Australian Army Chinooks have returned to Afghanistan, with the deployment of two of the heavylift helicopters to Kandahar Air Base.
Supporting International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations, the CH-47Ds from Townsville’s 5th Aviation Regiment, which form the Rotary Wing Group (RWG) will be embedded with the US Army’s 159th Combat Aviation Brigade, and have already conducted trial missions and maintenance to ensure both helicopters and crew are well for the coming Afghan summer.
The Rotary Wing Group last returned to Australia in October 2010 to break for the Afghan winter and undertake mandatory maintenance on the Chinooks. During that deployment, aircrews completed over 737 flying hours and moved in excess of 691,000 kg of supplies.
The Australian Army first deployed Chinooks to Afghanistan in 2006.
