Yeah, F404 development is interesting, to say the least. Afaik both the notched and un-notched F404s (I’ll classify as “late” and “early” respectively) had the exact same thrust output. The only difference was with the fairing/exhaust petal design. Why was it changed? No idea, found nothing on it. Small sidenote, but I had also noticed a similar design change from the F101 mounted to the 4x B-1As, vs the F101 DFE and eventual F110 seen on the F-16C and F-14B/D.
At least the LERX fences and inner tailfin brackets have a tangible reason (vortices generated by LEX impacts on tailfin, causing major fatigue/possible damage, LEX fences disrupt vortices and brackets strengthen tailfin connection to fuselage, causing way less wear and tear).
Neat to see the centerline holding something more than a singular piece of ord, dunno why gaijin thinks that the centerline pylon cant hold at least MERs to begin with.
I was looking at Australian legacy hornet and didn’t see any mentions of anti radiation missiles. Did australian air force use different plane and missile for that or is was it just missing until they got super hornets?
it wasen’t untill the ~91 that they got ASMs, with that said, the A hornets entered service in ~84 and C hornets in ~87, so the F/A-18A dosen’t get them, however the F/A-18C early and late does get them
The finish F-18C doesn’t get them as they weren’t integrated with the many of the computers needed for air to ground munitions as such they dropped the A (attacker) designation from the name
The US F/A-18A doesn’t get them as the ASMs weren’t in service yet
the US F/A-18C late gets them as they are still is limited service in the marines and the navy swapped the the E model in 99
the F/A-18C early gets them as the AGM-84s went into service only about a year after the Cs also went into service replacing the As
the German (Swiss) F/A-18C late is the same as the USs but is still part of their frontline fighter so it has gained more modern upgrades
the German (Swiss) F/A-18C early is a version Pre 2007 upgrade package (don’t ask me why I’m not sure either as the US F/A-18C early has them, could be a specific reason as the AGM-84s could’ve just not been sold to the Swiss at the time)
the UK (Aussie) F/A-18A is again a Pre AGM-84 aircraft
the UK (Canadian) F/A-18A (CF-188A) again is a A model
lastly the Japanese (Malaysian) F/A-18D was in service long enough to gain the same 2007 upgrade package as the German (Swiss) F/A-18C Late
