The first two RAAF F-35A Joint Strike Fighters touched down today at the Avalon International Airshow, having departed earlier in the week from their current attachment to the US 61st Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona.
The arrival marked the fifth generation fighter's debut in Australia and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Defence Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne were on hand to welcome the aircraft to it's future country of residence.
The two aircraft (A35-001 and -002) had flown from Luke AFB via Hawaii, Guam and RAAF Base Amberley and had achieved a milestone for the longest overseas delpoyment to date. They were accompanied during the ferry by a RAAF C-17 Globemaster III carrying associated stores and equipment and a RAAF KC-30A tanker, which supplied over 197,000 ibs of fuel during the 21 air-to-air fuelling cycles.
The aircraft will return to the US upon completion of the airshow this weekend, to resume their duties as part of the international training pool at Luke AFB.
Both F-35 program executive director LTGEN Chris Bogdan and US Marine Corps Deputy Commandant Aviation LTGEN Jon Davis provided some interesting insights into the current status of the program and the experiences of the warfighter to date during briefings held at the show.