The hull of the future HMAS Canberra LHD amphibious ship arrived in Melbourne’s Port Phillip Bay on October 17, completing a nine week, 13,000nm voyage from Spain. LHD 01’s hull, built in Ferrol, Spain by Navantia, was transported to Australia by the heavylift ship the Blue Marlin, and will now be unloaded and moved by
The CTOL F-35A variant of Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter dropped a weapon for the first time this week. F-35A AF-1 dropped a 2,000lb GBU-31 JDAM over the Lake China weapons range on October 16, with USAF Major Eric Schultz at the controls.
Airbus Military continues flight testing of the A400M airlifter, with the most recent exercise simulating air-to-air refuelling with a French Air Force Transall. The two aircraft performed 20 ‘dry contacts’ during the flight, which is a prelude to conducting so-called ‘wet contact’ refuelling tests early next year. The A400M had previously conducted dry trials with
For all fans of the venerable DHC-4 Caribou, plans are underway to fly the aircraft owned by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) to the Caboolture Warplane Museum’s “Antique Aircraft Day” in Caboolture on November 18. It is planned for the Caribou to be in Caboolture from November 16-19 in support of this event. On
The third annual ‘Haul-a-Herc’ fundraiser was held recently at RAAF Base Richmond. Twenty teams of 20 people each competed to pull the 40-tonne C130J over a 10 metre course in the quickest time. While the RAAF Base Richmond team got the fastest time of 11.68 seconds during qualifying heats, the Public Order and Riot Squad
The New Zealand Defence Force has signed a five-year contract with Hawker Pacific for the supply and maintenance of four King Air B200 aircraft. The Pro-Line 21 equipped King Airs, which will be used to provide advanced pilot training in addition to a domestic air transport capability, will be supplied by Hawker Pacific under a
