The RAAF’s 3SQN based at RAAF Williamtown took delivery of two more Lockheed Martin F-35As on September 10.
The aircraft – A35-015 and -016 – were ferried from Luke AFB in Arizona where 10 more RAAF F-35As and about 50 pilots and maintenance personnel are embedded with the USAF-led integrated training centre ‘schoolhouse’ there.
The latest delivery takes 3SQN’s Williamtown-based fleet to six, with the previous four aircraft being delivered in two waves last December and in April this year.
The squadron is expected to receive four more F-35As before the end of the year as it accelerates its validation and verification (V&V) testing of the F-35A in the Australian operating environment in preparation for a planned initial operational capability (IOC) in 2020.
In the meantime, No 2 Operational Conversion Unit (2OCU) is due to relinquish its F/A-18A/B ‘classic’ Hornets later this year before a number of its staff deploy to Luke AFB to join the growing RAAF cadre there to transition to the F-35A.