A RAAF Hornet holds short while the RSAF's Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) returns from an afternoon Pitch Black sortie.
On the day we were at RAAF Darwin, the Indonesian Sukhois took on a pair of RAAF Hornets in a 2v2 engagement. A21-51 of 77 Sqn was one of the two Hornets involved, taking off here with drop tanks and AIM-132 ASRAAM training rounds.
The RAAF's Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets were one of several debutants at Pitch Black 2012. A44-223 is seen here retracting its undercarriage as it departs RAAF Darwin on a morning sortie
Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18A Hornet A21-13 in a scheme commemorating the 95th Anniversary of 3 Squadron takes off for a Pitch Black Air-to-Ground mission. Note the Lockheed-Martin Paveway II Enhanced Laser Guided Training Round (ELGTR) inon the wing pylon
One of the most significant aspects of 2012's Pitch Black was the first ever employment of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar at the exercise. One of the new types carrying the AESA were the RAAF Super Hornets. Here A44-244 carries a travel pod on one of its portside pylons.
Touchdown
CF-18
Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em
Hornet
A RAAF Hornet holds short while the RSAF's Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) returns from an afternoon Pitch Black sortie.
A RAAF Hornet holds short while the RSAF's Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) returns from an afternoon Pitch Black sortie.
A RAAF Hornet holds short while the RSAF's Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) returns from an afternoon Pitch Black sortie.
See photo in original gallery.