Aussie Air Transport Thread

Well since the C-17 thread was going way off topic, here’s the thread where we can all talk about this need in one hit, to kick off here’s some news for everyone that was mentioned but I never confirmed untill now.

The Government has acknoledged that the navy’s fleet of ageing Westland Seaking Mk.50’s is of a paramount nature.

Funds are being sort for a sizable replacement in the 06/07 budget but questions are arrising as to how long a replacement is going to take to get into service.

If the helos (naval veriants of the MRH-90 already on order for the army) were ordered in this budget, we would not see an in service date for at least four years. The earliest we’d be looking at is 2011 for the Seaking fleet to finally be paid off.

Many are calling the decission to buy the army’s 12 examples a joke while the navy are waiting to fall out of the sky in their work horses. The army doesn’t really need the 12 new helo’s that soon as the Blackhawks are still fit for service. So why is it taking so long for the navy to get their machines?

Under Air 9000 Phase 4 and phase 6, the ADF will replace both the Blackhawks of the army and the Seakings of the navy respectivly. Questions are starting to be asked as to why these two requirements can’t be combined for a one hit solution.

Further adding to the Air 9000 deal, more CH-47’s may be aquired in light of the recent Airlift across the board review for the ADF. The current fleet of six CH-47D which are about to be upgraded, is being viewed as being too small for our needs and it is with great haste that a report is being put together for recommendation to the government.

It must be noted that any new Chinooks bought will not be of the same standard as those currently in service as we have rather old models now, even with the upgrade being done the D model has long been surpassed by the F and G models. Thus remains the question as to wether the ADF will buy old examples or new ones and have the old ones upgraded to a similar standard.

So basically what was said in the other thread about buying more chinooks in order to help aleviate the Caribou tasking is about to happen. Though if this does go through, questions remain as to when the DHC-4 replacement will come about and how many of the type will be acquired.