The United States Air Force (USAF) has recently deployed some of its most significant assets in Australia for training exercises and extended deployments to demonstrate its ability to project and interoperate with tactical and strategic air power to distant parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Regional allies and partners.
The latest development of Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Raptor stealth fighter arrived at a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base in the Northern Territory on 18 August as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation (EAC) programme. The event differs from the 2022 Pitch Black exercise, a large multilateral exercise — made up of more than 100 aircraft from 17 countries — that begins a day later in the same state.
“The programme, which has been in place since 2017, builds on extensive long-term air exercises and training activities between Australia and the US,” said Australian Air Force Commander and Deputy Air Force Marshal Darren Goldie. .
“B-1 Lancer aircraft were recently seen visiting RAAF Darwin during Drill Diamond Storm in June, and B-2 Spirit Stealth bombers recently visited RAAF Amberley in July and integrated into Cullen East and Ana Thunder drills,” explained AVM Goldie.
“It’s a testament to how assimilated our two Air Forces are, with these incredible aircraft being able to visit our bases and take advantage of our infrastructure and support services so we can both train closely with each other,” he added.
According to the Australian Department of Defence (DoD), EAC is an advanced air-to-air integration exercise between elements of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the US Air Force, improving interoperability and serving as a US force posture initiative.
Meanwhile, four U.S. Air Force Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bombers — 20 percent of the U.S. Air Force’s B-2 bomber fleet — were also recently announced by the Bomber Task Force (BTF). ) initiative completed the aircraft’s first deployment in Australia.
The first two B-2 Spirits of New York and Spirit of Ohio arrived at RAAF Amberley on July 10 to support the BTF deployment, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) said in a statement. On July 12, two other bombers, the Arizona Spirit and the Alaska Spirit, were later replaced by the Florida Spirit around late July.
Due to operational security concerns, only some of the details of the bomber’s activities in Australia have been publicly disclosed, but disclosures have included red teams against the Australian Army, as well as air-to-air refueling with Royal Australian Air Force KC-30 tankers and RAAF exercises. on-board early warning and electronic warfare assets such as the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail and R/A-18G Growlers.
“The U.S. Force Posture Initiative demonstrates the strength of the Australia-U.S. alliance and our deep engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. This will ensure we continue to be prepared to operate in the deteriorating strategic environment described in the 2020 National Defense Strategy Update,” the Department of Defense said. .
by Jr Ng
