Originally Posted by
BDGERJMN
Are you really asking this question?
Rhetorical but the remark was the ORIGINAL Hornet was very capable. It may have been but there were shortcomings. And if the original capabilities were sufficient, why redesign it to almost a completely new airplane?
The F/A-18E/F aircraft are 4.2 feet longer than earlier Hornets, have a 25% larger wing area, and carry 33% more internal fuel which will effectively increase mission range by 41% and endurance by 50%. The Super Hornet also incorporates two additional weapon stations
Apparently someone thought there were design points that fell short or at least needed to be revised.