Australian Army Aviation
Australian Army Aviation, formed as a corps on 1 July 1968 out of a joint Army–RAAF light aircraft squadron and the Vietnam-era 161 Reconnaissance Flight, took over the RAAF’s battlefield helicopters in 1989, lost 18 men in the 1996 Black Hawk collision and four more in the 2023 Taipan crash, and in 2026 is halfway through the most complete re-equipment in its history: Tiger and Taipan gone, AH-64E Apaches and UH-60M Black Hawks arriving, and CH-47F Chinooks carrying the heavy loads.
The Australian Army Aviation story: spotters in Korea, a recce flight in Vietnam and the switch from Tiger and Taipan to Apache and Black Hawk
1912–1960: the Flying Corps, then a long gap filled by artillery spotters
Army aviators like to trace their line back to the Australian Flying Corps, approved by the Minister for Defence on 20 September 1912, which flew its first aircraft at Point Cook on 1 March 1914 and sent four squadrons to the First World War. But in 1921 the corps became the core of the new Royal Australian Air Force, and for four decades the Army owned no aircraft. What survived was the idea of the Air Observation Post: artillery officers flying light aircraft to spot for the guns. A wartime AOP flight was formally disbanded in 1947, but five Australians flew with the British 1903 AOP Flight in Korea, where Captain Joe Luscombe of the Royal Australian Artillery was killed on 5 June 1952. A small 1 Army Aviation Company formed at Bankstown in 1957 and swapped its Auster Mk IIIs for Cessna 180As in 1958. It was a foothold, not a force.
1960–1972: 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron, 161 Recce Flight and the corps of 1968
The foothold became a unit on 1 December 1960, when 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron formed at RAAF Amberley as a joint Army and Air Force squadron under Wing Commander Ken Robertson, flying Cessna 180s and Bell 47G-2 Sioux helicopters. In July 1965 it raised 161 Reconnaissance Flight for Vietnam. The flight reached Vung Tau on 28 September 1965 and flew its first operational sortie on 22 October; over almost seven years, with Cessnas, Sioux, Pilatus Turbo-Porters, borrowed O-1 Bird Dogs and leased OH-58As, it flew more than 72,000 hours of reconnaissance, liaison and artillery spotting, and lost three pilots. At home the squadron became the 1st Aviation Regiment in 1967, and on 1 July 1968 the Australian Army Aviation Corps was formed with 106 officers. A year later, on 1 July 1969, the Army took over the airfield at Oakey, which has been its aviation home ever since.
1972–1989: Kiowas, Nomads and the fight for the helicopters
After Vietnam the corps settled into a peacetime routine of survey support and training. The Bell 206B-1 Kiowa, 56 of them assembled largely by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation, replaced the Sioux from 1972; the GAF Nomad and the Turbo-Porter made up a small fixed-wing fleet. The School of Army Aviation formed at Oakey in 1972. The Nomad was the weak point: a crash near Drake, New South Wales, on 9 September 1991 killed four, and in 1995 every Nomad was withdrawn on airworthiness grounds. The real argument of the period was about helicopters. The RAAF had flown the troop-lift Iroquois, including in Vietnam, and the Army wanted them under its own command. On 20 November 1986 the Chiefs of Staff Committee agreed to transfer the battlefield helicopter fleet to the Army, and in January 1988 the first 14 people began raising the 5th Aviation Regiment at Townsville.
1989–2008: Black Hawks, peacekeeping and the night of 12 June 1996
In 1989 the RAAF’s No. 9 Squadron, with the new S-70A-9 Black Hawk, became A Squadron of the 5th Aviation Regiment, and No. 35 Squadron’s Iroquois became B Squadron. Chinooks followed in mid-1995, rebuilt to CH-47D standard. The Black Hawk gave the Army its first real reach overseas: six went to the UN mission in Cambodia in 1993, five to Bougainville in 1994, and Black Hawks and Kiowas were among the first forces into East Timor in September 1999. The worst night came first. On 12 June 1996, during a special forces counter-terrorism exercise at the High Range Training Area near Townsville, two Black Hawks collided: 15 members of the Special Air Service Regiment and three of the 5th Aviation Regiment were killed. Fourays records that the investigation led to cockpit voice and flight data recorders being fitted.
2001–2023: the European bet — Tiger and Taipan
At the turn of the century Australia bought European. The Eurocopter Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopter, 22 ordered on 21 December 2001, was to give the corps a real attack helicopter; the NH Industries MRH 90 Taipan, selected in August 2004 and eventually ordered 46-strong with six for the Navy, was to replace the Black Hawk. Neither went as planned. The Tiger’s acquisition agency stopped payments in July 2007 over delays, and it reached full operating capability only on 18 April 2016. The Taipan suffered engine, transmission and windscreen problems and repeated groundings. Meanwhile the old fleet kept fighting: Chinooks flew in Iraq in 2003 and in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2013, where one crashed in May 2011, killing Lieutenant Marcus Case, and another was destroyed in a hard landing in 2012. The Iroquois left in 2007, the fixed-wing aircraft in 2009 and the Kiowa in 2019.
2023–2026: Apache, UH-60M and a reckoning with safety
In January 2021 the government chose 29 AH-64E Apaches to replace the Tiger, and that December it decided to replace the Taipan with the UH-60M Black Hawk, 40 of which were announced in January 2023; the last S-70A-9s had retired on 10 December 2021. Then, on the night of 28 July 2023, a 6th Aviation Regiment Taipan crashed into the sea off the Whitsundays during Exercise Talisman Sabre, killing Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Max Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock and Corporal Alexander Naggs. Four months after a Taipan had ditched in Jervis Bay, the defence minister, Richard Marles, announced on 29 September 2023 that the type would never fly again. The UH-60M had begun arriving in August 2023, the first Apaches settled at Townsville, and the Tiger flew its farewell over Darwin in September 2026. The inquiries are not finished: in September 2026 a Senate committee recommended an independent review of the Defence Flight Safety Bureau’s report into the crash.
The Australian Army Aviation in numbers
Service
- Official name
- Australian Army AviationThe corps is formally the Australian Army Aviation Corps. Australia has no other official language, so there is no other official name; the name follows the current English Wikipedia article title. Motto: Vigilance
- Founded
- 1 July 1968Corps formed with 106 officers. Predecessors: 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron (1 December 1960) and the Air Observation Post flights; the Fourays history of Army aviation begins with the Australian Flying Corps of 1912
- Part of
- Australian ArmyThe flying regiments sit under the 16th Aviation Brigade, raised on 2 April 2002 at Enoggera
- Headquarters
- Enoggera Barracks, BrisbaneHQ 16th Aviation Brigade. Training is centred on the Army Aviation Centre at Oakey, Queensland
- Commander
- Brig. Fern ThompsonCommander 16th Aviation Brigade according to Wikipedia; appointment date not confirmed on an official page
- Chief of Army
- Lt Gen. Susan CoyleHead of the Australian Army
Strength
- Personnel
- About 1,500 uniformed1,495 uniformed personnel and more than 3,000 in industry support in August 2018, the last figure found; no newer official total was reachable
- Attack helicopters
-
- AH-64E Apache Guardian — 6 delivered of 29 ordered (September 2026)
The 22 Tiger ARH were retired in September 2026. The Apaches are based at Townsville
- Utility helicopters
-
- UH-60M Black Hawk — about 15–17 delivered by mid-2025 of 40 ordered
Sources differ on the 2025 count: Wikipedia’s Black Hawk article says about 15, its Australian Army article 17. All 40 are due by 2030
- Heavy-lift helicopters
-
- CH-47F Chinook — 14
C Squadron, 5th Aviation Regiment, Townsville; delivered 2015–2022
- Training helicopters
-
- H135T3 Juno — 5 leased from the UK (Oakey)
- EC135T2+ — 15 at the joint Army–Navy school, Nowra
The EC135s belong to the Navy’s 723 Squadron and train both services’ pilots
- Unmanned aircraft
-
- RQ-7B Shadow 200
- Wasp AE
- PD-100 Black Hornet
Operated by the 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, which belongs to the 16th Aviation Brigade. Numbers in service not confirmed; 18 Shadow air vehicles were bought
Infrastructure
- Flying bases
-
- Oakey — Army Aviation Training Centre, H135 Juno
- RAAF Base Townsville — 5th Aviation Regiment; 1st Aviation Regiment HQ and Apaches since 2025
- Holsworthy (Luscombe airfield), Sydney — 6th Aviation Regiment
- Robertson Barracks, Darwin — 1st Aviation Regiment (Tiger to 2026)
Pilots also train at HMAS Albatross, Nowra
- Former bases
-
- RAAF Amberley — 16 ALA Squadron from 1960
- Bankstown — 1 Army Aviation Company, 1957
- Vung Tau, South Vietnam — 161 Reconnaissance Flight from 1965
Oakey replaced Amberley from 1969
- Regiments
- 3 aviation regiments1st (armed reconnaissance), 5th (transport and heavy lift), 6th (special operations), plus the 16th Aviation Support Battalion and the 20th Regiment RAA with drones
- Fixed-wing aircraft
- None since 2009The last King Air B350s went to the RAAF at the end of 2009
- Museum
- Australian Army Flying Museum, OakeyFree entry, Wednesday to Saturday
How the Australian Army Aviation is organised
A corps of the Australian Army whose flying units sit under the 16th Aviation Brigade at Enoggera Barracks, Brisbane: the 1st, 5th and 6th Aviation Regiments, the 16th Aviation Support Battalion and the drone-flying 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, with training at Oakey. In 2026 the fleet is halfway through its renewal: the Tiger retired in September with six of 29 AH-64E Apaches at Townsville, UH-60M Black Hawks are replacing the grounded MRH 90 Taipan, and 14 CH-47F Chinooks carry the heavy loads. The Army has flown no fixed-wing aircraft since its last King Air B350s went to the RAAF at the end of 2009.
16th Aviation Brigade
The formation that commands the flying regiments of the Australian Army Aviation Corps, raised on 2 April 2002 at Enoggera Barracks, Brisbane. Wikipedia names Brigadier Fern Thompson as commander; her appointment date could not be confirmed on an official page. Besides the three aviation regiments it holds the 16th Aviation Support Battalion and the 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, with the Army’s drones.
1st Aviation Regiment
The armed reconnaissance regiment. Its headquarters and 161 Reconnaissance Squadron moved from Robertson Barracks, Darwin, to RAAF Base Townsville in 2025 to receive the AH-64E Apache; the ABC reported six of the 29 ordered there in September 2026. 162 Reconnaissance Squadron flew the Tiger from Darwin until its farewell in September 2026; its future after the Tiger was not confirmed.
5th Aviation Regiment
Raised at Townsville from January 1988, when the RAAF’s battlefield helicopters passed to the Army. B Squadron flies the UH-60M Black Hawk and C Squadron the 14 CH-47F Chinooks; about 15 to 17 of the 40 UH-60Ms ordered had been delivered by mid-2025, according to Wikipedia.
6th Aviation Regiment
Raised on 1 March 2008 to give the special forces their own helicopters, after the inquiry into the Black Hawk crash on HMAS Kanimbla in 2006. Its 171st and 173rd Aviation Squadrons fly the UH-60M, which replaced the MRH 90 Taipan after a 173rd Squadron aircraft crashed off the Whitsundays on 28 July 2023, killing four.
Army Aviation Training Centre
Formed at Oakey in 1998 and transferred to Army Aviation Command in 2021, with the School of Army Aviation and the Rotary-wing Aircraft Maintenance School. Five H135T3 Junos leased from the UK have been based there since 2024; Army pilots also train on 15 EC135T2+ at the joint school in the Navy’s 723 Squadron at HMAS Albatross, Nowra.
20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery
The artillery regiment of the 16th Aviation Brigade that flies the Army’s drones: the RQ-7B Shadow 200, of which 18 air vehicles were bought and which flew in Afghanistan from May 2012, the Wasp AE and the PD-100 Black Hornet. Numbers in service and the regiment’s base are not given in the sources for this page.
What the Australian Army Aviation flies today
Every type on charge, linked to its Book of Beasts page where one exists. Counts are aircraft on the books, not aircraft available on a given day.
| Type | Role | In service | Since | Units | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing AH-64E Apache GuardianIn service | Attack and reconnaissance helicopter | 6 | 2025 | Six delivered and based at Townsville by September 2026 (ABC); 29 ordered. | ||
| Sikorsky UH-60M Black HawkIn service | Utility and special operations helicopter | 17 | 2023 | About 15 (Wikipedia, Black Hawk article) to 17 (Wikipedia, Australian Army article) delivered by mid-2025; 40 ordered, all due by 2030. A 2026 count was not confirmed. | ||
| Boeing CH-47F ChinookIn service | Heavy-lift helicopter | 14 | 2015 | Seven delivered April–September 2015, three in June 2016, two in July 2021 and two in June 2022. | ||
| Airbus Helicopters H135T3 JunoIn service | Training and light utility helicopter | 5 | 2024 | Leased from the UK Ministry of Defence for five years. | ||
| Airbus Helicopters EC135T2+In service | Basic helicopter trainer (joint with the Navy) | 15 | 2018 | Navy-owned, shared with the Army. | ||
| Textron (AAI) RQ-7B Shadow 200In service | Tactical unmanned aircraft | 18 | 2012 | 18 air vehicles bought; number in service in 2026 not confirmed. | ||
| AeroVironment Wasp AE and FLIR PD-100 Black HornetIn service | Small unmanned aircraft |
On order
| Type | Ordered | First delivery | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing AH-64E Apache GuardianOn order | 23 | 29 ordered, six delivered by September 2026; the ABC reports the rest by the end of 2029 within a A$4.5 billion programme. Full operating capability is planned for 2028. | ||
| Sikorsky UH-60M Black HawkOn order | 23 | 2023 | 40 ordered; about 15–17 had arrived by mid-2025, so roughly 23–25 were still to come. All 40 are due by 2030. |
Every type the Australian Army Aviation has retired
18 types, from the Cessna 180 to the Eurocopter Tiger ARH. Peak figures are airframes taken on charge over the whole service life, not fleet strength on any one date.
| Type | Role | Peak | Served | Replaced by | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eurocopter Tiger ARH | Armed reconnaissance helicopter | 22 | 2004–2026 | AH-64E Apache | 22 ordered and delivered (15 December 2004 to December 2011); 18 assembled in Brisbane. | |
| NHIndustries MRH 90 Taipan | Multi-role helicopter | 40 | 2007–2023 | UH-60M Black Hawk | 46 ordered in all, six of them for the Navy (Fourays and Wikipedia’s NH90 article; Wikipedia’s Army Aviation article gives 47). | |
| Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk | Utility helicopter | 39 | 1989–2021 | MRH 90 Taipan, then UH-60M | 14 ordered in 1986 and 25 in 1987; 38 assembled by de Havilland Australia. Five lost in accidents; 34 in service in 2014. | |
| Bell 206B-1 Kiowa (CAC CA-32) | Light observation helicopter | 56 | 1972–2019 | EC135T2+ (training) | First 12 built in the US and reassembled in Australia; the rest licence-built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. | |
| Boeing CH-47D Chinook | Heavy-lift helicopter | 8 | 1995–2015 | CH-47F Chinook | Four ex-RAAF CH-47Cs rebuilt to D standard (1995), two more in 2000 and two in 2012. Two lost in Afghanistan. | |
| Beechcraft King Air B200/B350 | Light transport | 1996–2009 | Leased. | |||
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter | STOL transport | 1996–2009 | Leased. | |||
| Bell UH-1H Iroquois | Utility helicopter | 1989–2007 | MRH 90 Taipan, Tiger ARH | |||
| Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante | Light transport | King Air B200, Twin Otter | ||||
| GAF N22B and N24A Nomad | STOL utility aircraft | 24 | 1975–1995 | Leased King Air and Twin Otter | 12 N22B to 1987, then eight N22B and four N24A in 1993 (plus a leased prototype in 1973). | |
| Pilatus PC-6 Turbo-Porter | STOL utility aircraft | 19 | 1968–1992 | GAF Nomad | 19 entered service. | |
| Bell OH-58A Kiowa | Observation helicopter | 8 | 1971–1972 | Leased. | ||
| Bell 47G Sioux | Light observation helicopter | 1960–1972 | Bell 206B-1 Kiowa | |||
| Cessna O-1 Bird Dog | Forward observation aircraft | |||||
| Auster AOP Mk III | Air observation post | Cessna 180A | Establishment of six to eight aircraft. | |||
| Cessna 180 | Liaison and reconnaissance aircraft | 1958– | ||||
| Eurocopter AS350B Squirrel | Light helicopter | 1990– | ||||
| Insitu ScanEagle | Unmanned aircraft | RQ-7B Shadow 200 |
Where Australian Army Aviation flies from
Black pins are active bases, hollow pins the airfields that have closed. Army aviation has lived at Oakey since 1 July 1969 and has flown its operational helicopters from RAAF Base Townsville since 1988; the Tiger flew from Robertson Barracks, Darwin, until September 2026. RAAF Base Amberley, where 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron formed in 1960, and the Navy’s HMAS Albatross, home of the joint helicopter school, are listed for their Army units. Vung Tau and Nui Dat, the bases of 161 Reconnaissance Flight in Vietnam, closed in 1972.
Australia
2 of the 8 bases above sit outside Australia, so the world map has to pull back until the home airfields cannot be told apart. The same pins again, without the overseas bases.
| Base | ICAO | Status | Runway | Units and aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMAS AlbatrossNaval Air Station NowraNew South Wales | YSNW | Active | 03/212,046 m08/262,094 m |
|
| Holsworthy BarracksLuscombe ArmyNew South Wales | YSHW | Active | 11/29670 m |
|
| Oakey Army Aviation CentreQueensland (Toowoomba Region) | YBOK | Active | 05/23914 m09/271,089 m14/321,649 m |
|
| RAAF Base AmberleyQueensland | YAMB | Active | 04/221,523 mconcrete/asphalt15/333,047 mconcrete/asphalt |
|
| RAAF Base TownsvilleQueensland | YBTL | Active | 01/192,438 m07/251,100 m |
|
| Robertson BarracksNorthern Territory | YDBK | Active |
|
|
| Luscombe Field, Nui DatBà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Vietnam | Closed 1972 |
|
||
| Vung TauBà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Vietnam | Closed 1972 |
|
No air base matches that search.
Who is stationed where in the Australian Army Aviation
Flying units by base, current units first. The Army flies in aviation regiments of numbered squadrons — 161 and 162 Reconnaissance Squadrons in the 1st, 171st and 173rd Aviation Squadrons in the 6th — and the 1st Aviation Regiment grew out of 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron, formed in 1960. The Navy’s 723 Squadron is marked as joint and the Singapore Chinook detachment at Oakey as foreign. Where sources disagree on a date, the entry says so.
- Army Aviation Training Centre (AAvnTC)Training centre · active
- Airbus Helicopters H135T3 Juno, Eurocopter Tiger ARH (to 2026)
- School of Army AviationFlying school · active
- Airbus Helicopters H135T3 Juno
- Rotary-wing Aircraft Maintenance School (RAMS)Maintenance training school · active
- No. 127 Squadron detachment, Republic of Singapore Air ForceForeign helicopter training detachment · foreign
- Boeing CH-47 Chinook
- Army Helicopter School2001–
- Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
- 1st Aviation Regiment1973–2007
- Bell 206B-1 Kiowa, Pilatus PC-6 Porter, Bell UH-1H Iroquois
- 5th Aviation RegimentAviation regiment (transport and heavy lift) · active
- CH-47F Chinook, UH-60M Black Hawk, S-70A-9 Black Hawk (to 2021), UH-1H Iroquois (to 2007)
- 1st Aviation Regiment (headquarters and 161 Reconnaissance Squadron)Aviation regiment (attack) · active
- AH-64E Apache Guardian
- 6th Aviation RegimentAviation regiment (special operations) · active
- UH-60M Black Hawk, MRH 90 Taipan (2019–2023)
- 171st Aviation SquadronSpecial operations aviation squadron · active
- UH-60M Black Hawk
- 173rd Aviation SquadronSpecial operations aviation squadron · active
- UH-60M Black Hawk, MRH 90 Taipan, Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
- 161 Reconnaissance Squadron
- Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
- 162 Reconnaissance Squadron
- Eurocopter Tiger ARH
- 1st Aviation Regiment (headquarters and 161 Reconnaissance Squadron)2005–2025
- Eurocopter Tiger ARH, Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
- 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron1960–
- Cessna 180, Bell 47G-2 Sioux
- 161 Reconnaissance Flight1965–1965
- Bell 47G Sioux, Cessna 180
- School of Army Aviation1972–
- Bell 206B-1 Kiowa
- 723 Squadron joint helicopter schoolJoint Army–Navy helicopter training school · joint
- Airbus Helicopters EC135T2+
No unit matches that search.
Australian Army Aviation milestones, 1914 to today
20 September: the Minister for Defence approves a Flying Corps for the Army; first flights at Point Cook follow on 1 March 1914. In 1921 the corps becomes the core of the new RAAF, leaving the Army without aircraft.
5 June: Captain Joe Luscombe, an Australian artillery officer flying with the British 1903 AOP Flight, is killed in action in Korea.
1 Army Aviation Company forms at Bankstown; Cessna 180As replace its Austers in 1958.
1 December: 16 Army Light Aircraft Squadron forms at RAAF Amberley with Cessna 180s and Bell 47G-2 Sioux.
161 Reconnaissance Flight reaches Vung Tau on 28 September and flies its first sortie in Vietnam on 22 October.
1 July: the Australian Army Aviation Corps is formed with 106 officers.
1 July: the Army takes over the airfield at Oakey, its aviation home ever since.
161 Reconnaissance Flight leaves Vietnam; the Kiowa begins replacing the Sioux and the School of Army Aviation forms at Oakey.
The RAAF’s battlefield helicopters pass to the Army: 9 Squadron’s Black Hawks and 35 Squadron’s Iroquois form the 5th Aviation Regiment at Townsville.
Six Black Hawks in UN markings support the election in Cambodia, the Army’s first operational helicopter mission abroad.
12 June: two Black Hawks collide near Townsville during Exercise Day Rotor 96; 18 are killed.
September: Black Hawks and Kiowas are among the first forces into East Timor with INTERFET.
21 December: contract for 22 Tiger armed reconnaissance helicopters; the 16th Aviation Brigade is raised on 2 April 2002.
The first MRH 90 Taipans arrive; the last Iroquois retires in September or October.
30 May: a Chinook crashes in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, killing Lieutenant Marcus Case.
15 January: 29 AH-64E Apaches chosen to replace the Tiger. 10 December: the last S-70A-9 Black Hawks retire.
28 July: a Taipan crashes off the Whitsundays, killing four. 29 September: the Taipan fleet is permanently grounded. UH-60M deliveries begin in August.
September: the Tiger is retired after a farewell flypast over Darwin; six Apaches are at Townsville. A Senate committee recommends an independent review of the Taipan crash report.
Every war and operation Australian Army Aviation has flown in
Sorties and losses where the record gives them, and an honest blank where it does not.
- Korean War 1951–1953 Five Australian Army pilots flew artillery observation with the British No
- Malayan Emergency 1953 Army pilots were deployed to Malaya for security operations
- Vietnam War 1965–1972 Reconnaissance, artillery spotting and liaison flying for Australian forces
- UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia 1993 Six Black Hawks in UN white delivered and recovered ballot boxes for the UN-run election
- Bougainville peace process 1994–2001 Five Black Hawks supported the 1994 peace process; four red-painted UH-1H Iroquois supported the unarmed Truce and Peace Monitoring Groups from May 1998 to August 2001
Who built the Australian Army Aviation fleet
Every company behind the aircraft on this page has its own page: the story, every type it built, the numbers and the other air forces that fly them.
Current fleet and orders
Boeing, Airbus Helicopters, Sikorsky, AAI Corporation, AeroVironment
Former fleet
Bell, Cessna, Eurocopter, Auster, Beechcraft, Embraer, Government Aircraft Factories, Insitu, NHIndustries, Pilatus, de Havilland Canada
Australian Army Aviation news from Afterburner
Everything MiGFlug’s magazine has published on the Australian Army Aviation and the aircraft it flies. This list refreshes itself — new Afterburner stories appear here automatically.
Everything people ask about the Australian Army Aviation
What is Australian Army Aviation?
What helicopters does the Australian Army fly in 2026?
Why did Australia ground the MRH 90 Taipan?
What caused the 2023 Taipan crash?
What happened in the 1996 Black Hawk accident?
Why did the Tiger helicopter retire early?
Did the Australian Army fly aircraft in Vietnam?
When did the Army take over the Black Hawks and Chinooks from the RAAF?
Does the Australian Army still fly fixed-wing aircraft?
Where is the Australian Army Flying Museum?
Read the aircraft the Australian Army Aviation flew
Every type with a page in the Book of Beasts, in service first, then by the year it left the fleet.
Every fact, checked
- Fourays: Australian Army Aviation AssociationVeterans’ association of Army aviation; index of the history pages.
- Fourays: The Australian Flying CorpsFlying Corps approved 20 September 1912; first flights at Point Cook 1 March 1914; four AFC squadrons; RAAF formed from the AFC in 1921.
- Fourays: The forties and fiftiesAir Observation Post revival; five Australians with 1903 AOP Flight in Korea 1951–1953; Captain Joe Luscombe killed 5 June 1952; Malaya 1953; 1 Army Aviation Company at Bankstown 1957; Cessna 180A replaced Auster Mk III 1958; 16 AOP Flight disbanded 30 November 1960.
- Fourays: The sixties16 ALA Squadron formed 1 December 1960 at Amberley; 161 Reconnaissance Flight raised July 1965, at Vung Tau 28 September 1965, first sortie 22 October 1965, more than 72,000 hours, three pilots killed; corps formed 1 July 1968 with 106 officers; Oakey to Army 1 July 1969.
- Fourays: The seventies and eightiesKiowa replaces Sioux from 1972; Nomad; School of Army Aviation 1972; 183 Squadron leaves PNG 1975; two Porters to Vanuatu 1980; 20 November 1986 decision to transfer battlefield helicopters; 5 Aviation Regiment raised from January 1988.
- Fourays: The ninetiesAS350B Squirrel 1990; Porter withdrawn October 1992; six Black Hawks to Cambodia 1993; five to Bougainville 1994; Nomads withdrawn 1995; first CH-47D mid-1995; 12 June 1996 collision; leased King Air and Twin Otter late 1996; PNG and Irian Jaya drought relief 1997–1998; Iroquois on Bougainville May 1998–August 2001; AAvnTC formed 1998; East Timor 1999.
- Fourays: 2000 and beyondHQ 16 Brigade (Aviation) raised 2 April 2002; 22 Tigers ordered 2001, first two delivered at Oakey 2004; MRH 90 selected August 2004, 46 with six for the Navy, first delivered 2007; Huey farewell October 2007; Fiji Black Hawk crash 2006 (Captain Mark Bingley killed); Iraq 2003 Chinooks; Afghanistan Chinook crash May 2011 (Lieutenant Marcus Case killed); Solomons 2003; East Timor 2006, Kiowa withdrawn 2008; fixed wing ended 2009.
- Australian Army Flying Museum, OakeyMuseum at Oakey beside the Army Aviation Training Centre; open Wednesday to Saturday, free entry.
- 161 Recce Flight AssociationAssociation preserving the history of 161 Recce Flight (South Vietnam 1965–1972) and 161 Recce Squadron; collection displayed at the Oakey museum.
- ABC News: ‘It’s an absolute Ferrari to fly on’: ADF retires attack helicopters (26 September 2026)Tiger retired September 2026 after a farewell flypast over Mindil Beach, Darwin; 22 aircraft, A$1.1 billion; 29 Apaches ordered for A$4.5 billion, six delivered and based at Townsville, deliveries complete by end of 2029.
- ABC News: Taipan crash inquiry leads to recommendation for Defence report review (18 September 2026)Crew: Captain Danniel Lyon, Lieutenant Max Nugent, Warrant Officer Class Two Joseph Laycock, Corporal Alexander Naggs; DFSB found TopOwl unlikely to have contributed; Senate committee recommended an independent review of the DFSB report; IGADF inquiry yet to report.
- ABC News: Thirty years since Black Hawk aviation disaster saw 18 killed (12 June 2026)Anniversary report on the June 1996 collision near Townsville that killed 18.
- Department of Defence: PFAS investigation and management, Army Aviation Centre OakeyFetched. Detailed environmental investigation being finalised; remediation measures in the Management Area.
Figures verified 2026-10-01. Order of Battle pages are regenerated from a single dataset; if a number here disagrees with a Book of Beasts page, this page is the more recent of the two.
Photographs: Photo: Bidgee / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0 au) · Photo: NASA/Amber Jean Watson / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · Photo: Łukasz Golowanow / Wikimedia Commons (Attribution) · Photo: Cliff from Arlington, Virginia, USA / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · Photo: Nick-D / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: Frost Nova from Australia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0) · Photo: Bidgee / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Photo: Acroterion / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: Lijn 45 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: Daniel Tanner / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Photo: YSSYguy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Photo: Daniel Case / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Photo: Richard Hoare / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Photo: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)