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"Air Force provides air and space power for Australia's security."
A modern expeditionary air force, it is the youngest of the three armed Services in the Australian Defence Force but the second-oldest air force in the world. Learn more about Air Force
Air Force Newspaper (Our official newspaper)
What do Royal Australian Air Force Air Combat Officers do?
A maritime strike mission, then eight Air Combat Officers talk about their role in the Royal Australian Air Force.
The Air Force YouTube channel can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/AirForceHQ
9 Aug 2010 06:07:17 GMT
Defence Force Air Show 2010 RAAF Base Williamtown
18-19th September
RAAF Base Williamtown
See the Australian Defence Force’s biggest and most exciting air and ground displays ever in the Newcastle region.
The event will feature the latest in technology, demonstrating the range of stimulating and different careers on offer in the Australian Defence Force.
"It’s a family day with something for all ages".
For the latest update go to: http://www.airforce.gov.au/AirShows
28 Jul 2010 22:11:18 GMT
Photos from Pitch black 2010 are available on Facebook. This collection will be updated as new photos are released.
To view Pitch Black 2010 album 1 go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=193666&id=88014372638
To view Pitch Black 2010 album 2 go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=193909&id=88014372638
28 Jul 2010 05:49:22 GMT
The Royal Australian Air Force contribution to the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC 10) has been hailed as an overwhelming success, with both AP-3C Orion crews earning high praise from their Australian commander.
11 Squadron (RAAF Edinburgh) deployed two Orions and 93 personnel to RIMPAC which is the largest maritime military exercise of its kind in the world. Based at Kaneohe Bay on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, they were among 1200 ADF personnel from RAAF, Navy and the Army participating in RIMPAC. Commander, Australia National Command Element, CDRE Stuart Mayer said 11 Squadron’s role was critical to the overall success of RIMPAC.
“The highlight for the RAAF was firing of a Harpoon missile,” CDRE Mayer said. Planning for this evolution was intense and the result was overwhelmingly positive for all involved. 11 Squadron spent long periods preparing with exercise planners and the Navy’s Anzac Class Frigate HMAS Warramunga which was also involved in the MISSILEX. That cooperation continued right up until the missile hit its target.
According to CO 11 Squadron, WGCDR Phillip Champion, the execution was flawless. “It came off the wing, skidded along the surface and popped up to hit the target, which was the former US Amphibious carrier New Orleans. It was a great event for us from a coordination point of view with Warramunga and from a high end warfare fighting perspective,” WGCDR Champion said. “We got the chance to practise our crew and heighten awareness by carrying a live weapon as well.”
CDRE Mayer said cooperation by the RAAF and Navy was critical to the outcome. “The theme of RIMPAC 10 is Combined Agility, Synergy and Support. That’s definitely what we saw during the Harpoon evolution, from our own forces as well as with our allies here for this exercise.”
The AP-3C Orion missions during RIMPAC 10 also included Undersea Warfare (USW), Surface Warfare (SUW) and Maritime Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (MISR). Both aircraft held up incredibly well. During the Schedule of Events phase the crews completed 11 out of 12 flights. They also managed to notch up about 90 percent of their Anti Submarine warfare contact time. WGCDR Champion said the entire team could be very proud of their efforts. “Our work was integrated into a combined air, surface and sub-surface environment and everyone contributes to that end game. For any weapon to impact the target, on time, there’s a lot of moving parts.”
Overall, WGCDR Champion said RIMPAC 10 had provided his crews with vital one-on-one time with the Australian Navy. “We’re currently doing a lot of tasking in the Middle East but that’s all over land. We are also involved in Operation Resolute to our north. But RIMPAC has provided us with the opportunity to practice high end war fighting skills in anti submarine warfare and anti surface unit warfare. It’s great to be working with the Navy again. We had to come all the way to Hawaii to do it! “ WGCDR Champion also acknowledged the opportunity to operate alongside Australia’s allies, 13 of whom are attending RIMPAC this year.
“We had some Koreans ride with us the other day and we’ve had some Australians ride with the US Navy, as well the Canadians. We’ve had some great opportunities to see how other people do business and pick up some good ideas here and there along the way,” he said.
“That to me is what RIMPAC is all about.”
More at: http://www.defence.gov.au/opEx/exercises/rimpac10/index.htm
28 Jul 2010 04:52:38 GMT
Videos from Pitch black 2010 are available on YouTube. This collection will be updated as new videos are released.
To view the Pitch Black 2010 Playlist go to: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=F0F639EF7587F963
28 Jul 2010 00:50:54 GMT
Pigs' Tales
Thursday 2 & Friday 3 December 2010
RAAF Base Amberley
Queensland, Australia
The retirement of the Royal Australian Air Force F-111 fleet on 3 December 2010 will mark a significant milestone in the history of military aviation in Australia. We are delighted to be able to showcase and celebrate the life and service of the F-111 aircraft through Pigs' Tales, the official F-111 retirement ceremonies.
Pigs' Tales will not only provide a forum to commemorate the history of these amazing aircraft, but will also provide an avenue to honour all of the men and women who flew, maintained and supported the F-111 during its service to the Royal Australian Air Force.
I do hope that you will be able join in the farewell to this icon of the Australian skies.
Air Marshal Mark Binskin, AO
Chief of Air Force
More at: http://www.pigstales.com.au
15 Jul 2010 03:17:23 GMT
Roulettes Jul - Dec 2010 Calendar
Air Force Roulettes website
Balloon Jul - Dec 2010 Calendar
Air Force Balloon website
Band Jul - Dec 2010 Calendar
Air Force Band website
RAAF Museum Interactive Flying Displays web page
There are dedicated Air Force personnel serving in operations around the globe, lending a hand and protecting Australia's national interests. They also work tirelessly, on a daily basis, behind the scenes, to protect our borders and provide releif to those in need.
The Department of Defence operations website provides a comprehensive list of current operations and exercises.
If there is one crucial element to Australia's contribution to the international campaigns in the Middle East, it has to be the Hercules C-130J.
Major General John Cantwell, AO commands all Australian Defence Force units deployed in the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) assigned to Operation Slipper, as well as those forces assigned to Operation Kruger in Iraq and says that the aircraft has a vital role to play.
"We couldn't do our mission without them," he says.
Based in the United Arab Emirates, the ADF has three Hercules C-130J aircraft currently in operation and have been continuously part of the action in the Middle East since early 2003. In fact, the airborne workhorses recently exceeded 20,000 flying hours supporting Australian and Coalition troops. The significant milestone was reached during a mission to aero-medically evacuate Australian soldiers wounded in an Improvised Explosive Device strike in late March.
"In the time that the C-130s have been operating here, they've flown more than 11,300 missions," Major General Cantwell explains. "They've moved more than 140,000 troops – that's like 6500 footy teams and they've moved more than 31,000,000 kilograms of stores and equipment which is the same as moving 30,000 Holden Commodores or Ford Falcons... it's a fantastic achievement."
More fact sheets coming soon!
RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It is a way to easily push out news items, update notices and content to a large number of people. RSS is used by software to aggregate and present the content to you in an easy to read manner.
In some cases people spend a considerable amount of time visiting favourite websites looking for the information they wish to digest for the day. The idea of an RSS feed is to some-what reverse that, so the information comes to you. Rather than visiting all your favourite sites each day, just subscribe to their feeds and all of the new content published by that site will show up in your RSS reader, along with all your other favourite sites in an organised easy to access and read fashion.
This allows you to scan all your favourite websites in one location and your task of sourcing your information for the day is done in minutes.
It is very easy to subscribe to an RSS feed. All you need is an RSS reader: Below is a list of RSS readers you can use.
Once you have have a reader and you see an icon like this 
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It's that easy!
If you have any further questions about our RSS feeds, please do not hesitate to contact us.
