Defence Update — K95

Raaf’s Fast Combat Jets Played Supportingrole In Kangaroo ‘95 Exercise

The fast combat jets of the Royal Australian Air Force played a largely supporting and relatively low key role in the final operational stages of the big joint Kangaroo exercise (K95) across northern Australia in August. These jets came from No 75 F/A-18 Squadron at Tindal in the Northern Territory, and No 1 and No 6 Squadron F-111Cs from Amberley. The swing-wing F-111s temporarily operated from Tindal. However the C-130s in the Air Lift Group headquartered at Richmond air base near Sydney had a busy time, initially operating in the strategic role of moving troops, equipment and supplies to northern Australia, and later returning them to bases, mainly at Townsville and Sydney. During K95 the C-130 Hercules also played a key role in moving troops and equipment in the tactical area of operations as the “battle” developed. The Hercs also were involved in two parachute drops by the Australian Army’s 3rd (Para) Battalion who also has assigned to it an Indonesian parachute company. Indonesian C-130s undertook interactive training at Richmond prior to K95, and formed part of No 86 Wing’s airlift capability support for K95. The paratroopers, operating with the friendly Blue Force, were used to “recapture” Wyndham in the Kimberley in the north west, and for the final assault to clear the “enemy Orangeland” forces in the Borroloola region in from the western Gulf of Carpentaria area, and wrap up the ground “war”. RAAF P-3C maritime patrol aircraft from Edinburgh base near Adelaide, South Australia, flew in support of Maritime Command activities. An “enemy” submarine, played by HMAS Onslow, was reportedly sunk at least twice by P-3s. The P-3C operations included anti submarine warfare (ASW), anti surface unit warfare (ASUW) and surveillance and reconnaissance for the Maritime Commander. Other RAAF K95 operations included the use of some Macchi 326 jet day fighters for close air support, PC-9 trainers for the role of forward air control, and tactical transport Caribou. The Joint Force Commander, Commodore John Lord and his staff controlled the tactical phases of the exercise from the new NORCOM (Northern Command) headquarters at Larrakeyah Barracks, Darwin. The Australian Army had to make do with extremely limited aviation resources. This was due to the fact that only a handful of utility Black Hawk helicopters were available because the fleet has been badly affected with structural integrity problems. And all the Australian Defence Force’s Nomad aircraft are grounded and will stay that way under the recent decision by the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Ray, that Nomad aircraft no longer will operate with the ADF. In K95 the Army used four of leased Embraer Bandeirante twin turboprops aircraft as light transports flown by Army pilots. The main United States contribution came from the 1st/14th Battalion which is part of the 25th (Light) Infantry Division. It was supported by an aviation unit comprising eight Black Hawks and two medevac Black Hawks. With K95 concentrated and culminating on the amphibious assault on Groote Eylandt and a final land battle, the exercise scenario did not pose a testing air defence environment for the Air Force, which, in any case, could provide only limited fast jet resources due to other operational considerations. So for K95 the aircraft belonging to No 81 (Fighter) Wing, headquartered at Williamtown near Newcastle, NSW, and No 82 (Strike/Reconnaissance) Wing at Amberley were merged into No 95 Wing operating from Tindal. 62 Australian Aviation October 1995. The frontline fast jets for the exercise therefore involved 10 F/A-18 Hornets from No 75 Squadron carrying out an air defence role, including fleet protection and air cover for the amphibious landing and, as required, close air support of the ground forces. The F-111s flew in support of the NORCOM Commander and the Maritime Commander. Notional air strikes against vital assets on the mythical Orangeland islands to the north were planned, but not flown. Dedicated RAAF air defence exercises concentrate these days on exercises like Pitch Black and Aces North in northern Australia in which the F/A-18 pilots test their skills against raiding “enemy” aircraft, which include units from the USAF and the RAAF’s own F-111s. Air defence is also practiced by the RAAF’s F/A-18 pilots during annual Churinga deployments to Butterworth in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as part of the Five Power Defence Arrangement. Pitch Black normally is an annual exercise, but was not held this year. A scaled down version of it, Exercise Iron Fist, was substituted and run mainly from the Williamtown fighter base using Tactical Fighter Group Hornets. The F-111s of the Strike/Reconnaissance Group operated out of Amberley (refer report p36 July ’95 AA). K95 also exercised the higher command structure of the Australian Defence Force. The role of Lead Joint Commander was taken by Air Vice Marshal Gary Beck, the Air Commander Australia, who operated from a special Joint HQ established within Maritime Command, Garden Island, Sydney, with the Maritime (Rear Admiral Chris Oxenbould), Land (Major General Peter Arnison) and Air (with Air Commodore Peter Nicholson, Air Command’s Chief of Staff, deputising for AVM Beck) Commanders also exercising their roles.