The F/A-18 Hornet is a multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by the American company McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). The Hornet is widely used by several air forces around the world, including the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire).
The Spanish Air Force acquired its first batch of F/A-18 Hornets in the 1980s and has since operated several different variants of the aircraft. The Hornet is used primarily for air defense and air-to-ground missions, including ground attack and reconnaissance.
The Spanish Air Force currently operates around 70 F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, including the F/A-18A/B and the more advanced F/A-18C/D models. These aircraft are equipped with a variety of advanced avionics and weapons systems, including a radar, electronic warfare suite, and a variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.
The Hornet has been a mainstay of the Spanish Air Force for decades and has proven to be a reliable and capable aircraft. However, the Spanish Air Force has been gradually phasing out its Hornet fleet and replacing them with more advanced fighter aircraft, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the F-35 Lightning II.
Maciej "Szamal" Szamałek is an aviation photographer from Poland who specializes in air-to-air photography. For him, photography is a form of play, to express his aviation passion. It helps him to capture fleeting moments and allows him to preserve emotions, sorrows, joys, and memories. It's a constant pursuit to be in the right place at the right time.