70 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com
Force
Report Australian Army Aviation Corps
the tactical employment of
army aviation is undertaken
by the SAA at Oakey.
HATS will replace bespoke army
and navy training systems with
a single organisation, known as
the Joint Helicopter School, using
Airbus Helicopters EC135s. The
JHS will be embedded within
the RAN’s 723 Squadron at
Nowra. Navy, army and Boeing
Defence Australia instructors will
be responsible for training the
aircrews. Although part of the
RAN’s order of battle, the JHS will
contain several army executive
and instructional positions. The
present AATTS contract will
be reviewed concurrently with
transition of training to the JHS.
Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
Australia acquired a total of 56 Bell
206B-1 Kiowa light observation
helicopters (A17-001 to 056),
with deliveries beginning in 1971.
The first 12 were assembled by
Bell Helicopters in Brisbane, but
the remainder were constructed
by the Commonwealth Aircraft
Corporation (CAC) in Melbourne
and designated CA-32.
A small number were operated
by the RAN but the survivors
were later transferred to the
army after the introduction
of the AS350B Squirrel.
Twenty-three remain in service
at the AAvnTC at Oakey, but
they are due for retirement in
- The fleet has recently been
upgraded with crashworthy seats
and a pseudo-glass cockpit.
The cockpit upgrade replaces
the attitude indicator and
horizontal situation indicator
with Sandel electronic analogue
displays similar in appearance
to the more complex glass
cockpit multifunction displays.
A dual Garmin GNS430W
global positioning system is
also added to supersede the
obsolete VHF omnidirectional
range (VOR) and marker beacon
system, and a Garmin GTX
330 transponder is replacing
the AN/IPX 72 identification
friend or foe (IFF) system.EC135T2+
Fifteen Airbus Helicopters
EC135T2+s (N52-001 to 015),
together with an aviation training
support vessel, are being
acquired under Joint Project9000 Phase 7 to meet the joint-
service HATS requirements.
Following the consideration of
proposals by Australian Aerospace
(EC135), Raytheon Australia and
Bell Helicopters (Bell 429), and
Boeing Defence Australia together
with Thales Australia (EC135),
it was formally announced that
the Boeing-led team was the
preferred tenderer in August 2014.
Although the JHS is part of
the RAN’s 723 Squadron, the
helicopters wear both army
and navy markings and the first
example arrived at Nowra in
March 2016. The final example
was delivered in August 2017
and training is expected tobegin early in 2018, following
course development activity.Unmanned
aircraft systems
The RQ-7B Shadow UAS was
acquired in 2010 under Joint
Project 129 Phase 2, to support
Australian troops in Afghanistan
as part of Operation Slipper.
The Shadow replaced a leased
Boeing/Insitu Pacific ScanEagle
UAS capability and is today flown
by the army’s 20th Surveillance
and Target Acquisition Regiment,
based almost entirely at Gallipoli
Barracks, Enoggera, but with a
small training element stationed
at Puckapunyal in Victoria toAbove: EC135T2+ ‘Taipan 4-2’ in the vicinity of Jervis Bay, New South Wales. Although assigned to the RAN’s 723
Squadron, these helicopters also wear army markings. POIS Kelvin Hockey/Commonwealth of Australia
Right: Six MRH90s are assigned to the RAN’s 808 Squadron based at Nowra and wear navy titles
although they are operated as a common pool. MRH90 A40-006 is conducting personnel transfers with a Royal
Australian Navy submarine. ABIS Sarah Ebsworth/Commonwealth of Australia
Left: Armament for the Tiger
ARH includes FZ 70mm unguided
rockets, unleashed here against a
ground target at the Mount Bundy
Training Area, Northern Territory, last
April. CFN Priyantha Malavi Arachchi/
Commonwealth of Australia
Right: Soldiers of the Air Mobility
Training and Development Unit guide
a CH-47F Chinook into
position for connection to a tether
while conducting external lift trials
with the Hawkei protected mobility
vehicle. Glen McCarthy/Commonwealth
of Australia