This is a list of the current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft in operation:
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) | 63 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 |
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) | 12 [7] | United States |
Helicopters | |||
AgustaWestland AW139 SAR helicopter | RAAF Base Amberley | 6 (contracted with CHC Helicopter) [9] | 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 [10] | 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) | 12 | United States |
Remotely piloted aircraft | |||
MQ-4C Triton | No. 92 Wing | 1 (3 on order) [11] [12] | United States |
MQ-28 Ghost Bat | TBD | 8 (10 Block 1s and 3 Block 2s on order) [13] [14] | Australia |
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. [15] 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. [16]
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The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-General of Australia is the de jure Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force. The Royal Australian Air Force is commanded by the Chief of Air Force (CAF), who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF). The CAF is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence, with the Department of Defence administering the ADF and the Air Force.
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The Royal Australian Air Force's Air Combat Group (ACG) is the group which administers the RAAF's fighter and bomber aircraft. ACG was formed on 7 February 2002 by merging the RAAF's Tactical Fighter Group and Strike Reconnaissance Group in an attempt to improve the speed with which the RAAF can deploy its combat aircraft.
The CAC Sabre, sometimes known as the Avon Sabre or CA-27, is an Australian variant of the North American Aviation F-86F Sabre fighter aircraft. The F-86F was redesigned and built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). Equipping five RAAF squadrons, the type saw action in the Malayan Emergency in the late 1950s, and was employed for air defence in Malaysia and Thailand in the 1960s. Ex-RAAF models also saw service with the Royal Malaysian Air Force and the Indonesian Air Force.
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No. 5 Flight was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) aircraft flight which was equipped with IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles. It was established in 2010 to operate Herons in Afghanistan. Following the withdrawal of the Heron detachment from that country in 2014, conducted training missions in Australia to maintain the RAAF's expertise in operating unmanned aerial vehicles until more advanced types are delivered. The Herons were retired in June 2017, and the flight was disbanded by the end of that year.
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