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RAAF F-4E Phantom in flight during Australian service

RAAF F-4E Phantom – Australia’s Stopgap Fighter

McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom: The RAAF’s Interim Fighter While Waiting for the F-111C Few aircraft have earned the legendary reputation of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. Loud, smoky and immensely powerful, the Phantom served with air forces around the world and became one of the defining combat aircraft of the Cold War. Although the F-4E Phantom only served with the Royal Australian Air Force for just under three years, from 1970 until 1973, its impact on the RAAF was enormous. It wasn’t simply a temporary replacement for the delayed F-111C. It introduced Australian aircrew and ground personnel to an entirely new generation of supersonic combat aviation and

Could the Leader Dynamics T2 Mk5 Have Become Australia’s New Service Rifle?

The Australian Automatic Arms SAC and the Leader Dynamics T2 Mk5 rifle have always fascinated me. The SAC is the short carbine version of the SAR, which in turn is a civilian variant of the Leader Dynamics T2 rifle. I first came across the SAR during a visit to the Lithgow Small Arms Museum some years ago. When I learnt that it was Australian designed and built, it immediately made me ask the question: Why was this rifle never put into service? It looked fantastic. It seemed like a major leap forward from the L1A1 SLR, and unlike so many rifles appearing around the world at the

M577A1 Armoured Command Vehicle

The M577A1 Armoured Command Vehicle (ACV) is a variant of the M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier, which was built by the American Food Machinery Corporation and first delivered to Australia in 1965. Both the M113 APC and the M577 ACV were found to be susceptible to landmines during the Vietnam War. As a result, Australian vehicles received an armour upgrade, with additional aluminium armour fitted to the lower sections and underside of the hull to improve protection. A Mobile Command Centre The M577A1 was based on the standard M113 APC but featured a raised roof and extended hull sides, providing considerably more working room inside the vehicle. It carried

Display of military firearms inside the Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum in Lithgow, New South Wales

Lithgow Small Arm Factory Museum

After a robbery of several handguns from the Lithgow Small Arms Museum, the museum’s weapons display has been closed to the public. If you had been there a few years ago, you would have seen the best display of firearms in the country. A 30‑minute drive from Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, just west of Sydney, brings you to Lithgow, the home of the Lithgow Small Arms Museum. The museum is located on Methven Street in a late‑1950s‑style building that looks like it may have been the old main office of the Small Arms Factory (SAF). Contained within these walls was, without a doubt, the best collection

Royal Australian Air Force Dassault Mirage IIIO fighter jet flying over Sydney Harbour

RAAF Mirage IIIO

The Mirage IIIO was the Royal Australian Air Force’s first supersonic fighter, serving with the RAAF from the delivery of the first aircraft on 9 April 1963 until its retirement in September 1988, when it was replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet. In the late 1950s, Australia had still not chosen a new fighter to replace the ageing and outdated CA-27 Avon Sabre, an Australian-modified and built version of the American F-86 Sabre. Australia needed a new, modern fighter that was on par with the new NATO fighters of the day. The logic of air defence at the time called for a fast interceptor that could move

CA-27 Avon Sabre

The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation ( CAC) CA-27 Avon Sabre was in RAAF service from 1956 to 1971 which was a later start date and a much longer period of service than the American F86 Sabre had. The F86 served with United states from1949 to the late 1950’s even pushing into the early 60’s with some Air national guard units. The Avon Sabre as the Australian variant was known was not the same as the American Sabre. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation built it with a Rolls Royce Avon RA.7 turbo jet engine which produced 7 500 pounds of thrust which made it more powerful then the F86 Sabres 6100

RAAF F-4E Phantom – Australia’s Stopgap Fighter

Could the Leader Dynamics T2 Mk5 Have Become Australia’s New Service Rifle?

M577A1 Armoured Command Vehicle

Lithgow Small Arm Factory Museum

RAAF Mirage IIIO

CA-27 Avon Sabre

Daniel Harper

MILITARY WRITER

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RAAF F-4E Phantom – Australia’s Stopgap Fighter

RAAF Mirage IIIO

CA-27 Avon Sabre