page_title: Australian Army Aviation
section_title: Current equipment
hierarchical_section_title: Australian Army Aviation / Equipment / Current equipment
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian Army Eurocopter Tiger ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) Photographed at Avalon Airport, Australia, 2005.
context_page_description: Australian Army Aviation is a corps of the Australian Army. It was formed on 1 July 1968, 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.
  In August 2018, the Corps consisted of 140 aircraft, 1495 uniformed personnel and over 3000 personnel engaged in industry support.
  AAAvn units also utilise soldiers from various other Army corps. The Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers trains aeronautical engineers, structural fitters, technicians, life support staff and avionics technicians, while the Royal Australian Corps of Transport trains and provides air dispatchers and drivers. As with many other Army units, a wide range of qualified personnel fill roles within the regiments.
  Members of the Aviation Corps are entitled to wear a sky blue beret with the Corps or Regiment badge. Members of other corps posted to AAAvn units wear the sky blue beret with their parent corps badge.
context_section_description: 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 were delivered when the remaining aircraft were suspended until issues had been resolved. The MRH-90 was listed as a Project of Concern by the Australian Government on 28 November 2011 due to operational capability concerns. The first four were 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 and 6th Aviation Regiment.
  The Tiger ARH (Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter) was designed to provide significant reconnaissance and fire support in a combined arms team and is equipped with Hellfire missiles, 70 mm rockets and cannons. 22 Tigers will be delivered to the Army under the AIR 87 Project, built at the Australian Aerospace Brisbane facility.
   The Tiger ARH achieved Final Operational Capability on 14 April 2016 originally planned for June 2009 and is in service with the 1st Aviation Regiment.
  The S-70A-9 Black Hawk is operated by the 171st Aviation Squadron  in the 6th Aviation Regiment. Its role is to provide support to Special Operations Command. The Black Hawks were manufactured in Australia by Hawker de Havilland, under licence from Sikorsky. As of 2015, 34 are in service.
  The CH-47D Chinook is operated by C Squadron, 5 Aviation Regiment. C Squadron was raised on the Army order of battle in June 1995, on the return of the Chinooks to Australia after re-manufacture by Boeing USA. The Chinooks' primary role is logistic and battlefield support. They can also be used in the troop-lift role. The current fleet of seven CH-47Ds have been replaced by 7 new CH-47Fs, the first of which was delivered in May 2015.
  The EC135 T2+ is operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and Boeing Defence Australia at 723 Squadron, HMAS Albatross. The EC135 is a twin-engine light utility helicopter used primarily for aircrew training but has been deployed on operations. All new Army Aviation aircrew are trained on the EC135.
caption: An Australian Army Tiger helicopter
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