Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC 24) commences for the Royal Australian Air Force – Part Two
Story and photos by David Campion
Diamond Shield 2024
The primary aim of the exercise was Defensive Counter Air (DCA) of Australia’s airspace. The exercise was conducted over coastal training ranges between RAAF Amberley and RAAF Williamtown, an area of 200,000 km squared. Participating Aircraft operated from RAAF Williamtown and Amberly for the exercise.
During the first week of flying, F-35As from RAAF Williamtown launched in afternoon and morning sorties, each launch involving up to 24 aircraft. The launch windows transitioned to afternoon and night flying in the second week. Super Hornets from No.1 Squadron and Growlers from No.6 Squadron temporarily deployed to Williamtown for the final week and a half of the exercise.
During the second week, sorties launched with a mixture of airframes, including F-35A, Super Hornet, Growlers, PC-21, and Hawk 127 aircraft.
The final three days culminated in a continuous 58-hour military launch window with round-the-clock sorties from RAAF Williamtown, forcing students to defend the training airspace continuously for all 58 hours.
Two E-7A Wedgetails from Wililamtown and two KC-30A MRTT from Amberley supported each sortie.
Red Air consisted of F-35As from No.75 Squadron and Hawks 127 from No.76 Squadron operating from RAAF Williamtown. Raytheon Australia and Air Affairs Australia supplemented the Red Force with five Learjet 35As as part of the multimillion-dollar Joint Adversarial Training and Testing Services (JATTS) contract. During the first week of the exercise, JATTS aircraft operated from HMAS Albatross near Nowra and, for the final week, operated from Tamworth Regional Airport. During the exercise’s launch windows, ADSB data showed several transport aircraft operating from RAAF Amberley and Richmond.
Photography for the duration of the exercise was taken from off-base locations, as no spotter’s day was held this year. The best location for photography is the Fighter World Balcony or Medowie Road, when runway 30 is operational. At this time of year, the heat haze and blur from the jets can make conditions challenging; however, this is offset by the volume of traffic during the exercise and the opportunity for dusk departure shots with afterburner.
As the exercise progressed, there were some subtle hints about the increasing interoperability with allied partners, such as a white helmeted F-35 pilot indicating a US Marine Pilot on exchange and a British accent picked up on the scanner piloting the E-7A Wedgetail.
As the AWIC progresses onto Diamond Strike, the ground attack phase of the course, it will be interesting to see if the F-35 will be configured for “Beast Mode,” i.e., external bomb stores, as one was photographed departing RAAF Williamtown at the time of writing the article with all external pylons in place.
This year marks the 70th Anniversary of advanced instructor training for the RAAF. The RAAF’s capability has certainly increased since 1954, when the first course was held flying the De Havilland Vampire.
