Exercise Dawn Strike 2026

26th June 2026. Exercise Dawn Strike. The RAAF's Air Warfare Instructor Course (AWIC) final exam known as "Exercise Dawn Strike" involves a large number of RAAF assets to push senior combat pilots to their limits. This year I got up at rather chilly 0500hrs I made my way to Williamtown Airforce Base to be confronted by massive crowds of people also wanting to see the departure are re-arrival of the fleet. Rather than taking my DSLR this year I chose to take my Panasonic HC VXF1 Handheld video camera in 4k mode. The sheer volume of cars meant that despite my early arrival, I was still parked some distance from the runway centreline, and so walked to the viewing area having abandoned my plan to use a tripod on the roof of my car with a stepladder. As a result, all footage was shot handheld by cold hands with mixed results. My lower position also meant that autofocus was stolen by passing cars, higher mounted observers etc, and so I would consider using the front ring control for manual focus next time. Aircraft covered: F-35 Lightning II's, SuperHornets, Growlers, a C-17, two C130s in formation, a C27 Spartan, a Poseidon, a MRTT tanker, and a Wedgetail. The weather began to close in as the heavies arrived, with rain falling as the Wedgetail was arriving.