COLD LAKE HORNETS: Combat Aircraft visits 4 Wing Cold Lake to report on the Royal Canadian Air Force's CF-188 operations at Canada's largest fighter base

摘要

IN 1977 THE Canadian government initiated the New Fighter Aircraft (NFA) program to select a single aircraft type to replace the aging CF-101 Voodoo, CF-104 Starfighter and CF-116 Freedom Fighter fleets. Candidates included the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon but the winner, chosen in 1980, was the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The type was designated as the CF-188 and the first aircraft was delivered to the Canadian Forces in 1982. A total of 138 examples - 98 single-seat CF-188As and 40 two-seat CF-188Bs -would eventually equip an operational framing squadron and seven operational squadrons in Canada and West Germany.