Australia's first F-35A arrives at Luke Air Force Base

Luke Air Force Base, Arizona – The first Australian F-35A Lightning II jet arrived at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Dec. 18, 2014. The jet's arrival marks the first international partner F-35 to arrive for training at Luke, where it will be used for pilot training beginning in 2015. The arrival brings the number of F-35s assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing to 18.

 

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Todd “Torch” LaFortune piloted the aircraft, known as AU-2, on its 90-minute ferry flight from Lockheed Martin’s F-35 production facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

 

"Today, we take another tremendous step forward in our transition to the F-35 here at Luke," said Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, 56th Fighter Wing commander. "Australia is the first of 10 nations that will not only become part of the Luke community, but will share in calling the West Valley a home away from home."

 

"The Royal Australian Air Force is delighted to be the first foreign partner nation with F-35A aircraft arriving at Luke Air Force Base," Air Commodore Gary Martin, air attaché said. "This is an important milestone for Australia and we are looking forward to the commencement of our fifth-generation pilot training here at Luke in 2015."

 

Luke will be the central training hub for international F-35A training. In the near future, international and U.S. students will be teamed together learning how to effectively employ the fifth-generation strike fighter.

 

AU-1, Australia’s second F-35A, is scheduled to arrive at Luke Air Force Base in the next few days. The F-35 provides Australia a transformational fifth-generation fighter capability. The program also provides significant benefits to the Australian aerospace industry with more than $432 million (USD) under contract with suppliers.

 

Australia's training will be conducted in conjunction with the 61st Fighter Squadron. The 62nd Fighter Squadron is expected to stand-up in June, to be joined by partner-nations Italy and Norway. Flight operations for the 62nd are scheduled to begin in September of 2015.

 

Fore more than a decade, the U.S. and its allies have invested in developing this fifth-generation, international, multirole fighter aircraft.