Stephen Kuper

The $700 million infrastructure investments will see a suite of infrastructure upgrades and facilities works at RAAF Base Townsville, including supporting infrastructure for the relocation of 16th Aviation Brigade Headquarters from Brisbane, along with the relocation of the 1st Aviation Regiment from Darwin.

The bilateral exercise, which pairs the RAAF’s fifth-generation F-35A fighters with the Indonesian Air Force’s (TNI-AU) F-16 Fighting Falcons, officially opened on 21 August with a patch-exchange ceremony between pilots and a welcoming address by Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base Commander, Air First Marshal (Marsma) Abdul Haris.

The addition of the second bomber marks a significant milestone in the program, allowing engineers and aircrew to expand testing of what has been described as the most advanced long-range strike aircraft in history.

The tilt-rotor aircraft capable of both vertical take-off and landing and high-speed flight have been a familiar sight in the Top End for nearly a decade, supporting the annual Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) deployments.

Charles Darwin University’s North Australia Centre for Autonomous Systems (NACAS) has opened the Airspace Integration Research Facility (AIR-F) at its Katherine Rural Campus, the only purpose-built unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) test site in northern Australia.

The recruitment push comes as preparations ramp up for the basing of the advanced attack helicopters at RAAF Base Townsville later this year.