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at [email protected]http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #363 JUNE 2018 // 29
Three more RAAF F-35As delivered
The latest Australian
F-35A under test is A35-
006, accompanied here by
Lockheed Martin’s chase
plane F-16D Block 50
90-0848. Henry B HamAUSTRALIA TOOK delivery
of its next three F-35As
from Lockheed Martin at
Luke Air Force Base in
Arizona in early March.
Serials A35-003 and A35-
004 touched down on
March 8 and A35-005
followed on March 18.
Minister for Defence
Marise Payne and
Minister for Defence
Industry Christopher Pyne
MP congratulated the
Australian Defence Force
and Lockheed Martin on
reaching the milestone.
“These latest aircraft
are fitted with the
programme’s final software
system, which unlocks
the aircraft’s full war-
fighting potential including
weapons, mission systems
and flight performance,”
Minister Payne said.
Australia is the first
international Lightning II
customer to receive jets
with Block 3F software
capability. The earlier two
fighters had the previous
Block 3I software installed.
Australia’s first twoF-35As were recently
inducted into the US Air
Force’s Ogden Logistics
Complex at Hill AFB,
Utah to receive various
structural, hardware and
software upgrades that
will bring them up to
the current standard.
The other three aircraft
are embedded with the
61st Fighter Squadron
for pilot and maintainer
tuition at Luke AFB’s
Integrated Training Center.
Five more are scheduled
for delivery by the endof this year. After No 3
Squadron undergoes its
first F-35A airworthiness
board in August, the unit
will prepare to bring the
initial two aircraft to RAAF
Williamtown, New South
Wales in December to
commence Australian-
specific validation and
verification activities.
The Australian
government is acquiring
72 F-35As under Project
AIR 6000 Phases 2A/2B
to replace its current
fleet of 71 F/A-18A /Bs.CHC wins
RAAF search
and rescue
contractCHC HELICOPTER will
provide search and rescue
(SAR) services at five
bases around Australia
under a 30-month
contract continuation
with the RAAF. These
operations will involve
six new AW139s that will
replace the current S-76A+
SAR helicopter fleet.
The first of the new
aircraft have already
been introduced at RAAF
Base East Sale and the
remaining five will arrive
during the rest of the year,
providing SAR coverage
for the air force at RAAF
Bases Pearce, Tindal,
Williamtown and Amberley.
The SAR-configured
AW139s will feature four-
axis auto hover, enabling
hover operations over
water at night. The
crews will also use
white phosphorus night-
vision technology.
The contract extension
came into effect last
November but was only
announced by the CHC
Group on April 16. In
future, all three existing
Australian Defence Force
aviation SAR contracts
could be replaced with
a new single tender.
CHC Helicopter currently
provides services to the
RAAF, Royal Australian
Navy (RAN) and Australian
Army. A single AW139
with night-vision goggle
capability and four-
axis auto hover began
operations on behalf of
the RAN in May last year.
Three of the AW139s
to be used in the latest
RAAF contract were
already flown within CHC’s
Australian fleet, while the
other three previously
served with a CHC SAR
contract in the UK.THE ROYAL Australian
Air Force (RAAF) took
delivery of its tenth and
final C -27J battlefield
airlifter on March 18.
A ceremony to welcome
the last Spartan took
place at RAAF Base
Richmond, New South
Wales. Built by Leonardo,
the C -27J s serve with No
35 Squadron, R A A F, in
the battlefield airlift role.
After check flights at
Leonardo’s Turin-Caselle
facility in Italy, RAAF
C -27J s were flown to
L3 Aerospace Systems/Platform Integration in
Waco, Texas. As prime
contractor for the R A A F,
L3 undertook systems
integration for the
C -27J s before delivery
to the customer.
Minister for Defence
Marise Payne, and
Minister for Defence
Industry, Christopher
Pyne, both attended the
event at Richmond.
“The Spartan provides
flexibility to defence
operations, allowing us to
land at airfields that are
smaller or unsuitable forour much larger transport
aircraft like the C -130J
Hercules and C -17A
Globemaster,” Minister
Payne said. “The Spartan
can carry up to five
tonnes of cargo and is
capable of moving troops,
equipment and supplies;
conducting aero-medical
evacuation missions and
conducting airdrops.”
Although No 35 Squadron
currently operates
the Spartan
fleet from
RAAF Base
Richmond,the fleet will relocate to
RAAF Base Amberley
early next year.
“The relocation to
Amberley will allow No
35 Squadron to work
from facilities purpose-
built for the Spartan, and
to be more responsive
when deploying across
Australia and into the
Asia Pacific [region],”
Minister Payne said.
Initial operating capability
for the Spartan was
declared in late 2016, with
final operating capability
due to follow in late 2019.C-27J A34-005 lands on the grass airstrip at RAAF Base Richmond during the ceremony. CPL David Gibbs/Commonwealth of AustraliaFinal RAAF Spartan handed over
NEWS Australasia
CHC Helicopter S-76+
VH-LHZ performs a training
fl ight in the Northern
Territory’s Katherine
region. CPL Terry Hartin/
Commonwealth of Australia