RNZAF Air Commodore Susie Barns has joined Australia’s Air Command under a bilateral memorandum of arrangement, establishing the Deputy Air Commander Australia (DACAUST) role as an ongoing opportunity for senior RNZAF officers.
The aircraft, A9-497, was lost during a 1944 mission when it made an emergency water landing off the coast of Darwin. Remarkably, all four crew members survived the incident and were rescued the next day.
The company, an offshoot from the Swedish aerospace giant, said ‘TactiCall’ integrates multiple comms technologies into a single intuitive interface and includes radio infrastructure and avionics equipment.
First unveiled at Avalon 2023, the aerospace giant said STRIX completed its tests fully autonomously in Australia, with a remote pilot providing safety overwatch who was not required to intervene.
Acting Sub-Lieutenant Natika Dunn was awarded her wings in a joint graduation of Navy and Air Force pilots from Course 278 ADF Intermediate Pilots Course. The Wings badge is given to aircrew who achieve required proficiency in flying military aircraft.
The decision to allow non-citizens originally from Five Eyes countries to join the ADF was announced six months ago, in a bid to alleviate a skill shortage in the military.
The iconic Chinook can trace its history all the way back to the 1960s, with its primary role including troop transportation, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply.