RAAF Super Hornet and Spartan aircraft have been deployed to Malaysia to take part in Exercise Bersama Lima 2023.
In total, more than 400 ADF personnel are training with troops from Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom for the two-week program, which kicked off on 4 October.
The annual exercise is conducted by ‘five powers’ countries, as dictated by the agreement signed by the countries in 1971.
Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton AO, CSC, said the Five Power Defence Arrangements continue to make a positive contribution to collective security.
“Australia has exercised with our Five Power Defence Arrangements partners for more than 50 years in support of regional security,” LTGEN Bilton said.
“Exercise Bersama Lima provides an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation in support of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous region.”
Today, the RAAF has 24 Super Hornets and 11 Growlers, which have also participated in Exercise Pitch Black in the Northern Territory and Exercise Bersama Shield on the Malaysian Peninsula.
Australia originally bought the Super Hornet to act as a stopgap between the retirement of the RAAF’s Classic Hornets and the delayed arrival of their true successor, the fifth-generation F-35.
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Both models are operated out of RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland after arriving in 2010 and achieved final operational capability in 2012.
The US Navy has a fleet of more than 600 Super Hornets, and the aircraft were flown in Top Gun: Maverick.
Australia meanwhile has 10 Spartans operated by No. 35 Squadron from RAAF Base Amberley, which now focuses on peacetime operations such as search and rescue and aeromedical operations.
Australian Aviation reported last year how Leonardo won a $70 million contract to replace and upgrade the radio capability on Australia’s Spartan fleet.
Air Vice-Marshal Leon Phillips, head of aerospace systems division, said, “Upgrading the cryptographic radio function of the C-27J platform will ensure ongoing availability of secure communications, including interoperability with key strategic partners and intelligence networks, and increased overall safety for our Australian Defence Force personnel.”
Leonardo, the original manufacturer of the Spartan, was selected as the prime contractor, and the ‘Commonwealth Avionics Upgrade’ will begin in September 2023 at Amberley.
The work is due to be completed in 2026.
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- Source: https://australianaviation.com.au/2023/10/super-hornet-and-spartan-train-in-malaysia/
