An F/A-18 fighter pilot took this using a camera phone from the cockpit. It's like Top Gun - but better!! The Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 Hornet is a modern all-weather carrier-capable strike fighter jet, designed to attack both ground and aerial targets. Designed in the 1970s for service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Hornet is also used by the air forces of several other nations. It has been the aerial demonstration aircraft for the Blue Angels since 1986.