McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft have flown in Australian service since 1984. In 1981, 75 "A" and "B" variants of the F/A-18 were purchased for the Royal Australian Air Force to replace Dassault Mirage III fighters. Hornets were part of the Australian contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, flying patrols and close air support sorties to assist coalition ground forces. They provided security for the American air base at Diego Garcia in late 2001 and early 2002, in addition to their domestic protection duties. Between 2015 and 2017 Hornets were deployed to the Middle East and struck Islamic State targets as part of Operation Okra. Hornets are now at risk of being outclassed by other fighters and air-defence systems, and will leave Australian service entirely in the early 2020s. Four Hornets have been destroyed in flying accidents, two were transferred to Canada in 2019 and several others have been retired.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet_in_Australian_service

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1932:

The Australian military began a "war against emus" (soldier with dead emu pictured), flightless native birds blamed for widespread damage to crops in Western Australia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emu_War

1949:

The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies to the United States of Indonesia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch%E2%80%93Indonesian_Round_Table_Conference

1959:

American intellectual Charles Van Doren caused a national scandal when he admitted that he had foreknowledge of the questions and answers when he appeared on the television quiz show Twenty-One. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Van_Doren

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

amaranth: 1. (dated, poetic) An imaginary flower that does not wither. 2. Any of various herbs of the genus Amaranthus. 3. The characteristic purplish-red colour of the flowers or leaves of these plants. amaranth colour: 4. (chemistry) A red to purple azo dye used as a biological stain, and in some countries in cosmetics and as a food colouring. 5. (cooking) The seed of these plants, used as a cereal. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amaranth

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present — they are real.   --Lois McMaster Bujold https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold