With the US Navy MH-60R ‘Romeo’ acquisition program significantly ahead of schedule, the way ahead is clear for the Royal Australian Navy to accept the first two aircraft early in 2014. Perhaps even more significantly, the 24th, and last, Romeo will be delivered to Australia in mid 2016, over two years ahead of the original Air 9000 Phase 8 schedule.

Defence has signed a multi-million dollar contract to commence operations for the upgrade of the Hawk Lead-In-Fighter, announced Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare.

Australia ’s enhanced Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) completed its first round of testing last month, Minister for Defence Stephen Smith and Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced.

The sixth and final Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft was delivered to the Commonwealth in May and, as work continues towards achieving Initial Operating Capability later this year, a wider focus on what are perhaps non-traditional roles is now under development.

In the wake of Exercise Tamex, the USN also took the opportunity to bring the P-8 over to Canberra for a day trip before heading home.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith’s announcement in May that the Government will delay the purchase of 12 Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighters by two years did not come as any great surprise.

Boeing has been awarded a $55 million Electronic Warfare support contract for the Royal Australian Air Force fleet of Wedgetail aircraft.

MoD Stephen Smith announced at the 2012 Air Power Conference that the Government has agreed to purchase 10 Alenia C-27J Spartan Battlefield Airlift aircraft.

Has US Army training of ADF personnel on the Shadow 200 inhibited the development of Australian techniques and procedures for tactical UAV operations?

The painfully-protracted process of selecting the ADF’s next battlefield airlifter appears close to a conclusion, with Alenia Aeronautica’s C-27J Spartan seen as the odds-on favourite to fill the gap left by the retirement in 2009 of the RAAF’s 1960’s-era DHC-4 Caribous. Or is it?

After a very long gestation period, the ADF’s Pilot Training System, Project AIR 5428, finally gained momentum in the early part of 2012 with the release of a draft RFT to industry.

More than a decade after Australia ordered 22 Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters (ARH), the model has yet to be declared fully capable of operations, although that’s likely soon.

While many of the HATS contenders broke cover at the Avalon Air show last year in the expectation of an imminent RFT, KBR, Elbit Systems and Qantas Defence Services (QDS) spoke to ADM in late December 2011 about the details of their partnership.

With a draft Request for Tender submitted to industry last September and the final RFT was released as ADM went to press, the ADF’s Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS) requirement is finally making significant progress.

Underway and anticipated enhancements to the Jindalee Over The Horizon Radar Network (JORN), one of Defence’s quiet achievers, will improve performance while new multi-year contracts negotiated with Lockheed Martin Australia and BAE Systems Australia as part of the Strategic Reform Program (SRP) are set to cut system operating costs by $100 million over the next decade.

2011 was a pivotal year for the RAAF which is deep into a renewal and re-equipment program that will see it transformed by the end of this decade. New capabilities are maturing, with others yet to enter service.