New Zealand boosts defence spend to US$6.6 billion and vows increased closeness with Australia
This budget will be spent over the next four years and nearly doubles the country’s defence spending as part of GDP to 2%.
RAF strikes positive tone with F-35B Lightning arrival
Known as The Dambusters, no 617 Sqn delivered the first four F-35B Lightning II to RAF Marham, Norfolk on the evening of 6 June.
Their arrival from Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, South Carolina, came a day later than planned owing to bad weather conditions over the North Sea.
The journey lasted eight and a half hours and required nine air-to-air refuelling brackets, from three RAF Voyager tankers and supported by a RAF A400M Atlas C1 with engineers and support personnel on board.
ACM Stephen Hillier, the RAF Chief of the Air Staff, was present to mark the occasion.
The
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