Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Wednesday 16 March 1988, page 1


RAAF unable

to muster

a fighting

complement

By JOHN JESSER, Defence

and Aviation Writer

If an air attack had been mounted against northern Australia yesterday, the Royal Australian Air

Force would have been able to respond with only seven outdated Mirage fighters.

Although more aircraft were available in Australia's only fully operational fighter squadron, 75 Squadron, based at Darwin, only seven pilots were available and these included the unit's commanding officer. Normally, 18 pilots would be allocated to the squadron.

The disclosure was made in evidence presented this week to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, which is investigating personnel wastage rates in the Australian Defence Force, and it underlines the severity of the pilot, shortage in the RAAF.

A spokesman for the RAAF confirmed that 75 Squadron had only seven pilots but, "for security reasons", would not provide any further details about the ability of the RAAF to operate its fighter forces.

The Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Ray Funnell, said last month that the shortage of pilots had resulted in reduced flying time and a reduction in the manning level of tactical fighter squadrons from 18 to 12 pilots.

Last year 107 pilots resigned from the RAAF and so far this year 117 have resigned. This is expected to increase to between 12S and 130 resignations before the end of this statistical year.

The historical annual average number of resignations is 47 and the RAAF has the ability to train about 65 pilots a year.

It is clear that the situation will get much worse, particularly since the RAAF is taking delivery of new F/A-18 Hornet fighters and requires additional pilots to undergo conversion training to fly them.

In fact Air Marshall Funnell admitted recently that the RAAF would find it "very difficult" to keep pace with Hornet deliveries.

One of the reasons for the shortage of Mirage pilots at Darwin is that some pilots are undergoing Hornet conversion training at Williamtown, NSW.

Number 75 Squadron is to be moved to Tindal, 350km south of Darwin, later this year and reequipped with Hornets.

The time taken to recruit potential RAAF pilots and train them through the Australian Defence Force Academy and then at various RAAF bases to qualify them to fly various aircraft up to the Hornet is typically five to seven years.

Even then they will not be able to exploit all of the Hornet's capabilities. The Hornet was purchased as a multi-role aircraft, which puts considerable demands on its pilots

and means they must undergo^ a longer-than-usual period of training, and maintain a high number of flying hours, to achieve the required level of capabilities.

Australia has ordered 75 Hornets and at the end of February 38 had been delivered, with the last due in May 1990.