Royal_Australian_Air_Force_aircraft

List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

Add article description


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

Current aircraft

An Australian EA-18G in 2017
More information Aircraft, Unit operating ...

Heritage aircraft

CAC CA-18 Mustang of the Air Force Heritage Squadron

Ownership 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.[14] 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.[15]

Future acquisitions

A F-35 taking off during the Australian International Airshow
  • AIR 6000: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter[16][17]
    • 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[18]
    • 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.
  • AIR 5428: Pilot Training System[19]
    • 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.[20]
  • 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.[21] 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.[21][22]
    • 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.[23] 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

Notes

B ^ The aircraft are leased from the Canadian firm Macdonald Dettwiler and Associates.[24] Training on the UAVs is provided by a third aircraft operated by No. 5 Flight RAAF.[25]

References

  1. "Two more P-8A Poseidon aircraft boosts maritime patrol capability".
  2. Waldron, Greg. "RAAF receives final Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft". Flight International, 5 June 2012.
  3. McLaughlin, Andrew (1 October 2021). "Australia to buy one Growler attrition aircraft". ADBR. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  4. Hartigan, Brian (18 March 2019). "RAAF buys four MC-55A Peregrine – for $2.46billion". contactairlandandsea.com. Contact Publishing.
  5. Wright, Shane (23 July 2023). "Australia to spend $10 billion on new fleet of Hercules planes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  6. "KA350 King Air". Royal Australian Air Force. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  7. "CHC awarded RAAF SAR contract extension". Australian Aviation. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  8. "CHC introduces half dozen AW139s for RAAF work". Business Air News. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  9. Hartigan, Brian (6 December 2019). "RAAF welcomes final PC-21 to East Sale". CONTACT magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  10. "May 2019 News". Temora Aviation Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  11. "RAAF re-establishes No. 100 Squadron". Department of Defence. 6 February 2021.
  12. "JSF Joint Strike Fighter". Royal Australian Air Force website. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  13. "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.
  14. "AIR 7000 Phase 1B/2B". Defence Materiel Organisation. June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  15. "AIR 5428 Ph 1 Pilot Training System". Defence Materiel Organisation. December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  16. "Defence confirms acquisition of two ISR and EW Gulfstreams". Australian Aviation. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  17. Waldron, Greg (4 January 2016). "L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal". Flightglobal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  18. "RAAF to get four modified Gulfstream G550s for electronic warfare support". Australian Aviation. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  19. Walters, Patrick (8 September 2010). "Heron on the wing to guide Diggers". The Australian. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  20. McLaughlin, Andrew (April 2010). "Nankeen. The RAAF enters the UAV era with Heron lease". Australian Aviation. No. 270. Fyshwick: Phantom Media. p. 31. ISSN 0813-0876.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Royal_Australian_Air_Force_aircraft, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.