{"id":55425,"date":"2019-02-28T19:42:59","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T19:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/02\/28\/what-does-australia-think-of-the-f-35-one-air-force-commander-details-his-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:06:39","slug":"what-does-australia-think-of-the-f-35-one-air-force-commander-details-his-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/digital-show-dailies\/avalon\/2019\/02\/28\/what-does-australia-think-of-the-f-35-one-air-force-commander-details-his-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"What does Australia think of the F-35? One Air Force commander details his experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MELBOURNE, Australia \u2014 The commander of the Royal Australian Air Force\u2019s Air Combat Group has provided insight into his experience with the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter<\/a>, during the 2019 Avalon Airshow<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia has 72 F-35As on order to replace the F\/A-18A\/B \u201cClassic\u201d Hornet fleet, as it\u2019s known Down Under; the country has received 10 aircraft to date. Two aircraft were delivered to RAAF Base Williamtown, north of Sydney, in December 2018, and a further eight are based in the United States at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, in support of international F-35 pilot training with the U.S. Air Force\u2019s 61st Fighter Squadron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Commodore Mike Kitcher said two more aircraft will be delivered to Australia in early April and eight will have arrived by the end of 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose two jets at Williamtown are flying five to six sorties a week, largely for aircrew training at the moment. We\u2019ll add another two aircraft to that fleet in early April, and we\u2019ll have another four by the end of this year and eight aircraft in Australia by the end of the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kitcher also described a sortie he flew in the Red Flag 19-1 exercise held in Nevada in February, in which RAAF Hornets flew with U.S. Air Force F-35As as part of an international strike package.<\/p>\n\n\n\t