#1130 S-70A-9 Blackhawk
Purchased products will not feature the Squadron Prints watermark
Description
Squadron Prints Lithograph No. 1130 - S-70A-9 Black Hawk, A25-103, B Squadron, 5th Aviation Regiment, RAAF Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
B Squadron is one of three support helicopter squadrons within the Australian Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment, based at RAAF Townsville in North Queensland. It was raised on 6th December 1989 from elements of № 35 Squadron RAAF and was originally equipped with Bell UH-1H Iroquois helicopters. It was progressively re-equipped with Sikorsky S-70A-9 Blackhawk helicopters during the latter half of 1990 and became the second airmobile Squadron within the Regiment. B Squadron these days represents the main battlefield helicopter squadron of the Australian Army, and its tasks range from combined arms airmobile operations (including amphibious operations) to medical evacuations and utility support tasks. B Squadron has deployed to various military operational and humanitarian support theatres beginning with Cambodia in 1993 (OP GEMIMI), Bougainville in 1994 (OP LAGOON), Papua New Guinea 1997-98 (OP PLES DRAI) and 2007 (OP PNG ASSIST), Indonesian Irian Jaya in 1998 (OP AUSINDO JAYA), and Pakistan in 2005-6 (OP PAKASSIST). The Squadron has had elements deployed in East Timor under several operational titles: OP WARDEN / STABILISE 1999 – 2000; OP TANGIER / CITADEL 2001 – 2004, and OP ASTUTE 2006 – present. The current deployment is as part of the Timor Lesté Aviation Group (TLAG) in support of the Joint Task Force 631 (JTF 631) on OP ASTUTE. Alongside the overseas deployments B Squadron has seen heavy employment within Australia both during the Olympic Games in 2000, and also during the resulting military aid to civil authority operations after several severe floods and cyclones, most recently OP FLOOD ASSIST in SE Queensland during late 2010 and early 2011.