In 2007, the Australian Government signed a contract to acquire 24 F/A-18Fs for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), as an interim replacement for the F-111s of 1 and 6 Squadrons.

In 2008 the Australian Government purchased six EA-18Gs (Growlers ), which would be part of the order for 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets.

EA-18Gs (Growlers ) is a specialized version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet providing an electronic warfare platform, In 2013 the Australian Government purchased and additional 12 New Build Growlers.

Super Hornets are allocated serial number prefixed with A44, The Growler fleet was allocated the A46 rather than the A44 prefix to designate these airframes as new build Growlers as distinct from the Growler pre-wired airframes in the F/A-18F Super Hornet fleet