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	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 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: 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

• 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.^[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.
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. "Defence confirms acquisition of two ISR and EW Gulfstreams". Australian Aviation. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
13. Waldron, Greg (4 January 2016). "L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal". Flightglobal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
14. Walters, Patrick (8 September 2010). "Heron on the wing to guide Diggers". The Australian. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
15. 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