Issue 347: Lightning Strikes

The Royal Australian Air Force’s first two Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters have made their official debut on Australian soil, landing at the Australian International Airshow

For more than a decade, Australia’s F-35s have seemed almost inconceivably far off into the future but suddenly at Avalon in March there they were, all grey low observable paint and angles.

Following a long ferry flight from the US, aircraft A35-001 and A35-002 loomed in the distance, flew low over the Avalon Airshow then touched down.