Issue 367: Generation next, homecoming for the RAAF’s F-35

The F-35’s transition from doubt to reality

Did you ever doubt this day would happen?” a senior defence industry executive with close ties to the F-35 program asked me. We’d run into each other in the lobby of the Newcastle Airport hotel hours after the first RAAF F-35s to be permanently based in Australia had touched down at their new home base of Williamtown.

That arrival was a hugely symbolic event for the RAAF and the industry team, led by Lockheed Martin, that builds and will maintain the F-35. The arrival of a new frontline fighter is a once in a generation event, given the F/A-18 Hornets the F-35s will replace first entered service 33 years ago.