Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates

T

the road runner

Active Member
Aussie Digger said:
Er, perhaps they mean 1 Sqn and 82 Wing... ;-)
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Im blaming New years Celebrations........for that one,


Aussie Digger;187854: said:
this does not mean I hold anything Defence Today says as gospel however. It is quite a rag, IMHO...
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Yeh Kopp writes articles for them,i only purchase it as my news agency has a small selection of Defence mags,something for the boys to read in the smoko sheds,along with V8 mag and People(for the articles;) ).Can you recomend any Defence mags ??

Regards
 
O

Ozzy Blizzard

New Member
the road runner said:
Yeh Kopp writes articles for them,i only purchase it as my news agency has a small selection of Defence mags,something for the boys to read in the smoko sheds,along with V8 mag and People(for the articles;) ).Can you recomend any Defence mags ??

Regards
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They have quite a few good interviews though. I like Col Davis Ishel's (sp?) articles, but when dealing with air combat in any way shape or form, Kopps stuff is absolute crap. Still an entertaining read from time to time.
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
the road runner said:
Yeh Kopp writes articles for them,i only purchase it as my news agency has a small selection of Defence mags,something for the boys to read in the smoko sheds,along with V8 mag and People(for the articles;) ).Can you recomend any Defence mags ??

Regards
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Australian Aviation or Australian Defence Magazine (ADM) are the only Australian ones I would consider spending money on and ADM is only available through subscription...

Occasionally an Air Forces Monthly if I am flying somewhere internationally but at $17 a pop, they don't offer enough value for regular acquisition, IMHO...

The internet provides news far quicker than any magazine can. The one benefit magazines still have is interviews. Carlo Kopp's work, if anyone feels some strange desire to read it, can actually be obtained for free, seeing as though he loads all his articles onto his website after DT is published anyway...
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
hairyman said:
I wonder how many Super Hornets have now been completed for the RAAF?
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The last official announcement was on November 5 and it was in relation to the 3rd RAAF Super Hornet, rolling off the production line in September 2009 and formally handed over to RAAF (in the United States) in November.

March 2010 is the rough estimate for the first 4 ship flight of Super Hornets, to be flown to Australia by RAAF pilots/ACO's and I expect that at least one, more likely 2 airframes would remain in the US for on-going training and development work.

Given the flight test of production aircraft seems to take about a month (30 September - 5 November or thereabouts) I'd suggest that at least 4x aircraft have been manufactured by now, possibly 5 (with one in flight test) with another to be delivered prior to March 2010.

It will be interesting to see the exact date the Shornets will arrive at Amberley. I'm going to try to be there with my Nikon D300...
 
T

Tom Tom

New Member
hairyman said:
Tomorrow we will be able to say they arrive next month. Beaut.
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They wont be operational from next month. I'm wondering when they will be able to play an active role in Australia's defense. The list of proposed kit is impressive. Whether it ever gets built remains to be seen. I'm sure the US will help you until you can help your yourselves.
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
Tom Tom said:
They wont be operational from next month. I'm wondering when they will be able to play an active role in Australia's defense. The list of proposed kit is impressive. Whether it ever gets built remains to be seen. I'm sure the US will help you until you can help your yourselves.
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The Super Hornets will officially reach Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in December 2010.

At that point we would be capable of deploying and supporting a detachment of 4x Supers for operational taskings.

All the kit we have ordered has, or is in the process of being built. At least 4x Supers have now rolled off the production line and the first batch of AGM-154C JSOW standoff weapons have been delivered to RAAF, for instance...
 
StingrayOZ

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
The capability gap between the F-111 being retired and any replacement would have been covered. They retire in 2010 but when? I know they are pretty much grounded now, but I would imagine if they had to be pressed into service they could be maintained until 2010 dec?

The SH will protect us from aging hornet frames and F-35 delays (either building or operational delays). We were lucky to get USN spots.
 
B

Bonza

Super Moderator
Staff member
Tom Tom said:
They wont be operational from next month. I'm wondering when they will be able to play an active role in Australia's defense. The list of proposed kit is impressive. Whether it ever gets built remains to be seen. I'm sure the US will help you until you can help your yourselves.
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Sorry but am I detecting a snide tone in this? Added to your post in another thread where you said:

Tom Tom said:
The NZ ANZACs are to defend NZ and its interests. They are not to defend Australia and their interests (or any other foreigners). If Australia cannot defend itself then they should look at themselves rather than whinging about some other country.

Be strong, NZ. Let the whingers deal with themselves - and if they cannot then to hell with them. Why should they bludge off us, the losers?
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It sounds like you've got something you'd like to get off your chest mate? Don't keep us in suspense.
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
StingrayOZ said:
The capability gap between the F-111 being retired and any replacement would have been covered. They retire in 2010 but when? I know they are pretty much grounded now, but I would imagine if they had to be pressed into service they could be maintained until 2010 dec?

The SH will protect us from aging hornet frames and F-35 delays (either building or operational delays). We were lucky to get USN spots.
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The F-111 capability is being maintained up until it's last day of service, programmed for December 2010. The exact date has not yet been announced, AFAIK.

Super Hornet planned IOC is December 2010, again the exact date is unknown, publicly...
 
StingrayOZ

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
But the F-111 maintence areas are being wound down. I believe it would be very difficult for the F-111 to be pushed for much longer other than dec 2010.

So it is pretty essential that we get the SH in time to retire the F-111. That looks like happening. The SH was really the only plane we were going to get in service before the F-111 started falling out of the sky.
 
H

hairyman

Active Member
As it looks as though the F35 is going to come on board later than expected (again), and the FA-18's are getting that much older, is there a case for the RAAF to order more SH?
 
A

Aussie Digger

Guest
hairyman said:
If not, under what circumstances should we order further SH?
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If Australia seemed likely to be involved in a conventional state on state conflict before the F-35 was ready, I'd suggest would be about the only likely scenario where more Supers would be ordered at this point.

The legacy Bugs will go through until about 2018 or so and if necessary could still have the CBR process done at a slower rate (in Canada) so there is nothing really to concern us at the present. Even if the F-35 is later that initially planned for, as long as it is reaching IOC in around 2016/2017 than RAAF will be fine.
 
S

stoker

Member
uuname said:
Air Force grounds F-111 fleet - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

It doesn't sound like there was a lot of damage, but an engine fire can't be good news. At least the F111 has two of them. ;)

I wonder if the winding down of the F111 maintenance will make identifying and addressing the issue more difficult? An extended grounding at this time would be very unfortunate.
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The F-111 has been an excellent aircraft for the RAAF, but, is it not now time to take them out of commission ASAP.

The money saved could be put in to the Super Bug programme,i.e. pilot training, send them over to the States in to the USN Super Bug training squadrons.
 
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