Four Indonesian Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 ‘Flanker’ fighters touched down in Darwin yesterday as the top line Russian-built jets made their first visit to Australia. The arrival of the jets, ahead of the bi-annual ‘Pitch Black’ air combat exercise, marks the first time RAAF personnel will have come in close contact with the advanced Russian-made
Boeing has awarded Australian companies Lovitt Technologies Australia and Ferra Engineering contracts worth almost $1.85 million to produce components for the P-8A Poseidon maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Both companies already have several contracts with Boeing through the company’s Office of Australian Industry Capacity (OAIC), within the Defence Materiel Organisation’s Global Supply Chain program. Boeing also named
Pilatus Aircraft has won a Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) contract for the delivery of a pilot training system based around the PC-21 turboprop trainer. The Pilatus training aircraft will be used to train basic and advanced student pilots in the recently established QEAF Air Force Academy in Qatar. The first PC-21 will be supplied
The RAAF’s fleet of Hawk Lead-In Fighters has hit 75,000 hours of flying. The jet, used to train fighter pilots and aircrew, was introduced into RAAF service in 2001, with the RAAF now operating a fleet of 33 of the aircraft based at Williamtown and Pearce. “This milestone is a credit to the skill and
The UK has formally accepted the first international F-35 Joint Strike Fighter during a ceremony at Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas headquarters. The aircraft, an F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant, will head to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida where it will be used for pilot and crew training. The UK agreed
Sikorsky has delivered its 500th UH-60M/HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter to the US Army. First produced in 2007, the latest versions of the long-running Black Hawk program are used by the US Army as utility and medevac aircraft. The 500 aircraft delivered to date are part of a production plan including 1,375 M models to be
