The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.

The RAAF ordered 75 F-18 Hornets made up of 57 single-seat “A” variant serials A21-1 to A21-57 and 18 two-seater F-18 “B” serials A21-101 to A21-118. F/A-18A A21-27 c/n 514 AF-27 was first delivered to 75 Sqn./81 Wing on May 10, 1988. 75 Sqn. deployed to Qatar from February 2003 to May 2003 for Operation Bastille and Operation Falconer, RAAF names for their participation in OIF. During their time in Qatar 75 Sqn. flew 350 combat missions delivering 122 LGBs before returning to home base Tindal.