Greg Combet, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, has congratulated the Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Boeing following the first flight of Australia’s F/A-18F Super Hornet in the United States.
Mr Combet said the Super Hornet took off from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis and follows the recent unveiling of the aircraft on July 8 at the company’s Integrated Defense Systems facility.
“The first of 24 F/A-18Fs will arrive at RAAF base Amberley in March next year.
“The remaining Super Hornets, each equipped with the Raytheon-built APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, will be progressively delivered to the RAAF throughout the remainder 2010 and 2011,” he said.
Mr Combet said the flight lasted more than an hour and represented an excellent result for the DMO, the Royal Australian Air Force, United States Navy, The Boeing Company and its industry partners General Electric, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
“The Government is pleased to see that the Super Hornet project is progressing well and remains on schedule and on budget,” Mr Combet said.
“The F/A-18F Super Hornets will be based at RAAF Amberley and will aid the transition to a mature Joint Strike Fighter capability while allowing the Air Force to retire the F-111 fleet.
“The total program investment is approximately $6 billion over 10 years, which includes acquisition and all support costs including facilities, training and personnel.”
Statement from Boeing
The first Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super Hornet takes off from Lambert International Airport in St. Louis July 20 to begin its initial flight. Boeing unveiled the aircraft July 8 at the company’s Integrated Defense Systems facility in St. Louis.
Boeing will complete delivery of the first of 24 F/A-18Fs to the RAAF later this month, three months ahead of schedule. The remaining 23 Super Hornets, each equipped with the Raytheon-built APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, will be delivered to the RAAF throughout 2010 and 2011.
