82 Wing operated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II.

In 2010, the wing retired its F-111s and replaced them with Super Hornets as an interim force until the planned entry into Australian service of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

82 (Heavy Bomber) Wing—the RAAF's first such wing—was formed at Ballarat, Victoria, on 25 August 1944, under the command of Group Captain Deryck Kingwell.

Based at Fenton Airfield, the wing's aircraft sank seven Japanese ships in the Dutch East Indies during March.

Anti-aircraft fire from the cruiser and other ships, as well as attacks by enemy fighters, resulted in the loss of two Liberators, and the crews' standard of aerial gunnery was criticised afterwards.

82 Wing's Liberators played both a tactical and a strategic role in the Borneo Campaign, beginning with the lead-up to Operation Oboe One, the invasion of Tarakan on 1 May 1945.

During that month a detachment relocated from Fenton to Morotai, attacking targets in Celebes and Balikpapan prior to Operation Oboe Six, the invasion of Labuan.

[9][10] In June, while the final Allied offensive of the Borneo Campaign got under way as Operation Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan, the remainder of No.

[11] In the middle of the month the wing dropped 120 tons of bombs on Balikpapan's oil fields and surrounding areas, as well as coastal defence sites.

[9] During July it bombed targets at Celebes and Borneo, losing five Liberators for the month, including that of its new commanding officer, Group Captain Donald McLean.

McLean died with most of his crew after being hit by anti-aircraft fire and ditching into the sea, a notoriously risky operation in the Liberator owing to the fuselage's tendency to break in two upon striking the water.

1 Squadron were deployed for service in the Malayan Emergency, tasked with the prime responsibility for the Commonwealth's bombing campaign against Communist insurgents.

[27] The new bombers were acquired partly for their capacity to deliver nuclear weapons, an ordnance option the RAAF seriously investigated but never implemented.

82 Wing's Canberras were slated for possible bombing and reconnaissance tasks against Indonesian forces under Operation Handover, a little-publicised contingency plan put into effect during the Indonesia–Malaysia Konfrontasi, although no combat ensued.

2 Squadron Canberras saw extensive action in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1971, under the control of the USAF's 35th Tactical Fighter Wing.

The Canberras flew almost 12,000 sorties and delivered over 76,000 pounds of bombs, for the loss of two aircraft to enemy action, and gained a high reputation for their accuracy.

1 and 6 Squadrons effectively ceased operations in 1968, while their crews underwent conversion to the General Dynamics F-111C swing-wing bomber, which was expected to enter service soon afterwards.

2 Squadron continued to operate the Canberra, mainly for aerial survey work in Australia and Indonesia, until disbanding in 1982.

[39] Read ordered Newham to operate the F-111 with great caution initially, well within limits, lest the controversial aircraft suffer greater damage to its reputation through early attrition.

82 Wing, the F-111 underwent numerous upgrades, including the Pave Tack infra-red and laser-guided precision weapons targeting system, Harpoon anti-shipping missiles, and advanced digital avionics.

82 Wing was awarded the Duke of Gloucester Cup as most proficient RAAF unit of 1994, in part for its success in introducing the F-111G with minimal additional staff.

[45] Alan Stephens, in the official history of the post-war Air Force, described the F-111 as "the region's pre-eminent strike aircraft" and the RAAF's most important acquisition.

Both F-111 squadrons were deployed to RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, to support the international forces, and remained there until December.

From 20 September, when INTERFET began to arrive in East Timor, the aircraft were maintained at a high level of readiness to conduct reconnaissance flights or air strikes if the situation deteriorated.

82 Wing's role was reiterated as "precision strike and reconnaissance"; the Forward Air Control Development Unit (FACDU), flying Pilatus PC-9s, was added to its strength.

[52][53] The merger of TFG and SRG was designed to position the Air Force to replace both the F-111 and the F/A-18 with a single Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

[54] In 2007, the Australian government decided to retire all of the F-111s by 2010, and acquire 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets as an interim replacement, pending the arrival of the F-35 Lightning II JSF then under development.

5 Flight, which was responsible for training personnel to operate the RAAF's two IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles based at Kandahar in Afghanistan.

The RAAF hoped to be able to sell off its Super Hornets "with very low kilometres on the clock" by 2020, but this would depend on delivery of the replacement F-35s.

[64] The following month, the Federal government announced plans to purchase twelve Boeing EA-18G Growlers to supplement the Super Hornet fleet.