The

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

currently maintains three bare bases in remote areas of

Northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Queensland that lie p ...

. These bases were developed in the 1980s and 1990s in line with the Defence of Australia Policy to enhance the RAAF's ability to conduct combat operations from the Australian mainland. As front line bases, the bare bases are well provisioned with bunkers and other defensive facilities and have the capability to support the RAAF's combat aircraft during wartime. During peacetime the bare bases are maintained by a small caretaker staff drawn from No. 322 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron. Flying and support units are not permanently stationed at bare bases. The bases are occasionally activated during exercises with flying and support units deploying from other RAAF bases to staff the base for the duration of the exercise. In December 2008

RAAF Learmonth RAAF Base Learmonth, also known as Learmonth Airport , is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force base and civil airport. It is located near the town of Exmouth on the north-west coast of Western Australia. RAAF Base Learmonth is one of the RAA ...

was rapidly activated to support border protection patrols conducted by

Lockheed AP-3C Orion The Lockheed AP-3C Orion is a variant of the P-3 Orion used by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for tasks such as naval fleet support, maritime surveillance, search and survivor supply and anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare. The 18 AP ...

s. During this period more than 200 personnel were stationed at the base. The RAAF maintains caches of catering equipment, bedding and defence stores at each of the bare bases so that they can be rapidly activated. The size of these caches was reduced by 25 percent in 2012, and the RAAF's newspaper ''Air Force'' stated that the service was considering storing all the supplies at a central location in the future. In October 2013 it was reported that the caches were in the process of being centralised. Once the process is complete supplies will be flown or driven to the bases when they are activated. The three bare bases are: * RAAF Base Scherger near

Weipa, Queensland Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is mainly invol ...

RAAF Base Curtin RAAF Base Curtin, also sometimes RAAF Curtin is a joint use Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military air base and civil airport located southeast of the town of Derby on the north coast of Western Australia in Australia. As it is one of the ...

near

Derby, Western Australia Derby ( ) is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the 2016 census, Derby had a population of 3,325 with 47.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns ...

* RAAF Base Learmonth near

Exmouth, Western Australia Exmouth is a town on the tip of the North West Cape and on Exmouth Gulf in Western Australia, north of the state capital Perth and southwest of Darwin. The town was established in 1967 to support the nearby United States Naval Communica ...

RAAF Tindal near Katherine, Northern Territory, was maintained as a bare base for a number of years before being upgraded in 1988 to a permanent operational base for No. 75 Squadron's F/A-18s.

References

Further reading