Air power on display in north Queensland
Air power has been on display in north Queensland, with additional flying activity taking place through the region, including on the recent Exercise Crimson Dawn in Cairns and Townsville.
CAPTION: A F/A-18F Super Hornet from 1 Squadron conducts a low-level flypast over Cairns Esplanade, enthralling the local community during Exercise Crimson Dawn. Story by Flight Lieutenant Imogen Lunny. Photo by Jonathan Williams.
1 Squadron used Australia’s northern airbases and airspace to qualify the next generation of fast-jet pilots and weapon systems operators on the F/A-18F Super Hornet during the exercise.
The Director of Regional Airbase Development Team East Group Captain Stewart Dowrie said northern Australia provided world-class air bases, training ranges and airspace.
“For exercises such as Crimson Dawn, this provides our future fighter aircrew with a realistic and dynamic operating environment,” Group Captain Dowrie said.
“By training away from their home location of RAAF Base Amberley, aircrew were able to develop their skills and experience, exercising on complex training missions so that they can be ready to deploy anywhere across our north and into the region.”
In line with the National Defence Strategy’s prioritisation of operations from Australia’s northern bases, the ADF and integrated partners will continue to use the north Queensland region as a base and, as a Cairns local, Group Captain Dowrie is proud to support this.
“Cairns has been a really important place to the RAAF for a very long time – from World War II when, it was one of our primary flying-boat bases, right through to the modern day,” Group Captain Dowrie said.
“With its long runway – the second-longest in northern Australia – the city of Cairns will continue to be an important operating location in the move to enhance our preparedness and ability to respond quickly to crisis in the region.”
In appreciation of their ongoing support for Exercise Crimson Dawn, locals were treated to a low-level flypast over the Cairns Esplanade.
CAPTION: Cairns locals gather in anticipation of a low-level flyover from a 1 Squadron F/A-18F Super Hornet during Exercise Crimson Dawn. Photo by Jonathan Williams.
1 Squadron conducted a training sortie over the area, impressing onlookers with the capabilities of the F/A-18F Super Hornet.
The community also had the chance to see a low pass of a United States Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, from the 97th Air Refuelling Squadron, on its transit home to Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
While stationed out of Cairns for three weeks, the USAF contingent completed refuelling operations for Australian aircraft on another exercise in the Northern Territory.
CAPTION: F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft prepare for take off at RAAF Base Townsville during Exercise Crimson Dawn 24-1. Photo by Major Carolyn Barnett.
This USAF rotation supported enhanced air cooperation demonstrating Australia’s interoperability with the US.
Enhanced air cooperation aims to deepen advanced air-to-air integration between the ADF and the US air elements to better enable the countries to operate together seamlessly, and has been successfully operating for several years as one of the United States force posture initiatives.
“The flypasts from both our Super Hornet and the KC-135 underscore the importance of our north and how we are networked in very tightly with our American counterparts,” Group Captain Dowrie said.
“The USAF commander conveyed to me that he was grateful to the local community for their support and the wing wave from his aircraft was his way of saying thank you to the people of Cairns.”
CAPTION: A KC-135 Stratotanker from the United States Air Force 97th Air Refuelling Squadron flies over the Cairns Esplanade during Exercise Crimson Dawn 24-1. Photo by Jonathan Williams.
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