RAAF flies F-35A fighter aircraft with full weapons load for the first time

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has for the first time flown the Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter aircraft carrying a full complement of internal and external weapons, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) announced on 7 June.

Two fully laden F-35As, part of a group of 10 aircraft of the type, were deployed in May from RAAF Base Williamtown to RAAF Base Darwin to take part in the Exercise ‘Arnhem Thunder 21' (12 May–15 June) – one of the RAAF's largest domestic training exercises.

An RAAF F-35A fighter aircraft takes off from RAAF Base Darwin with its payload of GBU-12 bombs during Exercise ‘Arnhem Thunder 21‘. This is the first time Australian F-35As have carried a full load of internal and external weapons. (Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence)

Besides an unspecified internal weapon payload, each of the two fighters carried four inert, laser-guided GBU-12 bombs attached to their underwing pylons during the training sortie. The bombs were dropped on ground-based targets at the Delamere Air Weapons Range, about 120 km south of Katherine, in the Northern Territory, said the DoD. The F-35As are expected to drop more than 50 inert GBU-12 bombs during the entire exercise, the DoD added.

According to Lockheed Martin, the F-35A can carry 5,700 lb when configured only with internal weapons (‘stealth mode'), while it can carry 22,000 lb when it carries both internal and external ordnances (‘beast mode'), including both air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.

The DoD quoted the commanding officer of No 35 Squadron, Wing Commander Matthew Harper, as saying that the F-35A's capability to carry a full load of internal and external weapons allows it “to be adapted to suit the threat environment and operational requirements”.