An F/A-18C Hornet launches from the waist catapult during flight operations on board the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) in the Persian Gulf on Nov. 11, 1997. The Nimitz and embarked Carrier Air Wing 9 are operating in the Persian Gulf in support of the U.S. and coalition enforcement of the no-fly-zone over Southern Iraq. The Hornet is armed with AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking, short-range air-to-air missiles, RIM-7M Sea Sparrow radar-guided air-to-air missiles, Rockeye cluster bombs, and the AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation missile (HARM), used as an air-to-ground weapon to seek out and destroy enemy radar equipped air defense systems. The Hornet is assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 147, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.