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Australia's F-35 Fighters


Buckshot Bear

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This article is six months old or so and I think we're up to around 58 F-35s out of the 75 ordered.

 

https://australianaviation.com.au/2022/09/four-more-f-35s-join-raaf-fleet/

 

Would anyone have an idea of how many times a F-35 would have to refuel from the KC-30 from Arizona to the East Coast of Oz?

 

 

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6 minutes ago, sassnetguy50 said:
  • Range: 1,500 nmi (1,700 mi, 2,800 km)
  • Combat range: 669 nmi (770 mi, 1,239 km) on internal fuel
    • 760 nmi (870 mi; 1,410 km) interdiction mission on internal fuel, for internal air to air configuration

 

So its roughly -

 

Capture.JPG.c3f833e91ebf49ac55449bbe55e7a8b3.JPG

 

So 'around' 5 - 6 refuelings? (my maths has always been pretty bad :( ) 

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If they flew non-stop from JRB Ft. Worth to Sidney they would have to refuel at least 7 times. Total flight time would likely be over 18 hours That is an excruciating time to be strapped into a single seat fighter. What is more likely is that they would make several stops along the way.

 

Day 1 JRB Ft Worth to MCAS Miramar CA.

 

Day 2 : MCAS Miramar to Hickham AFB Hawaii. This would require refueling at least 1 time if they carry external fuel tanks and 3 if internal only. But more likely they will ad at lest one extra aerial refueling than the minimum for insurance incase one of the refueling cycles was unsuccessful. 

 

Day 3 they would likely fly to the Marshal Islands. The refueling scenario would be similar to the trip tp Hawaii.

 

Day 4 would be to the Solomon Islands or Papa New Guinea with a similar refueling plan.

 

The 5th day they would land in OZ.

 

All the above is just a guess. I faintly remember island hopping being used ferrying F-18s between the US and OZ back around 2000.

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3 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

 

All the above is just a guess. I faintly remember island hopping being used ferrying F-18s between the US and OZ back around 2000.

 

I wonder if Australia will keep the F/A-18s now with the F-35s coming in? What does a country do with unwanted fighter jets (if indeed they are unwanted)?

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1 hour ago, Buckshot Bear said:

 

I wonder if Australia will keep the F/A-18s now with the F-35s coming in? What does a country do with unwanted fighter jets (if indeed they are unwanted)?

 

Send them to Alice Springs for long term storage?

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I've flown a Hornet across the Pacific. We did Miramar (home station) to Hawaii, to Wake Island, to Iwakuni. Sedalia Dave got the US-AUS route pretty close, I'd guess. It wouldn't surprise me if Guam were the western Pacific stopover (Andersen AFB). For shuttling jets to AUS, I would expect the west coast launch point to be March or even Travis, but not Miramar (or North Island).

 

The fuel plan is not run like you would do for your car- you don't just run the tank close to empty and then fill it all the way back up. Fuel planning for trans-oceanic flights like this is based off of the distance to the closest suitable airfield at any given point along the route. You have to assume that the tanker will 'go sour' at any moment, i.e. the tanker equipment breaks, your buddy snaps the basket off, etc, and the tanker can no longer provide fuel. So you plan to take fuel as frequently as is needed to have enough fuel to fly all the way to an airfield at any moment. For a Hornet going from Miramar to Hickam, that was usually around 7 total 'plugs,' with the majority in the middle of the route, furthest from any divert airfield, only taking small amounts of gas to top-off. I don't know the numbers for the F-35A, though. The USAF has people dedicated to this specific type of operation- they own the tankers, so they do the planning.

 

I've heard that many AUS Hornets have been purchased by a private US company for creation of/incorporation into a professional 'red air' fleet. They would be used to simulate threat aircraft during training. I last heard that a couple of years ago, though. Probably plenty of gov't red tape for export/import.

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