Australian Army Aviation
| Australian Army Aviation | |
|---|---|
.gif) |
|
| Active | 1960 – Present |
| Country | Australia |
| Allegiance | Australian Army |
| Branch | Australian Regular Army |
| Type | Army aviation |
| Role |
Aerial warfare and |
| Insignia | |
| Badge |  |
| Roundel |  |
Aerial warfare and
Australian Army Aviation (AAAvn) is a corps of the Australian Army, and was formed on 1 July 1968 with a strength of 106 officer pilots, although it has a history dating back to 1911, when the Minister of Defence at the time, Senator George Pearce, decided there should be a flying school in the Defence Department. The motto of the Australian Army Aviation corps is Vigilance.
The Aviation Corps utilises soldiers from various other Army corps. The Royal Australian Corps of Transport trains and provides air dispatchers, while the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers trains aircraft structural fitters, who maintain aircraft life support equipment, and avionics technicians. Members of the Aviation Corps are entitled to wear a sky blue beret.
The design of the colour patch of the Australian Army Aviation Corps is based on the patch of the original Australian Army Flying Corps, from which the Aviation Corps was born. The three Aviation regiments have individual colour patches utilising the Corps patch. 1st Aviation Regiment's patch features a black rectangle in the centre of the Corps patch, 5th Aviation Regiment's patch features a black diamond in the centre, and 6th Aviation Regiment's patch includes a black oval.
Since November 2009 the Army's air assets are composed exclusively of rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters), the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operating Australian Defence Force's fixed-wing fleet. A limited number of fixed-wing aircraft were used by Aviation Corps, mostly in a surveillance role. A ceremony was held at RAAF Base Townsville on 20 November 2009 to transfer the last three fixed-wing aircraft from the Army to the RAAF.
The MRH 90 Taipan (Multi Role Helicopter 90, an Australian variant of the NHI NH90). The aircraft are designed for use in a troop-lift role. The first test flight of an MRH-90 was conducted at Eurocopter’s flight test centre in Marignane, France on 28 March 2007. The first 13 of the total of 46 helicopters had been delivered when the remaining aircraft were suspended until issues had been resolved. The first four being built in the main plant in France, the remainder built in Brisbane by Australian Aerospace. The MRH-90 was chosen ahead of the UH-60M Black Hawk. The MRH 90 Taipan is in service with the 5th Aviation Regiment.
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