Striving to be Fifth-Gen

The Royal Australian Air Force is well into a major re-equipment programme that’s transforming it into a ‘fifthgeneration’ air arm, capable of viable and sustained operations in the battlespace of the future. Nigel Pittaway reports. FORCE REPORT Royal Australian Air Force After nearly 40 years of operational service, the RAAF’s F/A-18A/B Hornets will be retired at the end of 2023, replaced by fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs. OVER THE past few years, almost every Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)