Airforces

64 // FEBRUARY 2018 #359 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

Force

Report

he Australian Army
Aviation Corps (AA Avn)
provides an aviation
reconnaissance, firepower support,
air mobility and battlefield support
and surveillance capability to
Australia’s land army and coalition
partners and is also evolving into
an amphibious force, capable
of operating from the Royal
Australian Navy’s two landing
helicopter dock (LHD) ships.
The operational units of
the AA Avn are controlled by
the 16th Aviation Brigade,
headquartered at Gallipoli
Barracks, Enoggera in Brisbane.
The brigade was formed in 2002
following the amalgamation of the

army’s Aviation Support Group

and the Aviation Unit within the 1st

Division, and oversees the 1st, 5th

and 6th Aviation Regiments (AVN

REGT or AVN), based in Darwin,

Townsville and Holsworthy.

The 1st Aviation Regiment at

Robertson Barracks in Darwin is

home to two units, the 161st and

162nd Reconnaissance Squadrons,

equipped with the Tiger Armed

Reconnaissance Helicopter

(ARH). The 5th Aviation Regiment

controls the army’s rotary-wing lift

capability and has three flying units

• A and B Squadrons (MRH90)
  and C Squadron (CH-47F). The
  6th Aviation Regiment currently
  has two units, the 171st and

173rd Aviation Squadrons,

which fly the Black Hawk on

domestic counter-terrorism

(CT) and training operations.

Army rotary-wing training is

overseen by Army Training

Command and at present is

mostly carried out at the Army

Aviation Training Centre (AAvnTC)

at Oakey, west of Brisbane. Basic

rotary-wing training is currently

performed on the locally built

Bell 206B-1 Kiowa as part of an

industry-contracted Army Aviation

Training and Training Support

(AATTS) programme, and role

training is undertaken by the

School of Army Aviation (SAA).

From 2019, however, army and

navy helicopter training will be

undertaken at HMAS Albatross

(Nowra) on the New South

Wales south coast under the

joint Helicopter Aircrew Training

System (HATS) programme.

The army is also an unmanned

aircraft systems (UAS) operator,

with hand-held small UAS (SUAS)

used by troops at

unit level, and

the AAI

T

Vigilance

Formed in 1968 with the motto ‘Vigilance’, the Australian Army Aviation Corps

currently operates over 120 helicopters spread across three operational

aviation regiments and a training organisation, as Nigel Pittaway describes.

Right: Australian Army soldiers of

the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian

Regiment deplane from a 5th Aviation

Regiment MRH90 Taipan during

Exercise Hamel 2014 at the Tolga

Turf Club near Atherton, Queensland.

Corporal Mark Doran/Commonwealth

of Australia

Australian Army Aviation Corps