Page 32 - Australian Defence Magazine May 2022

32 DEFENCE BUSINESS PLAN CORELLA
MAY 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Toll has taken a novel approach to the AICH contract, with the helicopters being operated on the civil register under CASA regulation when used by company pilots in the training role, but under state regulations when Army pilots are in command. Toll is responsible for initial train- ing and ongoing pilot training on the AW139 and provides the full suite of engineering support for
FLOOD RELIEF WORK
A secondary role for the two AW139s is to provide support for Army and Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) ef- forts and at the time of writing, both helicopters were deployed to the field in support of flood relief work on the east coast.
The helicopters are working alongside Army MRH 90 and CH-47F Chinooks as part of Task Group 629.3 on Operation Flood Assist 2022. The pair are tasked by the aviation desk in a simi- lar manner to their counterparts, initially de- ploying to Oakey and later to Enoggera Bar-
racks in Brisbane.
“They are providing real effect to the Lis-
more and Ballina area and to south east Queensland. There are a lot of veterans in Toll that have served in Army Aviation and we can relate closely to what the guys need. It’s been really great to integrate as a team, you can’t see where Toll ends and Army starts, we’re op-
erating hand in glove with them,” Walker explained.
“The other benefit of having AICH available is it frees up a ‘green’ helicopter to go out and do the heavier lift- ing of flood support. The AW139 is perfectly suited to the command and liaison task of moving people around as the
operation goes on.”
ABOVE: An AW139 prepares to depart RAAF Base Amberley during Operation Flood Assist 2022
the helicopters, but Army task them as and where required.
“We’re seeing very good serviceability rates and we’re meeting or exceeding all of the expected rate of effort requirements,” Walker said.
“AICH answered an immediate require- ment of the capability to generate hours for our pilots and aircrewman to ensure curren- cy and proficiency at a time of lower-than- expected availability from our operational fleets,” Director of Aviation Capability Man- agement, Colonel Hayden Archibald detailed.
“The contract was put in place quickly and has more than delivered on its potential. In fact, it has delivered so well, we are keen to explore future opportunities in the commercial aircraft space so that we can focus our com- bat ready force on the high-end combat missions whilst ensuring that we can meet all of Government’s needs for aviation utility support as Army transitions to new plat- forms in the coming years. The AW139 provides us with these options”.
“THE HELICOPTERS WERE ACQUIRED UNDER THE ARMY INTERIM COMMERCIAL HELICOPTER (AICH) CONTRACT, ALSO KNOWN AS PLAN CORELLA”
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