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Royal Australian Airforce

Royal Australian Air Force
RAAF Badge.png
Active 31 March 1921 – present
Country Australia
Type Air force
Size 14,120 Active personnel
4,273 Reserve personnel
259 aircraft
Part of Australian Defence Force
Headquarters Canberra
Motto(s) Per Ardua ad Astra
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
Anniversaries RAAF Anniversary Commemoration – 31 March
Engagements
Website www.airforce.gov.au
Commanders
Commander-in-chief Queen of Australia represented by General Sir Peter Cosgrove
As Governor-General of Australia
Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Gavin "Leo" Davies
Deputy Chief of Air Force Air Vice Marshal Warren McDonald
Air Commander Australia Air Vice Marshal Gavin Turnbull
Warrant Officer of the Air Force Warrant Officer Robert Swanwick
Insignia
Logo Logo of the Royal Australian Air Force.svg
Ensign Air Force Ensign of Australia.svg
Roundels Roundel Low visibility roundel
Aircraft flown
Electronic
warfare
Boeing EA-18G Growler, E-7A Wedgetail
Fighter F/A-18 Hornet (A and B), F/A-18F Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II
Patrol AP-3C Orion, P8-A Poseidon
Reconnaissance Heron UAV
Trainer PC-9, Hawk 127, B300
Transport C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, Boeing 737, B300, Challenger 600, Airbus A330 MRTT, C-27J Spartan

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), formed March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and humanitarian support.

The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts. During the Second World War a number of RAAF bomber, fighter, reconnaissance and other squadrons served initially in Britain, and with the Desert Air Force located in North Africa and the Mediterranean, while the majority were later primarily deployed in the South West Pacific Area. Thousands of Australians also served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe. By the time the war ended, a total of 216,900 men and women served in the RAAF, of whom 10,562 were killed in action.

Later the RAAF served in the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation and Vietnam War. More recently, the RAAF has participated in operations in East Timor, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan, and the military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The RAAF has 259 aircraft, of which 110 are combat aircraft.

The RAAF traces its history back to the Imperial Conference held in London in 1911, where it was decided aviation should be developed within the armed forces of the British Empire. Australia implemented this decision, the first dominion to do so, by approving the establishment of the "Australian Aviation Corps", which initially consisted of the Central Flying School at Point Cook, Victoria, on 22 October 1912. By 1914 the corps was known as the "Australian Flying Corps".


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Wikipedia

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