Current Air Force Equipment
| Aircraft | Origin | Role | Entered Service | In Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockheed P-3K Orion | USA | Maritime patrol | 1966 | 6 | Operated by 5 SQN. Five were originally delivered in 1966 as P-3Bs. Another was purchased from the RAAF in 1985, following which all were upgraded to their current standard. Currently undergoing various mission system upgrades. Due for replacement in 2025. |
| Kaman SH-2G(NZ) Seasprite | USA | Anti Ship & Submarine Warfare | 2001 | 5 | Operated by 6 SQN. Although these are Navy aircraft and operated by Navy pilots, all Navy crew are trained by the RNZAF's 3 Squadron, and they are maintained by RNZAF personnel. Regularly operated from the navy frigates and multi-role vessel. Up to 11 SH-2I aircraft may be purchased from Australia. |
| Beechcraft B200 King Air | USA | Multi engine conversion training | 1998 | 5 | Operated by 42 SQN. Three were leased by the RNZAF in 1998, with a further two leased in 2000. Lease expires in 2012. |
| Boeing 757-200 | USA | Strategic air transport | 2003 | 2 | Operated by 40 SQN. Two were purchased from Transavia to replace the Boeing 727. |
| Lockheed C-130H(NZ) Hercules | USA | Tactical transport | 1965 | 5 | Operated by 40 SQN. Three were delivered in 1965, with a further two in 1969. Currently undergoing Life Extension Program (LEP). Due for replacement 2017. |
| Bell UH-1H Iroquois | USA | Light transport helicopter | 1966 | 13 | Operated by 3 SQN. Most operationally deployed aircraft. The RNZAF currently operates 13 Iroquois helicopters. Five UH-1D were delivered in 1966 and a nine UH-1H in 1970. A further UH-1H was delivered in 1976. The UH-1Ds were progressively upgraded to UH-1H standard during the mid 1970s. Two ex-US Army UH-1H attrition airframes were purchased in 1996. One has been brought into service. Two now in storage with the rest to be phased out after delivery of NH90. |
| Pacific Aerospace CT-4E Airtrainer | New Zealand | Basic trainers | 1998 | 12 | Operated by PTS & CFS. Were leased by the RNZAF in 1998 to serve as the air force's basic flying trainer. Replaced B model Airtrainer. The RNZAF is looking to replace these aircraft with either the Tucano or the Beechcraft Texan T-6 II. |
| Bell 47G Sioux | USA | Basic training helicopter | 1965 | 5 | The first helicopters to be flown by the RNZAF, six B47G-3B-1 were delivered in 1965. Seven B47G-3B-2 were purchased in 1968 and delivered during 1970. The five remaining Sioux in RNZAF service are all B47G-3B-2. These helicopters have been replaced by AW-109 since 2011. |
| Agusta A109LUH(NZ) Mako | Italy | Light Utility helicopter | 2011 | 3 | Operated by 3 SQN. Five on order with another three signaled to be purchased by the 2011 white paper. Helicopters will be delivered from 2011 to replace the Sioux. |
| NHI NH90 | France | Medium transport helicopter | Due 2011 | 4 (8) | Will be operated by 3 SQN. Eight on order. 2 delivered December 2011. Expected to be operational in 2012 to replace the UH-1H Iroquois. |
In addition a historic flight maintains airworthy Harvard (1) and Tiger Moth (1) trainers.
Read more about this topic: Royal New Zealand Air Force
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“We set up a certain aim, and put ourselves of our own will into the power of a certain current. Once having done that, we find ourselves committed to usages and customs which we had not before fully known, but from which we cannot depart without giving up the end which we have chosen. But we have no right, therefore, to claim that we are under the yoke of necessity. We might as well say that the man whom we see struggling vainly in the current of Niagara could not have helped jumping in.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)
“We’re talking scum here. Air should be illegal if they breathe it.”
—Washington, DC, Policeman. quoted by P.J. O’Rourke in Rolling Stone (New York, 30 Nov. 1989)
“In the capsule biography by which most of the people knew one another, I was understood to be an Air Force pilot whose family was wealthy and lived in the East, and I even added the detail that I had a broken marriage and drank to get over it.... I sometimes believed what I said and tried to take the cure in the very real sun of Desert D’Or with its cactus, its mountain, and the bright green foliage of its love and its money.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“Dr. Scofield’s equipment, which you have just seen, radiated waves direct to Professor Houghland’s laboratory. When these waves came in contact with those the professor’s equipment was radiating, they created the interstellar frequency, which is the death ray.”
—Joseph O’Donnell, and Clifford Sanforth. Arthur Perry (Bela Lugosi)