Aviation enthusiasts from around Australia and the world have converged on Williamtown to witness the action of a major air force training operation.
Plane spotters took to the roads around RAAF Base Williamtown on Friday morning to capture the climax of Operation Dawn Strike.
The operation is the culminating flying activity of the air force's Air Warfare Instructor Course.
The intensive six-month program enhances the preparedness and capability development of the air force's highly-skilled workforce.
The exercise simulated an operational scenario involving about 30 aircraft, providing a final opportunity for the newest Air Warfare Instructors to test their skills before they were welcomed back to RAAF Base Williamtown.
Local photographer Christopher John said the race was on to secure the best spots as thousands of people packed the area to secure the shot.
"I got here around 4:25am and still struggled to find a park," he said.
"Some people have even parked up overnight to secure their spot.
"The people parked up next to me have driven down from Coffs Harbour."
He said the number of people was extraordinary.
"There must be double the people from 2024," he said.
"Medowie Road is absolutely packed with people parked along the whole stretch to catch a bit of the action."
The photographer said he understood the exercise was based around a simulated defence of the air base from a "baddie force" including aircraft and naval forces located off the east coast.
Mr John said this was the second time he has photographed Operation Dawn Strike but he was an avid aviation photographer shooting the action from the base for a number of years.
"We didn't quite get the sun on them taking off this year, they left a little bit earlier, but there was certainly a lot of spectacular vapour from the moist atmosphere today," he said.
He said aviation enthusiasts have always had an interest in military aircraft but the improvement in camera technology meant that more and more people are able to capture "jaw-dropping" shots of the impressive aircraft.
"It brings a lot of people together from photographers who are seeking a spectacular shot to people who are former defence employees and people who are just interested in planes."
Mr John said among the aircraft were the Hunter F-35 fleet and Super Hornets from bases at Amberley and Tindal as well as larger aircraft like the Hercules and Poseidon models.
"Some of them kept quite low which was spectacular," he said.
"We had two Herculese fly in in tandem and one of the F-35's on take off stayed low and rocked his wings to wave at everyone."
Operation Dawn Strike was preceded by Operation Diamond Spear within the six-month training course.
Exercise Director Group Captain Andrew Hagstrom said the exercise placed personnel in a highly demanding and realistic battlespace.
"Candidates were presented with a realistic operational environment, including complex threats, the challenge of distance and the requirement to integrate multi-domain capabilities," group captain Hagstrom said.
The activity sharpened integration skills and prepared individuals to operate as effective warfighting professionals in challenging environments.
Scenarios developed the integrated force's ability to locate, track and hold maritime targets at risk, contributing to the ADF's Strategy of Denial.
"Exercise Diamond Spear emphasised the challenges of coordinating and delivering lethal and survivable long-range maritime strike," Group Captain Hagstrom said.
"This continued to develop the candidates' ability to coordinate a wide variety of integrated force capabilities, demonstrating the ADF's ability to hold adversaries at risk, at range."
