The strategic role was also reflected in the construction of separate married quarters, reflecting the policy that homes should be provided for at least 40% of the established posts. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004. A number of Australian Empire Air Training Scheme squadrons were formed at Williamtown before proceeding overseas and No. Royal Australian Air Force base in New South Wales, This article is about the air force base. It (Williamtown) has really been the centrepiece for Australian defence, and the Royal Australian Air Force, he says. The Fighter World museum in the RAAF base. The work included upgrading the large runways and infrastructure facilities, allowing early warning defence capability in the base. by this website which may effect your viewing experience. Of the in situ hangars, from 1939 to 1945, Hangar 172 is the most intact retaining the original sliding door systems intact. RAAF Williamtown | Defence document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The RAAFs Williamtown Air Base is the home of key current combat assets, the historic home of several legacy air assets, and the future home of a major part of the F-35 capability. Login here. These new facilities are largely over at the back of the military side of the airport. The base also provides base childcare facilities. Air Combat Group commander at the Williamtown RAAF base, Air Commodore Steve Roberton says its a new era in the Hunter regions association with the defence force. Williamtown RAAF Base Group (heritage listing) - Wikipedia A modern brick officer's mess, swimming pool, water treatment plant, airmen's mess, ration store, airmen's laundry, NCO accommodation and mess, a chapel and street lighting completed the modernisation program. This is how the RAAF described the dedication ceremony held on October 23, 2020 at the airbase. [The upgrades] will make the place a lot more functional and a lot more modern, and able to house the high security arrangements we need for such a modern strike fighter.. He noted that the changes were triggered by the F-35, but many of these changes were overdue to upgrade the airbase over all. These units were erected to replace the hut style accommodation of the wartime and immediate post-war years. Prime Minister Morrison said, This is about protecting and securing Australias interests but its also creating jobs and driving investment right here in the Hunter and across the country too. The history and expansion of RAAF Williamtown since its establishment during World War II is directly linked to the evolution of air power and the technologi. In December, Australian Aviation reported how Australias F-35A Lightning II fleet passed the final regulatory hurdle required to be deployed on operations. "This is about protecting and securing Australia's interests but it's also creating jobs and driving investment right here in the Hunter and across the country too," Mr Morrison said. Australia's classic Hornet jet fighters undergo last service RAAF Base Williamtown was one of several Australian bases that received an F-35A operational precinct, runway pavement upgrades, and explosive ordnance preparation facilities in preparation for the introduction of the F-35A into Australian service in 2019. The closing date for this project has been reached. New facilities included headquarters buildings, hangars, workshops, stores, medical facilities and a base chapel. RAAF Base Williamtown | Air Force The early brick and tile houses (the married quarters) clearly follow designs prepared by the Australian Government and used in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Canberra. The jet fuel engine of the aircraft is tested at the fuel farm facility located in the base. [1], The evolving landscape of the base represents three periods:[1], As at July 2002, the fabric relating to each of these periods or phases remains essentially intact to document changes in the landscape, which continues to express the original planning and layout of the base during the period 19391945. Along with the look of the base changing, the main entrance will be moved further north along Medowie Road. ". The RAAF did not take over the base until February 1941, although Lockheed Hudson bombers had been stationed there as a temporary base for anti-submarine operations. This [work] is pretty significant for us.. [1], Following the entry of the United States of America into the War, use of the base was transferred to Southern Area Command (RAAF) in January 1942. RAAF Builds Out New Facilities to Support F-35 Force 76 and 79 Squadrons located in the base. 49 Medowie Road Following the introduction of jet aircraft, the base was rebuilt from 1950 as funds became available. As an operational wartime base from 1939 to 1945 the provision of Bellman hangars (demountable, prefabricated structures) followed established patterns, also used at RAAF Base Amberley which was developed at the same time. [1], The area of the base, on coastal land, was first settled as grants probably initially used for pastoral grazing. You would not want to keep a KC-10 on the base all that long, my guide warned! RAAF Base Williamtown in NSW will be a hub for Joint Strike Fighter program . The walls are robust and protect the base from security threats. No. [1], The street layout of the initial "camp area", including the grid pattern road layout, the alignment of Medowie Road (Henderson Road), Parade Ground, Bellman Hangars and the northern taxiway areas (including the alignment of runway 1 and part of the dispersal taxiway associated with runways 1 and 4) and the underground fuel tanks, are important in illustrating the principal functional characteristics of RAAF bases developed in the immediate pre-war years and the early years of the World War II. In 1976 a new purpose-built facility, for the renamed Australia Joint Warfare Establishment, was completed at Williamtown. He discharged from the Air Force on January 18, 1946, with the rank of Warrant Officer. National base induction form | About | Defence 4 Squadron). Of these some 12 were considered of strategic importance; Butterworth, Cocos Island, Momote, Darwin, Learmonth, Williamtown, Townsville, Pearce, East Sale, Richmond and Amberley. Graham Brooks and Associates Pty Ltd, Non-Indigenous Heritage Study for Environmental Management Plan, RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW, June 2001. [1], The base was officially opened in February 1941, participating in the Empire Air Training Scheme as a mustering centre for airmen. The Williamtown facility, which serves as the Southern Pacific Regional F-35 Heavy Airframe Depot, is planned to support F-35s for the next 30 years. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the RAAF's F-35A Lightning II fleet based near Newcastle was now 33 strong and ready to deploy on operations. RAAF Base Tindal | Air Force Williamtown Airbase Operations, 2020 - Second Line of Defense The facility will perform MRO work on four of Australia's fleet of 33 F . The following are based at RAAF Base Williamtown. The runway will be widened to accommodate longer range domestic and . [1], The evolving landscape of RAAF Base Williamtown, comprising Henderson Road, the road network of the 19391945 camp, 19391945 buildings and structures (substation and emergency powerhouse, underground fuel tanks, parade ground, tennis courts, Bellman hangars, and associated taxiways, sections of runways 1 and 4 and the pump house) and post-war structures and buildings (the main runway and northern taxiways and hardstanding, additional Bellman hangars, married quarters, the first airmen's dormitory block, stores, test butt, armament preparation units, explosives storage, airmen's dormitory blocks, officer's dormitories, and control tower) is important as the operational and training focus for Australia's jet fighter aircraft. This airport is leased from the RAAF facility and in terms of crisis could be taken over by the RAAF and used to support their operations. RAAF Station Williamtown was established on 15 February 1941 to provide protection for the strategic port and steel manufacturing facilities of the Hunter Region. The base has been in operation since the late 1930s, and was kept as the countrys main fighter base after WWII a purpose it has retained since. Williamtown-factsheets It is understood the program is on budget and on schedule, with work under way on routine structural modifications to improve the airframe. In this posting, we highlight recent flight operations from Williamtown Airbase as seen in the slideshow below. In common with operational changes on other RAAF bases, the Bellman hangars have been modified by the addition of extensions and have in most cases been reclad externally, although the structural frames remain intact. The hangar group typically interfaced between workshops and administration and taxiways and runways. They were steel framed with a low-pitched roof covered with corrugated galvanised iron sheeting. [1], The planning of sealed roads included Townsend, Henderson, Perrin and Knox-Knight Roads and the realigned Medowie Road. It seems you are using an outdated web browser not supported A fleet of 200 f35 JETS would be MINIMUM. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 44 wing controls the 11 ATC stations across Australia. With the Joint Strike Fighters being introduced [it] represents a bit of an opportunity for even more industry and employment in this region. It is clear from the tour that Williamtowns future is being shaped by its preparation for the F-35, but more than that, leveraging the coming of the F-35 to prepare for the next fifty years of military aviation. Many of the old buildings at the front have lost their purpose, but theyre also heritage-listed. How significant an investment is the upgrade? He argued that as the F-35 would come into operations, the new infrastructure would support new approaches, and those approaches would in turn prepare the future, notably as unmanned assets are added to the fleet. As the security officer noted: We are building for the fifty years ahead, and not just for the next couple of years.. Located 30 kilometres north of Newcastle, RAAF Base Williamtown is Australias main fighter pilot training base and houses most of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighters. The nearest towns are Raymond Terrace, located 8km (5mi) west of the base and Medowie, 6.8km (4.2mi), north of the base, which is home to many of the base's staff. By subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Statement. Mr Watersdied from pneumonia in August 1993, aged 69, and is survived by his wife and six children. Boeing began the four-month training of RAAF No. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Although it is Air Force's youngest operational base (except for bare bases), it is now one of Australia's most important Defence sites. RAAF Base Williamtown is at the centre of a multimillion-dollar infrastructure modernisation and upgrade program in order to better support the arrival of the RAAFs fleet of F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and other force multiplying capabilities, like the E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning, Command & Control aircraft. Australia's $65 billion Joint Strike Fighter program has been given a lift with Williamtown to be a regional hub for maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade. The base also accommodates elements of the Air Warfare Centre and a number of Combat Support Units. These included the officer's dormitory compound, the officers mess and airmen's brick dormitory blocks in the same area as the wartime camp. The extension of the door supports beyond the shell of the building allowed maximum access to the usable spaces. The last F/A-18A/B Classic Hornets to undergo deeper maintenance servicing have rolled out of the Boeing Defence Australia facility at RAAF Base Williamtown. Over the next few years, the current Hornet Squadrons will morph into the F-35A Squadrons (once the Joint Strike Fighters arrive) through 2018 to 2019. The small target area of 33ha in the south was earmarked for an air-surface gunnery and bombing practice. With approximately thirty F-35A Lightning II jets already based at RAAF Williamtown the noise levels have ramped up with the far from quiet F-35s on operatio. Australias only known Indigenous World War II fighter pilot has been honoured with the naming of a building at RAAF Base Williamtown. Tributes flow as Royal Australian Air Force farewells Classic - ABC Username or email already exists! Willamtown became the peacetime base for the RAAF fighter wing. Officially opened in February 1941, the base is historically significant for its contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme as No. The base is located 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) north of the coastal city of Newcastle, New South Wales (27 km (17 mi) by road) in the local government area (LGA) of Port Stephens. The base features administrative, runway, apron, taxiways and service areas. 92 Wing (maritime operations), No. Minister Price revealed how the facility helped those affected by the closure of Jetstars maintenance facility in the area. Henderson Road and the road network for the original camp, comprising Eaton Road, Ford Road and Townsend Avenue west of McNamara Drive. [1], As at July 2002, all buildings and structures, with the possible exception of redundant underground fuel tanks and early runway remnants, appeared to be maintained in good order. RAAF Base Williamtown ( IATA: NTL, ICAO: YWLM) is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base located 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) north [1] of the coastal city of Newcastle (27 km (17 mi) by road) in the local government area of Port Stephens, in New South Wales, Australia.