List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

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

Current aircraft
An Australian EA-18G in 2017
Aircraft 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)

No. 77 Squadron (RAAF Base Williamtown)

No. 75 Squadron (RAAF Base Tindal)

 59 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
Lockheed AP-3C Orion electronic signals intelligence aircraft No. 10 Squadron (RAAF Base Edinburgh) 2 AP-3C EW variant (to be replaced by MC-55A) 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) 8 United States
Helicopters
AgustaWestland AW139 SAR helicopter RAAF Base Amberley

RAAF Base East Sale

RAAF Base Pearce

RAAF Base Tindal

RAAF Base Williamtown[7]

 6 (contracted with CHC Helicopter)[8] 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[9] 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) 8 United States
Remotely piloted aircraft
MQ-4C Triton No. 92 Wing 6 on order; 1 more planned[10][11] United States
Loyal Wingman (Boeing Airpower Teaming System) TBD 1 (6 prototypes to be acquired) [12] Australia

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.[13] 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.[14]

Future acquisitions
A F-35 taking off during the Australian International Airshow
  • AIR 6000: Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multirole fighter[15][16]
    • 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[17]
    • 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[18]
    • 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.[19]
  • 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.[20] 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.[20][21]
    • 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.[22] 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.[23] Training on the UAVs is provided by a third aircraft operated by No. 5 Flight RAAF.[24]

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. "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.
  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. "Australian Government, Defense Department, 2016 Integrated Investment Program, p.32" (PDF).
  11. Jamie Tarabay. "Australia invests in unmanned spy drones to fly over South China Sea". CNN. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  12. "Australia makes another order for Boeing's Loyal Wingman drones after a successful first flight". Defence News. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  13. "May 2019 News". Temora Aviation Museum. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  14. "RAAF re-establishes No. 100 Squadron". Department of Defence. 6 February 2021.
  15. "JSF Joint Strike Fighter". Royal Australian Air Force website. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
  16. "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.
  17. "AIR 7000 Phase 1B/2B". Defence Materiel Organisation. June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  18. "AIR 5428 Ph 1 Pilot Training System". Defence Materiel Organisation. December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  19. "Lockheed's "Team 21" finally confirmed as AIR 5428 winning bidder". Australian Aviation.
  20. "Defence confirms acquisition of two ISR and EW Gulfstreams". Australian Aviation. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  21. Waldron, Greg (4 January 2016). "L-3 G550 contract suggests new Australian surveillance deal". Flightglobal. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  22. "RAAF to get four modified Gulfstream G550s for electronic warfare support". Australian Aviation. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  23. Walters, Patrick (8 September 2010). "Heron on the wing to guide Diggers". The Australian. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  24. 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.
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