RAAF Joint Strike Fighter Training Area (Ex R559)

24 February 2023 - Update: Changes approved by CASA

The proposed changes have now been approved by CASA via their Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) process, and will take effect on 30 November 2023 AIRAC.

7 April 2022 - Update to Briefing Pack

Please note that there has been an update to the Industry Briefing Pack to v1.1, with the following updates:

Addition of slide 9 to show an overview of the proposed changes.

Slides 13 & 14 - Minor amendment on wording of routings.

Project Background

Dept. of Defence requires access to suitable training airspace to conduct activities that support national security initiatives on behalf of the Australian Government. To meet this aim Defence is proposing a wholesale redesign of key overland training areas located northwest of Sydney and west of RAAF Base Williamtown as well as a minor modification to a training area located west of RAAF Base Amberley.

The F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation air combat aircraft is operated very differently to the F/A-18A/B Hornet. The aircraft has new tactics and profiles that the current airspace design cannot accommodate. Military aircraft use training areas to conduct high-speed, abrupt flying manoeuvres and the employment of electronic measures which could cause interference. For these reasons, military flying requires segregated volumes of airspace to ensure safety of participants and non-participants.

Given the development of Western Sydney Airport (WSA), an area similar to R559A-F airspace volume will be required. This redesign will consider how best to enable new volumes of civil controlled airspace to support the introduction of WSA.

The proposed changes are the result of incremental design improvement and assessment by Dept. of Defence. The airspace changes aim to better support RAAF high-end warfighting training activities, continue to protect the safety of both military and civil aircraft alike, and are also expected to permit design teams to develop a WSA airspace concept through the removal of current military airspace constraints.

Design Principles

In developing this proposal, key elements for the iterative design were to:

Minimise diversion (track miles) for civilian aircraft

Be within reasonable proximity to Defence airbases (minimise transit) in order to maximise training in location

Minimise overflight of regional IFR-capable aerodromes.

Defence recognises the importance of enabling civilian airspace access in accordance with flexible use of airspace principles. The following additional considerations have been incorporated:

Location away from major civil air-route infrastructure to preserve economical routing between major population centres

Preservation of multiple standard cruising levels beneath restricted area volumes to enable safe and efficient transit

Minimum lateral dimensions of the proposed volumes to meet essential training outcomes

Vertical and lateral divisions throughout the design to enable scalable, limited activation in order to minimise high-level civil RPT diversions and maximise civilian access

Industry Engagement

The Australian Department of Defence, supported by Airservices Australia, are engaging with industry on this proposal and welcome feedback on the design proposal.

The Industry briefing pack, describing the proposed changes and the phases of the process can be accessed on this page.

Providing your feedback

We thank industry for providing their feedback on the proposed change. Queries regarding the proposed change can be emailed to stakeholder@airservicesaustralia.com