From the initial development stage, designers concluded that swift operational turnaround (essentially getting the aircraft back into the air as quickly as possible in a battle situation) depended upon ease of access for installation and removal, repair, maintenance and rearming. The entire gun system (including the ammunition tank and feed mechanism) is pallet-mounted and can be quickly winch-removed for servicing through the underside of the nose. The gun can only be rearmed by weapons maintenance personnel on the ground.
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Two development cycles have sought to replace the cannon with a 140-lb (64-kg) multi-spectral Tactical Air Reconnaissance System (ATARS), including various sensors such as low-altitude cameras, low-to-medium altitude panoramic cameras and infrared linescan. In 1984 with FSD aircraft No 1 (F/A-18A BuNo 161214) and 1993 with F/A-18D (BuNo 163434), the gun bay doors were replaced with camera access doors and integral sensor windows. These "Recce Hornets" were designated the single-seater RF-18 in the Navy and the F/A-18D(RC) tandem to the USMC.
