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Australian Army Aviation Command

The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, AO, DSC, MVO, announced 02 December 2021 the establishment of a new Army Aviation Command, at a ceremonial parade and helicopter flyover at Blamey Square, Canberra. Lieutenant General Burr said the formation of the Army Aviation Command was a significant achievement for the Australian Army and the Australian Defence Force. "The alignment of Army's aviation capability under its own command optimises Army Aviation to better support land, amphibious and special operations," Lieutenant General Burr said.

"The Command will improve resilience and adaptability and ensure Army's training system is agile and contemporary. The unity, sense of purpose and focus in a single command will support our land forces to achieve more tasks, in more difficult environments. The command also represents the delivery of another key milestone set out in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update and 2020 Force Structure Plan."

Commanded by Major General Stephen Jobson, AM, CSC, Aviation Command will deliver aviation capability to support Army's land power to enable the Joint Force. "Aviation Command will coordinate the introduction into service of new helicopters and unmanned aerial systems, and enhance and assure the safety, effectiveness and sustainability of current aircraft," Major General Jobson said. "The changes to Army's aviation command and control structure will simplify the management of Army's helicopters—one of the most multifaceted and resource-intensive platforms used by the land forces."

The 16th Aviation Brigade and the Army Aviation Training Centre transfered from Army Forces Command to Aviation Command. Army's aviation capability provides aviation reconnaissance, firepower support, air assault, and battlefield support and surveillance, in combined, joint and interagency environments. Army operates various types of aircraft including the Boeing CH-47F Chinook, Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter, NH Industries MRH90 Taipan multi-role helicopter and leased civil light utility helicopter.

The 2020 Force Structure Plan investments expand the breadth of Army’s battlefield aviation capability through the delivery of a special operations helicopter capability and a new armed reconnaissance helicopter. Concurrently, Army is exploring options to deliver cost-effective battlefield aviation effects for domestic and regional support through industry partnerships and the total workforce. Protected, lethal and sustainable battlefield aviation allows the Joint Force to rapidly scale up the potency of deployed teams and contribute to disaster response.

Crewed and remotely piloted airborne platforms and capabilities are critical for land manoeuvre, by providing transport, battlefield support and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The Government will continue with its investments in key battlefield aviation capabilities including:

• Replacement of the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter from the mid-2020s;
• Procurement of a special operations rotary wing capability to meet the niche demands of special operations;
• Continued operation of a multi-role troop lift helicopter and the CH-47F Chinook multi-mission heavy-lift transport helicopter for the provision of mobility, logistic support and aeromedical evacuation of land forces; and
• Continued operation of tactical remotely piloted aerial vehicles to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of land forces.

The Government will introduce enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, including armed medium-altitude unmanned aircraft in the early 2020s, with regular capability upgrades to follow. The new armed medium-altitude unmanned aircraft will provide enhanced firepower and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to a range of missions including counter-terrorism missions overseas, while augmenting surveillance capability for search and rescue, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and other tasks.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton announced 11 December 2021 that the NH90 Taipan fleet will be replaced by Black Hawks and Sea Hawks built in the USA. Dutton confirmed that the government had applied to the US to buy up to 40 UH-60M Black Hawks for the army and 12 MH-60R Sea Hawks for the navy. Black Hawks are manufactured by Sikorsky, which is part of Lockheed Martin. The new Black Hawks and Sea Hawks will not be built in Australia and instead will be built in the USA. The Taipan has not delivered the capability which the ADF requires. The MRH90 helicopter fleet has not met contracted availability requirements nor the expected cost of ownership ahead of its planned withdrawal from service in 2037.

Despite efforts by the ADF and Airbus, MRH 90 availability had been an ongoing issue for the ADF since the helicopter entered service in 2007. A total of 46 aircraft were acquired through Project AIR 9000 Phases 2, 4, and 6 to initially complement and then replace the Australian Army’s Black Hawks, and the Royal Australian Navy’s Sea Kings, respectively. A 47th aircraft was accepted as part of a commercial settlement between the Commonwealth and Airbus. Many of the availability issues are reportedly attributable to European certification standards being different to those of the US from which the ADF sources most of its equipment, as well as difficulties in maintaining configuration management through the more than 40 different sub-variants of the baseline NH 90 helicopter.

Peter Dutton stated that: “The performance of the MRH90 Taipan has been an ongoing and well-documented concern for Defence and there has been a significant effort at great expense to try to remediate those issues,... It is critically important there is a safe, reliable and capable utility helicopter available for our servicemen and women into the future, with reasonable and predictable operating costs.”

With the Taipans beleaguered by problems for more than a decade the Government announced on 10 December 2021 that it was scoping the acquisition of 40 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters to replace the Australian Army’s 40 MRH-90 Taipan helicopters. The Minister for Defence, Peter Dutton, deemed the aircraft inefficient, expensive and unreliable asserting ‘they haven’t lived up to expectation’. According to Minister Dutton, since the aircraft entered service there had been nine occasions when flying operations ceased due to ongoing problems.