Page 7 - AVALON 2023 - Day 1 | DAILY NEWS

at RAAF Base Williamtown taking place
CLASSIC HORNET ‘RED AIR’ on 29 November to mark the occasion.

This completed a withdrawal process that
SALE IS STILL ON THE AGENDA kicked off in late 2017.

After the purchase of 75 fighters in 1981,
the fleet of Classic Hornets served for some
36 years and accumulated 408,000 flying
hours. Among their operational deploy-
ments were Operation Slipper defending
Diego Garcia after the 9/11 attacks,
Operation Falconer in the 2003 invasion of
Iraq, and Operation Okra over Iraq and Syria
to defeat ISIS from 2014-18.

The place of the F/A-18A/B has been taken
over by the F-35A, of which the RAAF has
© Gordon Arthur ordered 72 aircraft.

Australia announced on 5 March 2020 that AirUSA for the sale of up to 46 former RAAF Another 18 Classic Hornets (twelve F/A-
up to 46 surplus Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fight- McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B Hornets. 18A and six twin-seat F/A-18B aircraft)
ers would be sold to Air USA, who would The contract between the Department of were sold to Canada; the first of these
use them as ‘red air’ adversary support for Defence and AirUSA was initially executed reached North America in February 2019
combat training of the US Air Force. AirUSA in February 2020 and is still valid.’ and the final two on 29 April 2019. The
has since been renamed RAVN Aerospace. Royal Canadian Air Force is using them to
Before despatching them to the USA, supplement its fleet of CF-18 Hornets.
The first aircraft were to be handed over Australian personnel RAAF Base
3-4 years after the announcement date i.e. Williamtown will prepare them for their As for Australia’s remaining Classic Hornet
around now. future adversarial training role. airframes, a handful has been allocated to
heritage purposes, and one to the Defence
A spokesperson from Defence commented, The last of the RAAF’s Classic Hornets Explosive Ordnance Training School as a
‘Department of Defence is in contract with were retired in late 2021, with a ceremony training aid.

RAAF SEEKS © Gordon Arthur

REPLACEMENTS

FOR 737 BBJS

No. 34 Squadron of the RAAF operates a are required to ensure availability and reli- fleet for support of E-7A Wedgetails, P-8A
pair of 737 Boeing Business Jets (BBJ), but ability to VIPs such as the prime minister. Poseidons or the replacement BBJs.
the air force is preparing to replace them
after nearly 20 years of service. This was In their lifetimes, the two aircraft have This tender exercise closes 3 March.
revealed in briefing documents prepared for clocked up nearly 14,000 flying hours each.
the incoming Albanese government.
A request for information (RfI) was The two current 737s were originally
They are to be replaced by new 737s as released on 20 January for the disposal leased from Qantas Defence Services in
an ‘approved enhancement’, with the new of the two current 737 BBJs. It revealed 2002, before Northrop Grumman took over
aircraft to be leased rather than purchased. that one aircraft will be withdrawn from ser- the contract in 2013. Northrop Grumman
No mention of costs was mentioned in the vice between March and June 2024, and Australia currently has a contract for
brief, nor upon what kind of 737 airframes the second aircraft sometime from July- through-life support for the RAAF’s entire
they will be based. September the same year. special-purpose aircraft fleet until next year,
with options that can extend this till 2037.
The Defence Portfolio Budget Statement Their end-of-life disposal on an as-is
predicted that the BBJs’ annual flight hours where-is basis could entail purchase for
will grow to 1,600 hours, up from the current future operations, or for dismantling/ As well as the 737 BBJs, No. 34 Squadron
1,200. It appears that the RAAF sees simply destruction/recycling. Defence is also also operates three Dassault Falcon 7Xs
refurbishing the current aircraft as being an interested in salvaging 737 parts that from Defence Establishment Fairburn in
insufficient measure, and that new aircraft could be distributed to the wider RAAF the ACT.
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