Aircraft camouflage
Encyclopedia
Aircraft camouflage is the use of light and color patterns applied to military aircraft
Military aircraft
A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

 for the purpose of making an aircraft more difficult to see on the ground, in the air, or to make its speed, distance or attitude difficult to determine. camouflage
Camouflage
Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...

 is highly dependent upon environmental conditions and is primarily effective against human observers, though some electronic visual acquisition systems can also be confused. It does not hinder radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 location or heat-seeking
Infrared homing
Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the...

 electronics although the paints used may contain substances that can.

Camouflage colours and patterns are subject to considerable experimentation and theorizing, and most countries have explicit specifications as to their application that are sufficiently unique to make it possible to determine the intended operator in many cases even when no national insignia is visible. The colours and patterns have changed over time, both as new theories were tried, and as operation requirements changed. During and after World War 2, experiments using lamps to increase the brightness of the aircraft to match the background were trialed, and recent experiments have looked in the use of light-emitting (led) active camouflage
Active camouflage
Active camouflage or adaptive camouflage, is a group of camouflage technologies which allow an object to blend into its surroundings by use of panels or coatings capable of altering their appearance, color, luminance and reflective properties...

 systems which allow the colours and patterns to be changed to match the background.

Aircraft were first camouflaged during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and camouflage has been widely employed in most major conflicts since then.
Camouflage has been dispensed with when air superiority was not threatened or when no significant aerial opposition was anticipated, to reduce the cost of maintaining matte camouflage finishes which add weight and drag to an aircraft, as well as requiring more frequent repainting.

Usage

Camouflage for aircraft is complicated by the fact that the appearance of the aircraft's background varies widely, depending on the location of the observer, the nature of the background and the aircraft's motion. For this reason, many military aircraft were painted to match the sky when viewed from below, and to either match the ground or break up the aircraft's outline when viewed from above.

This is known as countershading
Countershading
Countershading, or Thayer's Law, is a form of camouflage. Countershading, in which an animal’s pigmentation is darker dorsally, is often thought to have an adaptive effect of reducing conspicuous shadows cast on the ventral region of an animal’s body...

, and can be useful on aircraft such as heavy bomber
Heavy bomber
A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...

s that do not do much inverted flying during combat. Because of the way light hits it, patterns of dark and light will often be present on an aircraft even if it is entirely one color, which will affect the apparent size of the aircraft. Further emphasis in this direction can be made by painting an aircraft in several neutral shades with a non reflective, matte finish.

Night camouflage

Military aircraft flying at night have often been painted black, dark grey, dark green or other dark colours. This dark color has been applied to just the underside of some aircraft and to the entirety of others. In World War II, aircraft in the night sky tried to avoid being illuminated by enemy searchlights and flares, and being sighted by enemy night fighter
Night fighter
A night fighter is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility...

s. A matte-painted surface reflects the least light but, because of its roughness adds additional skin friction or parasitic drag
Parasitic drag
Parasitic drag is drag caused by moving a solid object through a fluid medium . Parasitic drag is made up of many components, the most prominent being form drag...

 which reduces aircraft speed and range. The RAF used a concoction called special night that was the epitome of this, and would rub off if brushed. A de Havilland Mosquito
De Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft that served during the Second World War and the postwar era. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder"...

's top speed was reduced more than 20 mile per hour when using special night finish.

An all-black finish often silhouettes an aircraft against the sky. To reduce this undesirable effect, numerous other colours have been substituted, including the British NIVO (used between the wars), and various greys (used in the latter part of World War II by the RAF.)

Ground Camouflage

Camouflage is often used to inhibit visual acquisition from the air of an aircraft that is on or near the ground. A variety of patterns have been used to obscure aircraft outlines over specific environments. Light sand colors have been used for aircraft used over deserts, blues and greys for aircraft over the sea, and greens and browns for aircraft that are expected to operate in forested areas. This solution causes another problem: the very pattern that makes it more difficult to spot the aircraft when parked makes it stand out when moving, since the pattern provides a high degree of contrast against a stationary background. When the need to hide parked aircraft declines, so does the tendency to use such schemes. A single solid neutral colour was chosen by the United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

 precisely because it provided a better compromise between hiding the aircraft on the ground and in the air.

A camouflaged aircraft either on the ground or flying low over the ground in bright sunlight is vulnerable to being detected from above because of its own bold, black shadow cast on the ground. This can reduce an aircraft's camouflage effectiveness at altitudes up to 3000 feet (914.4 m), particularly if the ground surface is light colored and homogenous.

Air Camouflage

Camouflage for an aircraft that is in the air can have several purposes. Primarily, it attempts to hide the aircraft but failing that, it can disguise an aircraft's attitude or distance.

Some camouflage effects used on fighters are to paint a mock cockpit on the underside of the aircraft, and to use countershading (painting areas that would normally end up shaded a lighter tone, and vice versa). An automimicry tactic such as this can confuse an enemy pilot as to the direction the falsely painted fighter will maneuver for long enough to gain a decisive advantage.

The higher speeds of modern aircraft, and the reliance on radar and missiles to defend against them have reduced the value of visual camouflage, while increasing the value of electronic "stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...

" measures. In conjunction with the design of the aircraft, modern aircraft paints may be impregnated with compounds designed to absorb electromagnetic radiation used by radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

, decreasing the distance they can be detected, and to limit the emission of infrared energy used by heat seeking missiles
Infrared homing
Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the...

 to detect their target. Examples of this include the black schemes found on the F-117 stealth fighter and SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft which contain small graphite pellets arranged to scatter and diffuse specific wavelengths of radar waves, while the black helps desperse heat quickly.

Active Camouflage

In the early years of World War 2, German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s often escaped attack by aircraft because they spotted the aircraft while it was still far away as a black dot in the sky, no matter what camouflage colours were used. To solve this problem, in 1943 the U.S. Navy conducted secret experiments under a project named "Yehudi". Sealed beam
Sealed beam
A sealed beam is a type of lamp that includes a reflector and filament as a single assembly, over which a front cover of clear glass, is permanently attached. Previously, automotive headlamps used a separate small bulb and reflector covered with a ribbed lens to avoid glare from the filament. This...

 lights were mounted on the leading edge of the wing of a TBM-3D Avenger
TBF Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world....

, and around its engine cowling, with the lamps facing forward. The intensity of the lamps was adjusted to match the background sky as seen from an observer in a surface ship
Surface ship
A surface ship is any type of naval ship that is confined to the surface of the sea. The term is primarily used to mean any modern vessel type that is not a submarine; although a "surface ship" may range in size from a cutter to an aircraft carrier, the weapons and tactics have some commonality,...

. Aircraft with Yehudi lights
Yehudi lights
Yehudi lights are lamps placed on the underside or wing leading edge of an aircraft to raise luminance, to disguise the aircraft against the background sky. The technique was successfully employed in World War II by RAF Short Sunderland aircraft in attacks on U-boats.In 1945 a Grumman Avenger with...

 were not spotted until 2 miles (3.2 km) away under conditions where aircraft without the lights were spotted 12 miles (19.3 km) away. Though successful, the system was not put into production because of improvements made to radar detection.

During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, Yehudi lights were again tried, this time mounted to an F-4 Phantom which also was given a dull blue-and-white camouflage pattern. The experiment reduced by 30% the distance at which an observer visually acquired the Phantom.

Modern experiments with the Yehudi concept involve thin fluorescent panels or thin light-emitting polymer covering much of an aircraft's surface. Computer-controlled circuitry quickly changes the light qualities of the aircraft surface to confuse human and electronic visual identification. Such systems are not yet in production.

History

The earliest military aviation was conducted with observation balloons. These were typically unreachable by ground fire, so there was little reason to make them hard to see. Not until aircraft could be effectively targeted did camouflaging them then become an issue.

World War I

Military camouflage
Military camouflage
Military camouflage is one of many means of deceiving an enemy. In practice, it is the application of colour and materials to battledress and military equipment to conceal them from visual observation. The French slang word camouflage came into common English usage during World War I when the...

 was influenced by the rise of military aviation during World War I. With aircraft flying over the battlefield and rear areas, units vulnerable to attack needed to hide their presence. Attempts at hiding aircraft that were parked on the ground were made during World War I by all combatants. The most common colors applied to aircraft upper surfaces were plain earth and forest tones as used by the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, or large blotchy camouflage schemes intended to hide the aircraft near patchy foliage. Lower surfaces were either in light colors or left unpainted. The finish used was not paint, but dope
Aircraft dope
thumb|right|[[United Kingdom military aircraft serials|2699]] a [[World War I]] [[Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2]] finished in a clear dopeAircraft dope is a plasticised lacquer that is applied to fabric-covered aircraft...

 which sealed the surface of the fabric while both tightening it and allowing it to flex slightly. Until later changes in formulation it was extremely flammable and required frequent maintenance to prevent it drying out and cracking and unlike camouflage finishes used later was very glossy unless in poor condition.

French WW1 Camouflage

The French were among the first to introduce camouflage, however it may have been a side effect from some of the materials aircraft were covered with, and some Nieuport 10
Nieuport 10
|-See also:- External links :* *...

 fighters were dark red-brown overall in 1915. Nieuports were used for a variety of experiments, with brown and green over a light blue being used operationally, while a small number of all light blue Nieuport 11
Nieuport 11
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Angelucci, Enzio, ed. The Rand McNally Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft. New York: The Military Press, 1983. ISBN 0-517-41021-4....

 fighters were trialled. Early SPAD fighters followed pre-war practice and used a sand coloured dope. Between 1916 and 1917, Nieuport used aluminium dope which provided excellent camouflage against other aircraft while in the air (it dulled in service to a light grey) while also increasing the lifespan of the fabric covering.
In 1917, the French Air Service finally issued an official specification for a camouflage scheme. It used dark brown, light brown (or ecru), light olive green and dark olive green, sometimes with splothes of black. This was applied to uppersurfaces only and the undersurfaces were doped in ecru. A variety of dark colours including black, dark blue and violet were trialed on night bombers. In late 1918 a single overall dark green colour applied with a precoloured fabric (rather than doped) replaced the 4/5 colour scheme and was used well into the interwar period.

German WW1 Camouflage

Like the French, the German air services used brown and green camouflage on its Albatros fighters however a series of friendly fire incidents resulted in a decision to replace the brown with purple. From a distance the purple worked well as a camouflage colour, while providing a distinctive identifying colour from close up. As in France, individual manufacturers applied a variety of camouflage finishes, dependant on their own interpretations of what was required. Light grey (Roland Walfish), patches of greens and browns (Fokker D.II) and streaky olive green finish over a turquiose base (Fokker Dr.I
Fokker Dr.I
The Fokker Dr.I Dreidecker was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr.I saw widespread service in the spring of 1918...

) were all used until 1917, when lozenge camouflage
Lozenge camouflage
Lozenge camouflage was a military camouflage scheme in the form of patterned cloth or painted designs used by some aircraft of the Central Powers in the last two years of . It takes its name from the repeated polygon shapes incorporated in the designs, many of which resembled lozenges...

 (Lozenge-Tarnung) was introduced. Unlike other preceding finishes, the lozenges were printed directly on the fabric and required no coloured dopes, thus simplifying the application of fabric, and repairs. A variety of different patterns and colours were used, including special ones for naval aircraft, and for night bombers. Different shades were used for upper and lower surfaces.
The Germans experimented with stealth, by covering several aircraft, including a small scout, a spotter aircraft and a heavy bomber with clear acetate to make them invisible. While generally workable, reflections off the glassy surface ruined the effect, and it was both violently vulnerable to damage and deteriorated quickly.

British WW1 Camouflage

During the first World War, the British Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...

 discovered that aircraft which spent much of their time outside had the fabric deteriorate from the effects of UV radiation. Experiments with a variety of pigments showed that black provided the best protection, but several other colours provided adequate protection while also having some camouflage value. The two colours chosen for use were Pigmented Cellulose Specification 10, normally known as PC.10 (brown or olive brown with at least 5 different recipes) and PC.12 (red-brown made from red iron oxide and black) which were applied over all upper surfaces, leaving only the undersides of the wings in clear doped linen (a pale cream colour). PC.12 was intended for aircraft stationed in the Middle East such as the Bristol M.1
Bristol M.1
|-See also:-External links:* * * * *...

, but was also commonly used on aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...

, such as the Sopwith Triplane
Sopwith Triplane
The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. Pilots nicknamed it the Tripehound or simply the Tripe. The Triplane became operational with the Royal Naval Air Service in early 1917 and was...

. RNAS aircraft could sometimes be identified as the coloured dope was not always applied to the sides of the fuselage.
Black was also used for night bombers, while a wide variety of experimential camouflages were tried out for specific roles such as trench strafing, with multiple colours. Due to the black being silhouetted against the sky, a variety of alternatives was tested in late 1917 in Orfordness Experimental Station, resulting in NIVO
NIVO
NIVO, abbreviated from Night Invisible Varnish Orfordness, was a dark green overall finish applied to British night bomber aircraft in the inter-war period ....

 (NIght Varnish Orfordness) being introduced in early 1918, which was used for all external surfaces on night bombers. Between the wars, the British replaced PC.10 and PC.12 with aluminium dope but continued using NIVO until superseded by World War 2 colours.

World War II

British WW2 Camouflage

During the Munich Crisis (also known as the Sudeten Crisis), when Hitler was demanding the partition of Czechoslovakia, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 implemented plans to camouflage its aircraft in its Temperate Land Scheme of "Dark Earth" and "Dark Green" over Sky, with "Light Green" and "Light Earth" on the uppersurfaces of the lower wings on biplanes. This scheme was known colloquially as Sand and Spinach. From April 1939 until June 1940 the undersides of fighters were painted so that the port wing undersides was black, and starboard undersides was white as a recognition feature so their own anti-aircraft gunners wouldn't shoot down their own. The British Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...

 continued to use the peacetime silver doped finishes as they were believed to offer good camouflage against the sky but began to realise that it made them stand out when parked on the ground or sitting on the water and so a number of experiments were conducted. Initially the FAA used "Medium Sea Grey" and "Dark Green" over "Sky Grey" but after the Norweigan campaign switched to the RAF Temperate Sea Scheme of "Extra Dark Sea Grey" and "Dark Slate Grey" over "Sky". This scheme was nicknamed Sludge and Slime. Some aircraft in the Mediterranean and far east were finished in the Tropical Sea Scheme of "Dark Mediterranean Blue" and "Extra Dark Sea Green" with "Sky Blue", "Sky Grey" or silver undersides, and with the tops of the lower wings on biplanes a lighter shade of the main colours. Heavy bombers kept the "Dark Earth" and "Dark Green" for the topsides throughout the war, but had their undersides painted in a special black paint called "Night", and from August 1940 night fighters were painted overall in the same colour. From December 1940, aircraft operating in desert environments were painted "Mid Stone" and "Dark Earth" with "Azure Blue" undersides. Transports used the Temperate Sea Scheme unless they were modified bombers. After the Battle of Britain, the RAF was able to shift from the defensive to the offensive. While the browns and greens were ideal protection for aircraft caught on the ground, they were less than ideal for offensive patrols over France and Germany and the "Dark Earth" was replaced by "Ocean Grey" and "Sky" with "Sea Grey" from September 1941 onwards. In July 1942 the scheme used for night fighters was changed so that the topsides were "Dark Green" and "Sea Grey Medium" and the undersides were also "Sea Grey Medium". This was done as it was found that the night fighters tended to get silouetted against the sky when painted black and the grey was harder to see. Intruder aircraft continued to use "Night" undersides but with "Dark Green" and "Sea Grey Medium" topsides. Also in July 1942, the undersides of Coastal Command aircraft (aircraft used for Anti-submarine patrols) was changed to white. In October 1944 Coastal Command aircraft were simplified to "Extra Dark Sea Grey" over white. A variety of different colours was used on Photo Reconnaissance aircraft, often without orders having been issued. Aircraft supplied by the US to the RAF and FAA were rarely able to match the exact colours but used commercially available colours that were close. The patterns on all British aircraft were closely regulated, with the breaks between colours being set out in official orders. Early in the war, two patterns existed for many types, one being the flip image of the other but by the middle of the war, most types used only a single pattern, which was applied using large rubber masks.

US Army WW2 Aircraft Camouflage

Some United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 aircraft used a variation of the British camouflage schemes (mostly on aircraft originally built to RAF orders) but most USAAF aircraft did not use multiple shades on the top side of the aircraft. Instead, most were camouflaged in olive drab (FS.34087) above and neutral gray (FS.36173) below, though some had the edges of flying surfaces painted in medium green (FS.34092).

US Navy WW2 Camouflage

The US Navy used a variety of schemes throughout the war. From December 30, 1940 for Patrol aircraft and from February 26, 1941 for land based amphibians, topsides were to be painted in M-485 Blue Gray and undersides in M-495 Light Gray. From August 20, 1941 all ship's aircraft (attached to Carriers or Battleships) and from December 26, 1941 all land based Aircraft were to have topsides (and the undersides of folding wings if undersides visible from above) painted in No. 12 Blue Grey while the remainder of the undersides were to be in No. 10 Light Grey.
From January 5, 1943 all aircraft were to be painted in a four colour scheme consisting of ANA 606 Semi Gloss Sea Blue upper surfaces with ANA 607 Non Specular Sea Blue on the upper surface of the wing leading edges, ANA 608 Non Specular Intermediate Blue on the vertical tail, a graded tone close to FS-35189 Blue Grey (mixed from ANA 601 & ANA 607) on the fuselage sides, and ANA 601 Non Specular Insignia White on the undersides. The portions of the wings visible from above when folded were painted in the graded tone used on the sides. From July 1943, aircraft used in an anti-submarine role were given a special scheme of ANA 621 Non Specular Dark Gull Grey over ANA 601 Non Specular Insignia White and ANA 511 Glossy Insignia White.
From June 26, 1944, all navy carrier aircraft were to be repainted in ANA 623 Glossy Sea Blue. This was then extended to cover other types of aircraft. In most cases, it took time from when the order was made, before the aircraft were repainted.

In the latter stages of World War II the necessity of recognizing aircraft as friendly or hostile in an increasingly crowded sky almost negated the use of camouflage for daytime operations, with Allied forces introducing invasion stripes
Invasion stripes
Invasion stripes were alternating black and white bands painted on the fuselages and wings of World War II Allied aircraft, for the purpose of increased recognition by friendly forces during and after the Normandy Landings...

 during the period of the invasion of Normandy
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

 and the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 introducing yellow Home Defense markings in the later stages of the war. The USAAF completely abandoned camouflage in the later stages of the war and used bare metal finishes that aided performance by reducing skin friction, weight and cost.

Cold War

During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, glossy, all-white finishes were used on nuclear bombers as protection from nuclear flash. Camouflage was used for low level attack, and by fighter aircraft.
In the 1970s, heat-seeking missiles
Infrared homing
Infrared homing refers to a passive missile guidance system which uses the emission from a target of electromagnetic radiation in the infrared part of the spectrum to track and follow it. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers", since infrared is just below the...

 were developed that had a range greater than the visual acuity of pilots. Aircraft camouflage now had two major threats that it was not able to counter: radar and infrared detection.

External links

  • A series of experimental camouflage patterns tried on the General Dynamics F-111
    General Dynamics F-111
    The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it first entered service in 1967 with the...

  • 2009 Aggressor Blue camouflage on an F/A-18E Super Hornet
    F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
    The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft. The F/A-18E single-seat variant and F/A-18F tandem-seat variant are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm gun and can carry air-to-air...

  • German Lozenge Aircraft Camouflage
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