RAAF Will Soon Have its First Super Hornets

The first three of an eventual 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets destined for service with the Royal Australian Air Force were handed over to the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation by the US Defence Materiel Organisation at Naval Air Station Lemoore in California, USA.

The three Super Hornets, A44-202, 203 and 204, were checked over by personnel from 1 Squadron based at RAAF Amberley in Queensland.

Raytheon Australia has been awarded a Training Support Services Contract to support Super Hornet training at Amberley. “The signing of the contract is worth approximately $21.5 million over three years, and secures about 25 jobs at RAAF Amberley for that period,” said Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science. Raytheon Australia will provide maintenance, logistics, and training services to support the Super Hornet flight simulators, visual environment maintenance trainers and electronic classrooms.

The first Australian Super Hornets will arrive at Amberley in late March with the rest following through to 2011 and will replace the ageing F-111, which will be retired in December.