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A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130J Hercules has flown under an Australian call sign for the first time, while embedded in a Royal Australian Air Force squadron.
The No. 40 Squadron aircraft, crew and supporting detachment were deployed earlier this year to RAAF Base Richmond in New South Wales to conduct Exercise Trojan Compass.
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The RNZAF crew, embedded in No. 37 Squadron, completed six flights, two domestic and four international, in support of the Australian Defence Force under their call signs to a variety of locations across Australia and the Indo-Pacific region.
Crews flew 101.3 hours, carrying 52 tonnes of payload and 45 tonnes of cargo during the five-week deployment.
Detachment commander, Squadron Leader Adam Palmer, said the exercise achieved a number of milestones for the air and ground crews.
“We were fully integrated into the ADF’s tasking system and directly supported their operations in the southwest Pacific and into Southeast Asia,” Squadron Leader Palmer said.
“The maintainers were able to confirm the certification of their standards, which means they will now be allowed to work on Australian aircraft.”
The majority of flights by C-130J crews supported Pacific engagement, with missions to Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Malaysia.
RNZAF Logistics Officer Flight Lieutenant Kelsey May worked alongside her Australian counterpart Flight Lieutenant Riley Kennedy.
“It has been a good learning opportunity for all of us,” she told the ADF.
“What has been working really well is that we have similar machinery and similar aircraft. It makes it easy for us to prepare freight and load as we have the same processes and procedures.”
Flight Lieutenant Kennedy said interoperability was the key outcome of the exercise.
“Working with a foreign nation has been excellent and we have learnt a lot from each other along the way.”
