As the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) aligns many of its capabilities
with the US, its fl ight-test community
has needed to adapt in order to meet
a new era of requirements to remain
relevant and valuable.REPORT Roy Choo
types such as the Spit re, Beau ghter and
Boomerang, while also having the chance
to conduct clandestine evaluations of
captured Japanese Ki-43 ‘Oscar’ and
Ki-61 ‘Tony’ ghters in order to develop
counter-tactics.
Post-war, the unit’s remit expanded
signi cantly, both technically and
geographically. Re-formed as the ARDU in
September 1947, specialist detachments
were set up in RAAF Bases Mallala and
Edinburgh, both in South Australia,
supporting long-range weapons testing
and aircraft ight trials, respectively, whileT
HE MOTTO OF the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF)
ight-test unit is ‘Prove to
accomplish’. The Aircraft
Research and Development
Unit (ARDU) celebrated
its 75th anniversary in 2018, and has
continually evaluated both aircraft and
weaponry for the RAAF — ensuring
both operational e ectiveness and
relevance. In recent years, the role of
the ARDU has evolved to encompass
both development testing and the
front-end operational test before aparticular item is handed across to the
war ghting units.ARDU history
The origin of the ARDU stems from a
need to bridge a gap between Australia’s
emerging aircraft industry and the
RAAF, with its precursor — the Special
Duties and Performance Flight — being
established in December 1941 at RAAF
Base Laverton, Victoria. The unit was
renamed No 1 Air Performance Unit in
December 1943 and during World War
Two it conducted important trials withARDU operated
this F/A-18A for
trials of the Joint
Direct Attack
Munition —
Extended Range
(JDAM-ER). The
wing kit fi tted to
the JDAM was
a joint project
between Boeing
and Australia’s
Defence Science
and Technology
Organisation.
Commonwealth of
Australia70 September 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
70-75 Australian Flight test C.indd 70 18/07/2019 13:56