By the end of 2014, BAE Systems’ advanced manufacturing centre at its Edinburgh Parks site in Adelaide had delivered 900 machined titanium components to customers Marand and BAE Systems UK, to be incorporated in to tails for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

When the first RAAF Joint Strike Fighters arrive in Australia in 2018, they will be capable of both air to air and air to ground combat using baseline US weapons.

With the first two RAAF F-35A Joint Strike Fighters now flying training missions in the US, planning is now focussed heavily on sustainment and a recent initiative has seen the establishment of a version of the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) in Australia.

The first of Army’s seven new Boeing CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters will be delivered to the 5th Aviation Regiment in Townsville in April, several months later than originally anticipated, but the six others will be handed over by September.

The past 12 months have seen significant progress in the evolution of the RAAF towards the integrated, interoperable and networked vision of the future.

Air 7000 will see the Commonwealth operate a number of manned and unmanned systems with the P-8As and Triton UAS. The finer details on how the BAMS side of the equation will come together are taking shape.

The Army’s Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter and Taipan (MRH 90) Multi-Role Helicopter have now both been in service for several years, but both still face challenges, particularly with regard to sustainment.

In a ceremony at the historic US Air Force Plant No.4 in Fort Worth Texas on July 24, the first two Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters for the Royal Australian Air Force were formally rolled out.

After a protracted nine-year process from inception to RFT, Defence is now considering Air 5428 Pilot Training System Phase One bids primed by BAE Systems Australia and Lockheed Martin, offering two trainer aircraft with a shared DNA.

French Army Tigre (Tiger) helicopters have been continuously conducting real operations for six years, working in different and demanding environments such as Afghanistan, Mali, Somalia and Libya and the lessons learned have proven very useful for French rotary wing teams.

Over eighty aircraft and 2300 personnel from seven countries took part in the biennial Exercise Pitch Black over the empty skies of Australia’s Top End in August.

The Training Aircraft Systems Program Office (TASPO), headquartered at RAAF East Sale has achieved significant engineering efficiencies through its recent reform program and is now looking to roll out further reforms which will also benefit aircraft maintenance.

Work on the first two aircraft to be modified under the validation and verification phase of the RAAF’s Hawk Mk.127 Lead In Fighter Capability Assurance (LIF CAP) program is now underway at Williamtown.

Twelve months ago, it was clear to visitors to Airbus Military’s A400M Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Seville that the aircraft was still very much in its development stage, with five test and development working hard to certify the aircraft and customer deliveries yet to begin.

In February the Abbott Government formally approved the purchase of eight Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, with an option for another four, to replace the existing 18 AP-3C Orions. The first Poseidon is expected to achieve initial operating capability in 2017, with the eighth in 2021.

As the RAAF prepares for the introduction of a fifth generation fighter capability, in the form of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter later in the decade, Chief of Air Force (CAF) has announced details of the transition plan.