List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

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 (RAAF Base Amberley)	24	United States
	No. 6 Squadron (RAAF Base Amberley)
McDonnell Douglas/GAF F/A-18A and F/A-18B Hornet multirole fighter	No. 3 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown)	71	Australia (License-built)
	No. 75 Squadron (RAAF Base Tindal)
	No. 77 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown)
	No. 2 Operational Conversion Unit (RAAF Base Williamtown)
Patrol aircraft
Lockheed AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft	No. 10 Squadron (RAAF Base Edinburgh)	19	United States
	No. 11 Squadron (RAAF Base Edinburgh)
AEW&C and EW aircraft
Boeing E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft	No. 2 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown)	6[1]	United States
Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Warfare aircraft		1 (+11 on order)[2]	United States
Transport aircraft
Alenia C-27J Spartan	No. 35 Squadron (RAAF Base Richmond)	3 (+7 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 transport^A	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	4^B	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]
  • Programme to replace or purchase additional air transport aircraft.
    • AIR 8000, Phase 2: Purchase of 10 tactical medium-sized aircraft to replace the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou. The Australian Defence Minister has announced the purchase of 10 C-27J Spartan and not the C-295 ^[9][10] (procurement dragged on for over a decade since original Air 5190 requirement). The Spartans are due to start arriving in 2015.
• AIR 5428: Pilot Training System^[11]
  • 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.^[12]
• 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.^[13] 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.^[13][14]

See also

• List of aircraft of the Royal Australian Air Force
• Boeing C-17 Globemaster III in Australian service
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules in Australian service
• McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in Australian service

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.^[15] Training on the UAVs is provided by a third aircraft operated by No. 5 Flight RAAF.^[16]

References

1. Waldron, Greg. "RAAF receives final Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft". Flight International, June 5, 2012.
2. "Airheadsfly.com". airheadsfly.com. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
3. "Pilatus PC-9/A trainer". RAAF Website. Archived from the original (url) on 2008-03-29. Retrieved 2008-03-31.
4. "MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System". http://www.airforce.gov.au. RAAF. Retrieved 3 July 2015. External link in |website= (help)
5. "JSF Joint Strike Fighter". Royal Australian Air Force website. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
6. "Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft AIR 6000 Phase 2A/B". Defence Materiel Organisation. May 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
7. "AIR 7000 Phase 1B/2B". Defence Materiel Organisation. June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
8. "AIR 8000 Battlefield Airlift". Defence Materiel Organisation. December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
9. Smith MP, Stephen (2012-05-10). "New Battlefield aircraft for the Air Force". Minister for Defence and Minister for Defence Materiel – Joint Media Release. Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
10. Ellery, David (2012-05-10). "New airlifters confirmed for RAAF". The Sydney Morning Herald. smh.com.au: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2012-05-10.
11. "AIR 5428 Ph 1 Pilot Training System". Defence Materiel Organisation. December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
12. "Lockheed's "Team 21" finally confirmed as AIR 5428 winning bidder". Australian Aviation.
13. "Defence confirms acquisition of two ISR and EW Gulfstreams". Australian Aviation. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
14. Waldron, Greg (4 January 2016). "L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal". Flightglobal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
15. Walters, Patrick (8 September 2010). "Heron on the wing to guide Diggers". The Australian. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
16. 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.

External links

• Royal Australian Air Force website - Aircraft