F-18L: the failed land-based Hornet

Find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Dnped4MwM In the late 1970s, Northrop proposed the F-18L — a land-based variant of the F/A-18, stripped of naval constraints and optimised for speed, agility, and cost. Lighter, simpler, and potentially more capable in several key areas, it was designed to compete directly with aircraft such as the F-16 in the global export market. On paper, the F-18L offered significant advantages: improved thrust-to-weight ratio, greater payload flexibility, lower operating costs, and the same multirole capability that would make the Hornet famous. Some projections even suggested it would outperform its carrier-based counterpart in turn rate and range. So why was it never built? Get your military aviation t-shirts here: https://peacemaker.fashion/