Australian Aviation — January 2018

62 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION

F

lying low over storm-tossed seas

off Newcastle, NSW special forces

soldiers aboard a Navy Seahawk

helicopter launched from frigate

HMAS Stuart eyed their target and at

the chosen moment, fast-roped onto

the deck of the North Korean freighter

MV Pong Su.

At the same time, other special

forces boarded the ship from inflatable

boats. They speedily seized control,

ending a chase which started four days

earlier after police intercepted 125kg

of heroin dumped from the ship onto

the Victorian coast.

A year later, in April 2004, halfway

across the world, a Seahawk, also from

HMAS Stuart, assisted in the rescue

of a group of American sailors, whose

small boat had been blown up in a

maritime terrorist attack on Iraqi oil

facilities at the top of the Persian Gulf.

Then in 2011, a Seahawk – again

flying from HMAS Stuart which

certainly seems to partake in its share

of interesting operations – played

a central role in the rescue of three

crewmen of a Yemini dhow which had

been seized by Somali pirates.

That’s just three of the many

incidents in which Sikorsky S-70B-2

Seahawks have been involved in a

long and distinguished career in Royal

Australian Navy service.

Whether it’s bushfire and flood

in Australia, rescues at sea such as

the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht

race or interception of drug and

weapon smuggling vessels in seas

between Pakistan and east Africa, the

Seahawks have been there.

But before any pilot took the

controls of a Seahawk, he or she

learned to fly helicopters at the

controls of the Aerospatiale (now

Airbus Helicopters) AS350 BA

Squirrel, an aircraft which has served

in all three services in peace and war

for more than three decades.

Now both types have officially

retired from service, farewelled at

a ceremony conducted at HMAS

Albatross at Nowra, NSW on

December 1.

Seahawk ‘Bravos’ and Squirrels

conducted a flypast, along with their

replacement, the Sikorsky-Lockheed

Martin MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’

and the Airbus Helicopters EC135.

This was a moving occasion for

the young and older pilots, engineers

and maintainers, for both types have

departed with proud records.

Sixteen Seahawks were purchased

and that’s how many are retiring.

“We have never lost one. Whilst

you will find those sorts of statistics

for VIP jets and utility machines

and the like I can’t find another

example with an aircraft that was

brought into service for combat

operations,” said Commodore Chris

Smallhorn, commander of the Fleet

Air Arm (COMFAA) and a former

commanding officer of 816 Squadron

which operated the Seahawks.

“You don’t need combat operations

to make mistakes at sea because it

is so very unforgiving, with a deck

moving around, particularly at night

time and at times in the most extreme

of weather conditions. Clearly that is

a credit to the airframe and its design

and Sikorsky. Importantly it is a credit

to the sailors, officers, public servants

The Squirrel would be

operated by all three arms of

the ADF.DEFENCE

Bravo Zulu