page_title: No. 33 Squadron RAAF
section_title: Re-equipment
hierarchical_section_title: No. 33 Squadron RAAF / History / Re-equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: A Royal Australian Air Force KC-30A is prepped for a formation departure with a U.S. Air Force KC-10 Extender from an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, Oct. 24, 2016. This is the first time U.S. and RAAF air refueling platforms have flown in formation together. The combined refuelers were capable of delivering more than 576,000 pounds of fuel to coalition aircraft supporting the liberation of Mosul, Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tyler Woodward)
context_page_description: No. 33 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force strategic transport and air-to-air refuelling squadron. It operates Airbus KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transports from RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland. The squadron was formed in February 1942 for service during World War II, operating Short Empire flying boats and a variety of smaller aircraft. By 1944 it had completely re-equipped with Douglas C-47 Dakota transports, which it flew in New Guinea prior to disbanding in May 1946.
  The unit was re-established in February 1981 as a flight, equipped with two Boeing 707s for VIP and other long-range transport duties out of RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales. No. 33 Flight was re-formed as a full squadron in July 1983. By 1988 it was operating six 707s, four of which were subsequently converted for aerial refuelling. The 707s saw active service during operations in Namibia, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan. One of the transport jets was lost in a crash in October 1991. No. 33 Squadron relocated to Amberley and was temporarily without aircraft following the retirement of the 707s in June 2008.
context_section_description: By the mid-1990s, the ageing 707s carrying Australian VIPs overseas were no longer compliant with foreign noise and emission regulations.  No. 33 Squadron relinquished its VIP transport role in 2002, following the entry into service of No. 34 Squadron's Boeing 737 Business Jets and Bombardier Challenger 604s. The squadron was awarded the Gloucester Cup in May 2007, "in recognition of its high levels of proficiency demonstrated over the year" in spite of the challenges of operating the obsolescent 707s, and for having "performed superbly on a number of high-profile missions". The 707s were retired in 2008, bringing to an end the 29-year operational history of the type in the RAAF. The last one in service, an ex-Qantas jet named "Richmond Town", made a low-level farewell flight over Sydney on 30 June in the company of smaller aircraft filming the occasion, which gave rise to fear in some quarters that a 9/11-style terrorist attack was in progress. Three 707s remained at Richmond until 2011, when they were flown out by their new operator, the US-based Omega Air Services; Omega also procured the RAAF's Boeing simulator, which had been operated by No. 285 Squadron.
  Following the retirement of the Boeing 707, No. 33 Squadron relocated to RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, on 1 July 2008. It was presented with a Squadron Standard by Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley on 2 June 2010, to commemorate "25 years of faithful and outstanding service". Having been without aircraft for three years, the squadron began re-equipping with the first of five Airbus KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transports on 1 June 2011. The KC-30 could carry one-and-a-half times as much fuel as the 707 and was configured with both probe-and-drogue and boom delivery systems. These aircraft had originally been scheduled to enter service late in 2008, and the RAAF had to lease tankers from the United States Air Force and Omega Air to meet its aerial refuelling needs while Airbus rectified problems with the boom system and completed essential technical documentation. In March 2012, one of the KC-30s set a record for the number of passengers carried on an RAAF aircraft, 220 cadets from the Australian Defence Force Academy.
  The squadron received its fifth KC-30 on 3 December 2012, and achieved initial operating capability in February 2013. It expected to reach final operating capability, with both boom and probe-and-drogue delivery systems, in 2014. On 14 September that year, the Federal government committed to deploying one of the squadron's KC-30s to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, as part of a coalition to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq. The aircraft was only cleared for operations with the probe-and-drogue system, as by this stage the boom system was not ready. The KC-30 began flying missions in Iraq on 1 October 2014. The first successful contact using the boom system (in concert with another RAAF KC-30) took place near Amberley on 13 May 2015. In July, the Federal government announced the purchase of two more KC-30s, taking No. 33 Squadron's fleet to seven aircraft; the airframes were to be ex-Qantas A330-200 passenger liners, converted by Airbus Defence and Space at Getafe, near Madrid. The KC-30 deployed to Iraq undertook the first operational use of the boom system in late October 2015, refuelling an RAAF E-7 Wedgetail. In March 2016, No. 33 Squadron was awarded the Duke of Gloucester Cup as the RAAF's most proficient squadron of the previous year, as well as the RAAF Maintenance Trophy. The unit's sixth KC-30 was delivered to Amberley in September 2017 and the seventh in 2019. This aircraft has a VIP passenger-carrying capability augmenting its aerial refuelling role. The VIP aircraft is fitted with first class and business class seats as well as a conference room. In December 2018 Wing Commander Sarah Stalker assumed command of No. 33 Squadron, becoming the first woman appointed to lead a RAAF flying squadron in over a decade.
caption: No. 33 Squadron KC-30 prior to a joint operation over the Middle East with a USAF McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender, 2016
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