Australia’s combat fleet is at a defining moment for the 21st century, with an ever-darkening geopolitical environment and the emergence of new capabilities.
These are troubling times for Australian defence planners. Canberra’s main ally, the USA, is increasingly unreliable under the leadership of President Donald Trump.
At the same time, Australia’s regional neighbour China is growing more belligerent. In February a Chinese naval task force made an unprecedented circumnavigation of Australia. The flotilla comprised two surface combatants and an underway replenishment vessel. Local media had a frenzy when the Chinese ships disrupted air traffic in the Tasman Sea with an unannounced gunnery drill.
Preceding this, on 11 February, a Shenyang J-16 fighter of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force dropped flares in the path of a Boeing P-8A operating in international airspace over the South China Sea.
The alarming events of recent months are likely to dampen the mood at next week’s Avalon air show. The show will also underline the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) strong push to bring in new combat aircraft and upgrade existing ones, as it faces an increasingly dangerous geopolitical outlook.
The year 2024 saw the RAAF’s final of 72 Lockheed Martin F-35As arrive on home soil, completing a process that started in 2018. Though the type is an American platform, Canberra has worked to develop an indigenous support capability for the jets, standing up a maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade facility at Williamtown, New South Wales, which is run by BAE Systems Australia.
“These aircraft contribute leading edge air combat capabilities as part of the integrated force,” RAAF chief Air Marshal Stephen Chappell said in a recent interview with FlightGlobal.
“Maintaining this capability involves building capacity support, by maturing the F-35A Lightning II logistics and supporting infrastructure to grow the operational capacity of the F-35A Lightning II force.”
The RAAF’s 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters are being upgraded to the greatly improved Block III standard. The upgrade work will mostly take place in Australia and will see the jets gain infrared search and track pods, advanced datalinks, and weapons such as the Lockheed AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range and the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile.
“Our Super Hornets will be practically identical to US Navy aircraft and will continue to receive spiral upgrades throughout the life-of-type,” says Chappell.
“The Super Hornet will remain an important air combat capability out to 2040 despite the growing maturity of the F-35A fleet. Indeed, F/A-18F capabilities complement the F-35A fleet. The Super Hornet’s capacity to carry long-range weapons (particularly maritime strike weapons) and ability to integrate with United States capabilities are critical to achieving the requirements of the [National Defence Strategy].”
Chappell says that Australia is not obtaining the AIM-174B long-range air-to-air missile, a weapon that appeared on US Navy Super Hornets during a 2024 exercise.
The RAAF also operates 12 EA-18G Growlers – a speciality variant of the Super Hornet configured for the important electronic warfare (EW) mission. These will be upgraded to the Block II standard, which enhances their capabilities against emerging threats and also adds greatly to their processing power.
Canberra is on the verge of getting another advanced EW capability in the form of the Gulfstream/L3Harris MC-55A Peregrine, a derivative of the G550 business jet. Chappell says that the aircraft will support the airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and EW missions, and that system integration work is underway.
He declines to discuss the MC-55A’s delivery schedule and capability milestones.
Canberra also continues to invest in its key support aircraft for the combat fleet: the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and Airbus Defence & Space A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport, which is designated the KC-30A in Australian service.
“The E-7A and KC-30A have provided a significant capability dividend for the air force and Australia,” says Chappell. “Both are world-leading capabilities, acknowledged by allies in operations and exercises since their introduction.”
Perhaps the most intriguing aircraft in Australian skies is the MQ-28A Ghost Bat, a joint collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) programme between Boeing Defence Australia and the RAAF. The aircraft was unveiled at the Avalon show in 2019, and a small fleet of eight prototypes has conducted a series of tests.
The aircraft is custom made for Australia’s vast geographic requirements with a 2,000nm (3,700km) range. The early Block 1 aircraft will be retired as the improved Block 2 becomes available. Chappell says three Block 2 examples and a ground control station will be available by the end of the year.
For now, missions envisaged for the type include EW and ISR. At some point in the future the type could carry weapons.
“The collaborative efforts undertaken to date are providing Boeing and the air force with an enhanced understanding of the potential applications of emerging CCA capabilities through the continued development of mission payloads, behaviours and autonomy,” says Chappell.
This year will also see the Ghost Bat working with other RAAF platforms to demonstration its capabilities.
While the RAAF can summon an impressive display of firepower in its own right, and aims to add new capabilities, it is optimised to work as part of a joint force and is particularly interoperable with the US military.
But given recent changes in Washington’s posture, and Trump’s apparent disdain for many of America’s traditional allies, the RAAF will need to ensure that it can provide standalone deterrence in an increasingly volatile world.
