Australia has received three more Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters, bringing its fleet to 18 of the type.
This is Australia's fourth batch of Super Hornets, said Jason Clare, minister for defence materiel. The Royal Australian Air Force's remaining six aircraft from a 24-aircraft order will arrive by the end of this year. Clare welcomed the aircraft at RAAF base Amberley in Queensland, where they will be based.
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"They are potent fighting machines that give our air force an impressive strike capability," said Clare. "The Super Hornet gives the RAAF the capability to conduct air-to-air combat, to strike targets on land and at sea, to suppress enemy air defences, and to conduct reconnaissance."
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Australia ordered the Super Hornets as an interim measure owing to delays in the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme. It could order up to 100 of the conventional take-off and landing F-35A variant, to replace its 1980s-era F/A-18A/Bs and retired General Dynamics F-111s. The air force retired its last of the latter in 2010.
Defence pundits have speculated that further delays and possible cost issues involved with the F-35A could see Australia buy more Super Hornets, but Australian defence officials have consistently dismissed this possibility.
Source: Flight International
