programmes were either scaled back or outright cancelled. With the cancellation of the A/X (A-12 Avenger) and NATF (Navalized F-22) programmes, and alongside the push by reformist-minded higher brass to retire the "ancient" F-14 Tomcat rather than upgrade its outdated '60s technology, along with the many shortcomings of the new F/A-18 platform at the time still not resolved, the need for a new multirole fleet defence fighter was quickly realised. Shortly after the upgraded F/A-18C began entering service in the early 90s, many more upgrade programmes for this aircraft followed, entering service alongside the completely redesigned and enlarged version, the F/A-18E Super Hornet. These upgrades included integration with the new AIM-120 AMRAAM, addition of new avionics and ground attack weapons, and a complete overhaul of the internal avionics and systems. Whilst there is no real standardisation for these upgrade packages, this aircraft is often nicknamed in media as the F/A-18C+ or the F/A-18C Late. This aircraft continues to receive upgrades to this day, particularly in service of the US Marine Corps who still use the "Legacy Hornet" in service.

Introduced in Update "Hornet's Sting", the F/A-18C Late is a naval multirole aircraft found at the top ranks of the naval aircraft line of the US tech tree. The F/A-18C Late takes a massive turn away from the playstyle of the F-14A and F-14B which precede it in the tech tree, completely doing away with the "high-speed long-range fighter" playstyle and instead requiring players to adapt and learn how to utilise the Hornet's great dogfighting performance, powerful sensors, and large quantity of missiles. This, coupled with the NCTR system, HMD targeting, and modern RWR allow the Hornet to lead the charge into the enemy team in air battles. In mixed battles, the F/A-18C Late is a very powerful force to be reckoned with, due to its large quantity of AIM-120s being able to shut down the airspace in the smaller maps of Ground RB, or alternatively, rain hell from above with its wide selection of various GPS, TV, and laser-guided ordnance, further bolstered by the fact that it uses a separate spawn pool than the F-15E, allowing its spawn cost to remain cheap after the F-15E spawn has been expended.