The Joint Strike Fighter program has made the first successful arrested landing of an F-35C aboard an aircraft carrier, with the trap of test aircraft CF-03 aboard the USS Nimitz off the California coast on November 3. The aircraft is one of two specially configured integrated test force (ITF) jets operated by the US Navy’s
The Royal New Zealand Air Force has formally accepted its first Beechcraft T-6C Texan II trainers in a ceremony held at RNAZAF Ohakea on Friday afternoon. So far four of the 11 T-6Cs on order for the RNZAF have been delivered, with the remaining seven aircraft due to be delivered in batches through until mid-2015.
A six-year, $120 million lease extension that will see two IAI Heron surveillance UAVs remain in RAAF service until the introduction of the MQ-4C Triton from late this decade will ensure unmanned aircraft skills and corporate knowledge are maintained, Defence Minister Senator David Johnston has announced. The RAAF currently operates three Herons, two based in Kandahar,
A Royal Australian Air Force Orion has been scrapped and two more are scheduled for disposal by the end of 2014, Defence has confirmed. The first aircraft, A9-663, which was the only aircraft in the RAAF’s 19-strong Orion fleet not upgraded under the AP-3C program, was scrapped on October 20. All 19 Orions are due to be progressively
BAE Systems Australia’s Flight Training Tamworth centre has marked providing a quarter of a million flying hours. Over the past 22 years, BAE Systems Australia says more than 5,000 students have been trained on the CT-4B Airtrainer aircraft and graduated from the flight training college. In addition to personnel from the ADF, students have come from
Defence Minister Senator David Johnston has formally declared the team comprising Boeing Defence Australia and Thales Australia as the winning tenderer of the Project AIR 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Aircrew Training Systems requirement. The announcement comes some 10 months after Defence confirmed to Australian Aviation sister publication DIAR by ADBR that the Boeing/Thales teaming had been
