The fifth Boeing C-17A Globemaster III for the RAAF made its first flight from Boeing’s Long Beach, California, facility on August 25. The aircraft, to be designated A41-210 in RAAF service, is scheduled to be handed over to the RAAF in early September, and delivered to 36SQN at RAAF Amberley later that month to join
32SQN RAAF’s eight King Air 350s recently achieved the 30,000 flying hours milestone since the beginning of operations in 2003. The aircraft, which are based at RAAF East Sale and are leased from and supported by Hawker Pacific, have been used by 32SQN and the School of Air Warfare predominantly for RAAF navigator/ACO and Navy
Eighteen of the 20 F-35 JSF aircraft currently flying were authorised to return to flight last week following a two and a half week grounding. The F-35 fleet was grounded on August 4 following the failure of an Integrated Power Pack (IPP) on development aircraft AF-4 at Edwards AFB. The JSF Program Office says a
Boeing has announced a contract from the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) for 14 new build CH-47 Mk6 (CH-47F) Chinooks, in a deal worth US$1.64 billion. The contract, which will also see Boeing provide associated support to the new Chinooks for the first five years, enables the Royal Air Force expand its current fleet of
The RAAF’s 92 Wing detachment of two AP-3C Orion reached the milestone of 20,000 mission hours in support of ISR operations over the Middle East on August 15. Deploying to the Middle East in 2003, the RAAF Edinburgh based Orion detachment has focused on maritime missions over the Arabian Gulf and overland missions extending to
Defence Minister Stephen Smith has said that he is committed to “an exhaustive risk assessment on schedule” of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by the end of this year, saying that any decision to acquire additional Super Hornets to fill a potential capability gap should the JSF be further delayed would be taken next year.
