December 10

What happened on December 10 in aviation and space history.

• December 10, 2018

  Australia's first two F-35A arrive at Williamtown

  Milestone — F-35As A35-009 and A35-010, of No. 3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force, landed at Williamtown in New South Wales a week after leaving Luke Air Force Base. Australia became the seventh nation with Lightning IIs stationed on its own soil. The country had approved the first batch in 2009 and confirmed the full seventy-two aircraft in 2014.

• December 10, 2021

  Finland selects the F-35A at the end of the HX competition

  Institutional — The Finnish government announced the purchase of sixty-four F-35As to replace its F/A-18 Hornets, closing the HX competition in which the Rafale, Typhoon, Gripen and Super Hornet had also competed. The contract, worth some 8.4 billion euros, was the largest military acquisition in the country's history and was decided while Finland was still not a NATO member.

• December 10, 2022

  Fire and loss of the B-2 Spirit «Spirit of Hawaii»

  Accident — On 10 December 2022 the B-2 «Spirit of Hawaii», of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, suffered a hydraulic failure that caused the main landing gear to collapse and sparked a fire upon returning to base. With damage estimated at roughly $300 million, the Air Force judged repair uneconomical and confirmed the aircraft's permanent retirement, reducing the fleet to 19 airframes.