List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

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This is a list of the current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in operation:

Current aircraft

Aircraft Type Unit Operating Number of Aircraft Origin
Combat aircraft
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multirole fighter 61st Fighter Squadron, United States Air Force (for training and testing) 2 (+70 on order) United States
Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter No. 1 Squadron 24 United States
No. 6 Squadron
McDonnell Douglas/GAF F/A-18A and F/A-18B Hornet multirole fighter No. 3 Squadron 71 Australia
(License-built)
No. 75 Squadron
No. 77 Squadron
No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit
Patrol aircraft
Lockheed AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft No. 10 Squadron 19 United States
No. 11 Squadron
AEW&C and EW aircraft
Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft No. 2 Squadron 6[1] United States
Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Warfare aircraft 12 (one delivered)[2] United States
Transport aircraft
Alenia C-27J Spartan No. 35 Squadron (RAAF Base Richmond) 2 (+8 on order) Italy
Lockheed C-130J Hercules medium transport No. 37 Squadron (RAAF Base Richmond) 12 United States
Boeing C-17 Globemaster heavy transport No. 36 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley) 8 United States
Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport No. 33 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley) 5 (+2 on order) Spain
Boeing BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) VIP transport No. 34 Squadron (Defence Establishment Fairbairn) 2 United States
Bombardier Challenger 604 VIP transport No. 34 Squadron (Defence Establishment Fairbairn) 3 Canada
Beechcraft King Air 350 light transportA No. 38 Squadron (RAAF Base Townsville) 8 United States
Training aircraft
Pilatus/Hawker de Havilland PC-9/A advanced trainer Central Flying School (RAAF Base East Sale)[3] 65 Australia
(License-built)
No. 2 Flying Training School (RAAF Base Pearce)
Forward Air Control Development Unit (RAAF Base Williamtown).
BAe Hawk 127 lead-in fighter trainer No. 76 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown) 33 United Kingdom
No. 79 Squadron (RAAF Base Pearce).
Beechcraft King Air 350 navigation & specialised trainer No. 32 Squadron (RAAF Base East Sale) 8 United States
Remotely Piloted Aircraft
IAI Heron RPA No. 5 Flight 4B Israel
MQ-4C Triton RPA No. 92 Wing (*7 on order)[4] United States

Future acquisitions

Air 6000 Ph2A/2B: Lockheed F-35A prototype
  • AIR 6000: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter[5][6]
    • A possible total of 100 F-35As are to be purchased under Project Air 6000 to replace the Hornets and Super Hornets.
      • AIR 6000, Phase 2A/2B, Stage 1: 14 F-35A fighters have been approved for purchase for service entry from 2014.
      • AIR 6000, Phase 2A/2B, Stage 2: 58 F-35A fighters have been approved for purchase bringing total on order to 72 aircraft. Stage 1&2 will replace all F/A-18A/B fighters in service.
      • AIR 6000, Phase 2C: around 28 additional F-35A fighters planned for purchase. These will replace all F/A-18F fighters in service.
Air 7000 Ph2B: P-8A and P-3C
  • AIR 7000: ADF Maritime ISR capability replacement[7]
    • Programme to replace the AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft with a manned MPA/UAV mix.
      • AIR 7000, Phase 1B: Purchase of 7 high altitude, long endurance maritime surveillance UAV. The MQ-4C Global Hawk was originally selected for the role, but the decision has been delayed until after the manned portion is introduced.
      • AIR 7000, Phase 2B: Purchase of 8 Boeing P-8A Poseidon manned MPA has been given first-pass approval for service entry from 2018.
  • AIR 8000: Battlefield Airlift[8]
  • AIR 5428: Pilot Training System[11]
    • Programme to replace PC-9/A training aircraft and training syllabus.
      • Air 5428, Phase 1: Unknown number of advanced training aircraft, along with flight training screening and syllabus. Aircraft numbers are to be determined by the winning bidder, but aircraft type selected by RAAF.
  • Boeing EA-18G Growler. On 23 August 2012, the Australian Government announced that 12 RAAF Super Hornets would be fitted with Growler capability at a cost of $1.5 billion, making the Royal Australian Air Force the only military other than the U.S. to operate the Growler's electronic jamming equipment. In May 2013, Australia announced it would keep all 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets and order 12 new-built EA-18G Growlers.
  • Gulfstream G550 In late 2015 the RAAF ordered two Gulfstream G550 aircraft to be delivered by 30 November 2017. The aircraft will be used for signals and electronic intelligence gathering.[12] Both Australian Aviation and FlightGlobal have reported that the aircraft will possibly form the replacement for the electronic intelligence-gathering role performed by the RAAF's AP-3 Orions.[12][13]

See also

Notes

A. ^ This aircraft is considered an interim capability to cover the retirement of the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou and the introduction of its replacement under the much troubled Project Air 8000 Phase 2.
B ^ The aircraft are leased from the Canadian firm Macdonald Dettwiler and Associates.[14] Training on the UAVs is provided by a third aircraft operated by No. 5 Flight RAAF.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Waldron, Greg. "RAAF receives final Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft". Flight International, June 5, 2012.
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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