The Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet is an enlarged version of the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighter aircraft. In the 1980s, the United States Navy requested a new attack aircraft, and although the ongoing Advanced-Attack (A-X) development programme was promising, the Navy also considered modernising existing aircraft as an interim measure. McDonnell Douglas proposed its “Hornet 2000” or “Hornet II” design, which was a major redesign of the F/A-18 with a longer fuselage and improved engines. These modifications rectified some of the F/A-18’s existing problems, while also reusing many components from the original F/A-18, such as the avionics systems, making it a more affordable option.

Eventually, the A-X programme was cancelled in the early 1990s due to rising costs, and the Hornet 2000 was selected by the Navy instead of Grumman’s modernised F-14 for the same reason. Serial production of the F/A-18E began at the end of 1997, and the first F/A-18E was delivered to the US Navy in 1998 and entered service the following year. The F/A-18E is currently operated by the United States, Australia, and Kuwait. The Super Hornet has seen service in many modern-day conflicts, mainly in Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) and other anti-terrorism operations in the Red Sea, and has also been developed into an electronic warfare variant known as the EA-18G.

The F/A-18E “Super Hornet” was introduced in Update 2.53 “Line of Contact” and offers improved air-to-ground strike capabilities in comparison to the F/A-18C Late. While the Super Hornet can carry a large number of air-to-air AIM-120 and AIM-9M missiles, its manoeuvrability and flight performance are underwhelming, and it is outperformed by common opponents such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Rafale F3 in close-range dogfights. Pilots will generally find the Super Hornet to be better suited for mixed battles, where it can use its AGM-65s and Paveway bombs to great effect.