Royal Australian Air Force

"RAAF" redirects here. For the British auxiliary air force, see Royal Auxiliary Air Force. For other uses, see RAAF (disambiguation).

Royal Australian Air Force
Badge of the Royal Australian Air Force
Founded31 March 1921; 103 years ago (1921-03-31)[1]
Country Australia
TypeAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size14,313 Active personnel[2]
5,499 Reserve personnel
240+ Aircraft
Part ofAustralian Defence Force
HeadquartersRussell Offices, Canberra
Motto(s)Latin: Per Ardua ad Astra
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
March
  • Royal Australian Air Force March Past
  • ("Eagles of Australia"), by Squadron Leader Ron Mitchell
AnniversariesRAAF Anniversary Commemoration – 31 March
Engagements
Websitehttps://www.airforce.gov.au
Commanders
Chief of the Defence ForceAdmiral David Johnston
Chief of the Air ForceAir Marshal Stephen Chappell[3]
Deputy Chief of the Air ForceAir Vice-Marshal Stephen Meredith
Air Commander AustraliaAir Vice-Marshal Glen Braz
Warrant Officer of the Air ForceWarrant Officer of the Air Force Ralph Clifton
Insignia
Roundel
Ensign
Aircraft flown
Electronic
warfare		EA-18G Growler, E-7A Wedgetail
FighterF-35A Lightning II, F/A-18F Super Hornet
PatrolP-8A Poseidon
TrainerPC-21, Hawk 127, KA350
TransportC-130J Hercules, C-17A Globemaster III, 737 BBJ, Falcon 7X, KC-30A MRTT, C-27J Spartan

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army.[4] Constitutionally the Governor-General of Australia is the de jure Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force. The Royal Australian Air Force is commanded by the Chief of Air Force (CAF), who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF). The CAF is also directly responsible to the Minister for Defence, with the Department of Defence administering the ADF and the Air Force.[5]

Formed in March 1921, as the Australian Air Force, through the separation of the Australian Air Corps from the Army in January 1920, which in turn amalgamated the separate aerial services of both the Army and Navy. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), the aviation corps of the Army that fought in the First World War and that was formed on 22 October 1912.[6]

During its history, the Royal Australian Air Force has fought in a number of major wars, including the Second World War in Europe and the Pacific, participated in the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation, Vietnam War, and more recently, operations in East Timor, the Iraq War and subsequent intervention, and the War in Afghanistan.

The RAAF operates the majority of the ADF's fixed wing aircraft, although both the Australian Army and Royal Australian Navy also operate aircraft in various roles.[7][8] The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, air mobility, space surveillance, and humanitarian support. The RAAF has 252 aircraft, of which 84 are combat aircraft.

  1. ^ "Air Force 2021 centenary". RAAF. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Defence Annual Reports". Department of Defence (Australia). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. ^ https://images.defence.gov.au/assets/Home/Search?Query=20240625raaf8161479_0048.jpg&Type=Filename [bare URL]
  4. ^ "Vision". Royal Australian Air Force. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Defence Act (1903) – SECT 9 Command of Defence Force and arms of Defence Force". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Australian Military Aviation and World War One". Royal Australian Air Force. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Current aircraft". Royal Australian Navy. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Aviation projects". Australian Army. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.