Air Force personnel gather for a group photo outside the Australian maintenance hangar at Manas in Afghanistan.

The Royal Australian Air Force presence in Afghanistan has commenced flying operations, with Australian 707 Air-to-Air Refuellers refuelling the French Mirage 2000-D aircraft and the FA-18 aircraft from the US Navy and United States Marine Corps.

According to Military Public Affairs Adviser, BRIG Mike Hannan, the first and second missions included a day and night sortie, with Air Force tankers successfully refuelling a number of FA-18 aircraft from the US Navy.

'Something of a success story has been the deployment of the maintenance and logistics crews with the aircraft. These have allowed the airframes to be operated around the clock,' said BRIG Hannan.

Meanwhile, Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Hill announced that the Air Force FA-18 aircraft on Diego Garcia will complete their deployment in mid-year and return to Australia.