List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft
(Redirected from Current Royal Australian Air Force Aircraft)
This is a list of the current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in operation:
Current aircraft
editAircraft | Unit operating | Number of aircraft | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
Combat aircraft | |||
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II stealth multirole fighter aircraft | No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (RAAF Base Williamtown)
No. 3 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown) |
63 in service (72 total ordered) | United States |
Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter aircraft | No. 1 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley) |
24 | United States |
Patrol aircraft | |||
Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and anti submarine warfare aircraft | No. 11 Squadron (RAAF Base Edinburgh) | 12 (2 on order)[1] | United States |
AEW&C and EW aircraft | |||
Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft | No. 2 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown) | 6[2] | Australia |
Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Warfare aircraft | No. 6 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley) | 12[3] | United States |
MC-55A Peregrine Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISREW) aircraft | Surveillance and Response Group (SRG) (RAAF Base Edinburgh) | 4 on order [4] | United States |
Transport aircraft | |||
Alenia C-27J Spartan battlefield airlifter | No. 35 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley) | 10 | Italy |
Lockheed C-130J Hercules medium transport | No. 37 Squadron (RAAF Base Richmond) | 12 (20 on order to replace and expand current fleet)[5] | 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) | 7 (1 VIP configured[6]) | Spain/France |
Boeing BBJ (Boeing Business Jet) VIP transport | No. 34 Squadron (Defence Establishment Fairbairn) | 2 | United States |
Dassault Falcon 7X VIP transport | No. 34 Squadron (Defence Establishment Fairbairn) | 3 | France |
Beechcraft King Air 350 light transport | No. 32 Squadron (RAAF Base East Sale) | 12[7] | United States |
Helicopters | |||
AgustaWestland AW139 SAR helicopter | RAAF Base Amberley | 6 (contracted with CHC Helicopter)[9] | Italy |
Training aircraft | |||
Diamond DA40NG | Australian Air Force Cadets | 8 (under civilian registrations) | Austria |
Pilatus PC-21 | Central Flying School (RAAF Base East Sale)
No. 2 Flying Training School (RAAF Base Pearce) No. 4 Squadron (FAC training) (RAAF Base Williamtown) |
49[10] | Switzerland |
BAe Hawk 127 lead-in fighter trainer | No. 79 Squadron (RAAF Base Pearce) No. 76 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown) |
33 | United Kingdom |
Beechcraft King Air 350 navigation & specialised trainer | No. 32 Squadron (RAAF Base East Sale) | 12 | United States |
Remotely piloted aircraft | |||
MQ-4C Triton | No. 92 Wing | 1 (3 on order)[11][12] | United States |
MQ-28 Ghost Bat | TBD | 8 (10 Block 1s and 3 Block 2s on order)[13][14] | Australia |
Heritage aircraft
editOwnership of 12 historic aircraft was transferred from Temora Aviation Museum to the RAAF in July 2019; they continue to be maintained by museum staff but operated by the RAAF as the Temora Historic Flight with pilots inducted into the RAAF Reserve.[15] No. 100 Squadron was reformed in March 2021 as the Air Force Heritage Squadron to operate airworthy warbirds based at the RAAF Museum and Temora.[16]
Future acquisitions
edit- AIR 6000: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter[17][18]
- 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.
- A possible total of 100 F-35As are to be purchased under Project Air 6000 to replace the Hornets and Super Hornets.
- AIR 7000: ADF Maritime ISR capability replacement[19]
- Programme to replace the AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft with a crewed 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 crewed portion is introduced.
- AIR 7000, Phase 2B: Purchase of 8 Boeing P-8A Poseidon crewed MPA has been given first-pass approval for service entry from 2018.
- Programme to replace the AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft with a crewed MPA/UAV mix.
- AIR 5428: Pilot Training System[20]
- Programme to replace PC-9/A training aircraft and training syllabus.
- Air 5428, Phase 1: 49 Pilatus PC-21 ordered in 2015 for entry into service by 2019.[21]
- Programme to replace PC-9/A training aircraft and training syllabus.
- Project AIR 555: 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.[22] Both Australian Aviation and FlightGlobal have reported that the aircraft will possibly form the replacement for the electronic intelligence-gathering role performed by 2 of RAAF's AP-3 Orions.[22][23]
- In March 2019, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne claimed that Australia will acquire four modified Gulfstream G550 business jets to strengthen the country's electronic warfare capabilities.[24] The $2.46 billion acquisition of the 4 G550s will be designated as the MC-55A Peregrine variant. It will be operated by the RAAF's Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group (SRG).
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Two more P-8A Poseidon aircraft boosts maritime patrol capability".
- ^ Waldron, Greg. "RAAF receives final Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft". Flight International, 5 June 2012.
- ^ McLaughlin, Andrew (1 October 2021). "Australia to buy one Growler attrition aircraft". ADBR. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
- ^ Hartigan, Brian (18 March 2019). "RAAF buys four MC-55A Peregrine – for $2.46billion". contactairlandandsea.com. Contact Publishing.
- ^ Wright, Shane (23 July 2023). "Australia to spend $10 billion on new fleet of Hercules planes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
- ^ "Inside 'Shark One': Scott Morrison's new $250MILLION plane is revealed after a commercial Jetstar Airbus A330 is transformed into a 100-seater tanker for the prime minister". www.msn.com. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
- ^ "KA350 King Air". Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "CHC awarded RAAF SAR contract extension". Australian Aviation. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "CHC introduces half dozen AW139s for RAAF work". Business Air News. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
- ^ Hartigan, Brian (6 December 2019). "RAAF welcomes final PC-21 to East Sale". CONTACT magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ^ Ferrier, Scott (12 June 2024). "Arrival of the first MQ-4C Triton on track". Department of Defence (Press release). Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ "First Australian Triton lands at Tindal". Australian Defence Magazine. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ "Update: Australia funds three MQ-28A Block 2 aircraft, key systems". Janes. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ Saballa, Joe (9 February 2024). "Australia Advances MQ-28A Ghost Bat Program, Injects Additional $260M". The Defense Post. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "May 2019 News". Temora Aviation Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
- ^ "RAAF re-establishes No. 100 Squadron". Department of Defence. 6 February 2021.
- ^ "JSF Joint Strike Fighter". Royal Australian Air Force website. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- ^ "Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft AIR 6000 Phase 2A/B". Defence Materiel Organisation. May 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "AIR 7000 Phase 1B/2B". Defence Materiel Organisation. June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "AIR 5428 Ph 1 Pilot Training System". Defence Materiel Organisation. December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
- ^ "Lockheed's "Team 21" finally confirmed as AIR 5428 winning bidder". Australian Aviation.
- ^ a b "Defence confirms acquisition of two ISR and EW Gulfstreams". Australian Aviation. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
- ^ Waldron, Greg (4 January 2016). "L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal". Flightglobal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "RAAF to get four modified Gulfstream G550s for electronic warfare support". Australian Aviation. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
External links
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